Europa League preview: Serie A exits, Celtic chances, Gunners glory
Published:
Round-up of the key storylines ahead of the night’s games
The Europa League Round of 32 recommences later as 14 games take place over the course of the evening.
British interest comes in the form of Arsenal and Celtic, and there are also a number of key matches in which big teams could exit.
The Coral News Team round up the key storylines and provides some value tips ahead of the action.
Can Celtic cause a shock in Russia?
Celtic bagged a deserved 1-0 win over Zenit St. Petersburg in Glasgow last week with a wonder strike from Callum McGregor.
Brendan Rodgers side played superbly well and take a lead to the Petrovsky Stadium tonight. Can they see out the job, though? It’s going to be difficult.
Zenit are traditionally strong at home. The Russians have lost just twice on home soil in the UEFA Cup/Europa League since 2002.
On the flipside of that coin, Celtic are bad travellers in Europe. But, having kept Zenit to nil at Celtic Park, if they manage to score an away goal here, it could get frantic.
Serie A participation in trouble
Three of the four Serie A teams in action tonight could be making an early Europa League exit.
Napoli are 3-1 down to RB Leipzig, Lazio are 1-0 down to FCSB, and Atalanta are 3-2 down to Borussia Dortmund.
Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri has all but sacrificed this competition for his side’s quest for Scudetto glory. The 20/23 on Leipzig is well worth taking.
Only Juventus have scored more goals than Lazio in Italy this season, with the Biancocelesti scoring 61 goals in 25 games. They’re 4/5 to win and Over 2.5 Goals.
Expect more of the same between Atalanta and Dortmund, too. The first leg was a cracking game. Atalanta won’t sit back here. They’re 7/5 to win.
Walk in the park for Gunners
Arsenal welcome Graham Potter’s Ostersunds to the Emirates safe in the knowledge they’re practically through already.
Having won comfortably 3-0 in the first leg, Arsene Wenger will be expected to rest a number of his key players here.
Ostersunds have been a bit of a revelation in Europe under Potter this season. The Solihull native will want his side to go out on a high and give a good account of themselves.
Ostersunds will fancy their chances of finding the net against a Gunners second string. So 4/5 on Both Teams Scoring seems to be a fair price.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing