LYON v AJAX
Thursday 11th May 2017 – Kickoff: 2005hrs
Football – Europe – Europa League Betting Tips
Despite holding home advantage at their Parc Olympique Lyonnais on Thursday evening, hosts Lyon face a mountain to climb if they’re to progress through to the final of the Europa League as they find themselves 4-1 down after their first leg loss to Ajax.
A heavy 4-1 loss in Amsterdam last week has put Lyon on the back foot ahead of their second leg tie tonight, but the hosts will have been boosted by their away goal and this gives them just a glimmer of hope of turning things around tonight.
Home form has been pretty solid in recent weeks domestically, for Lyon as they’ve won five of their last seven along with three straight wins on the trot in the Europa League with wins over AZ Alkmaar 7-1, Roma 4-2 and Besiktas 2-1, so they’ll fancy their chances of turning the tables on Ajax tonight. Prolific striker Lacazette (24 goals) is expected to start this evening despite not being 100% fit.
Visitors Ajax could be forgiven for thinking they have one foot in the Europa League final following last week’s first leg thrashing of French outfit Lyon, and all they need to do now is to avoid losing by a three-goal margin to progress.
However, this may be easier said than done, particularly given Ajax’s poor string of results away from home in this competition where they’ve recorded just one win on their travels from six matches overall to date.
This win came in their first group match at Greek side Panathinaikos (who, incidentally, finished rock bottom of Group G with just one point), but since then, Ajax have struggled with draws at Celta Vigo, Standard Liege and Legia Warsaw, along with back-to-back defeats at Copenhagen and Schalke 04.
Pick: Lyon to win @ 1.67 bet365
