Europa League

FC Salzburg v Manchester City Betting

Venue: Red Bull Arena
Date: Thursday, September 16th

FC Salzburg to win: 4/6 at Bet365
Draw: 14/5 at SkyBet
Man City to win: 5/1 at Stan James

After losing out in bitter disappointment in the race for a Champions League spot in the Barclays Premier League last year to Tottenham, Manchester City begin their Europa League campaign with a tricky away fixture in Austria. Looking at the draw, you wouldn’t expect Salzburg to prove much of a threat to Manchester City, but for your Europa League football betting, it may well be worth taking note of the fact that the Austrians won all six of their group matches in the competition last year. There’s not many clubs who can boast having done that. That was last year however, and they didn’t have to face the might of the spending power which Manchester City have. After watching Aston Villa fail to qualify for the main tournament, only City and Liverpool remain, and both have huge amounts of pressure upon them for different reasons. Manchester City have been one of the front runners in Europa League outright betting ever since the draw, and that is down to the money they have been spending over the summer. While Liverpool have a lot of pressure to reclaim a decent standing in Europe, Manchester City have the pressure of expectancy, and they need the best return they could get on all their investments, and that could only come from winning some major silverware. It would go a long way to appeasing fans and board alike, if City can rule in Europe, and sitting in Group A which contains Lech Poznan and Italian giants Juventus, City need to get off to a good start.

FC Salzburg v Manchester City Betting Tip: Carlos Tevez Anytime Scorer 13/10 at Bet365

As for Salzburg’s good run in the group stages last year, they are in the Europa League because they failed to beat Hapoel Tel Aviv in either leg of their Champions League play-off (they lost their home fixture and drew away). On Salzburg’s only previous adventure to England in European competition, they lost to Blackburn Rovers back in 2006/07. So that is something which should give Manchester City some confidence, not that they need any extra motivation or boosts from the opponents misfortunes, as City have to create their own luck in the competition. They certainly, and unquestionably have an extremely talented squad, although again on the weekend in the Premier League, they failed to press home an advantage after only managing a draw with Blackburn Rovers. Goalkeeper Joe Hart, who had finally added some stability to the England senior side in their Euro 2012 qualification matches, made a bit of blunder which gifted Rovers the opening goal, so he will have to get over that pretty quickly if City are to come away from Austria with maximum points. City will be without summer signing Mario Balotelli, as the striker has to sit out some matches because of injury. With Carlos Tevez and David Silva, there is still enough quality to go far in the competition, but you can’t help feel that they are still lacking a quality goal getter in the mould of Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney or Fernando Torres to really push them on. Balotelli could deliver than when fit again, and they need some support for the genius craft of Carlos Tevez.

City have never faced Austrian opposition before in Europe and with the big spending City boys jetting off to continental Europe, right behind them you should be with your football betting for Thursday’s match. City did beat Timisoara away from home in the play-offs and then finished off the job convincingly at home. They should be one of the leaders in the competition, and it would be a major surprise if they lost in Austria, it is just by how much of a margin they can win by which should be the real question. While they have bags of quality going forward, City have been guilty of not taking their chances well enough in front of goal. Although the Europa League is clearly not of the high quality which the Champions League is, it is a pretty enduring tournament, in which City should grow into. European nights are vastly different than the up tempo matches of the Premier League, and this is something City will have to learn very quickly. Getting the balance right between European matches and the Premier League is a tough thing to pull off, and European games still effect the form of the top English sides in the Premier League. So, realistically, what are City’s chances from a betting perspective. For this match, they would be happy to walk away again with a 1-0 victory and then turn their attention to home fixtures, the first of which comes at the end of the month against Juventus. This is just one of those tricky, but not insurmountable away ties in Europe which can add a lot of character to a team. If City fail here though, combined with a less than perfect start in the Premier League, and much finger pointing will be at boss Roberto Mancini already. Would back City to take the victory here, but as for winning the tournament outright, there is much convincing still to be done by the Blues.

FC Salzburg v Manchester City Prediction: Away win

Liverpool v Steaua Bucharest Europa League Betting

Venue: Anfield
Date: Thursday, September 16th

Liverpool to win: 3/10 at Bet365
Draw: 9/2 at Totesport
Steaua Bucharest: 11/1 at Totesport

Roy Hodgson will be looking to go one better, or at least emulate his great achievements in the Europa League last season. Hodgson took Fulham all the way to the final against the odds, where they lost to Atletico Madrid. That success arguably landed him the Liverpool job, and after moving north in the summer, the expectations of a good run in Europe are extremely heavy upon his shoulders. It hasn’t been a particularly great start to the new season for the Reds. They have only won one match out of their four so far, and that was a tight 1-0 effort against Premier League new boys West Brom. After Monday night’s 0-0 draw against Birmingham, in which Liverpool lacked any kind of spark or creativity in the middle of the park, the main problem which plagued them last year, much of the focus was on striker Fernando Torres. He was highly criticised after the game, one of the poorest in a Liverpool shirt, as he looked uninterested and a little bit lazy. To be honest though, Torres just looks short of match fitness after suffering with injuries for a long time, and he was not helped by some very poor passing from the midfield. He really didn’t have the supply lines to work with, and knowing Torres, generally all he needs is one opening in a match to punish a team. This is a huge problem for Liverpool at the moment though, they need goals, and if their world class striker isn’t looking the part, what do they do? Keep playing him in the hope he’ll come good in a few games, or look elsewhere. The trouble is, they really don’t have any other quality to look elsewhere too, as relying on David Ngog doesn’t appear to be much of a long term solution. So while Liverpool will nurse their four points from four Barclays Premier League games, they will turn their attention to Europe. There is no Champions League for them, and at the moment, it looks as if getting back there will take more time than hoped. So, can they go all the way in the Europa League? They found Turkish opponents Trabzonspor very tough going in the play off round, but at least the Reds battled through.

Liverpool v Steaua Bucharest Betting Tip: Steaua Bucharest +1.25 Asian Handicap 11/10 at Bet365

They face Steaua Bucharest on Thursday at Anfield, and they will need to make the most of home advantage. Steaua aren’t a particularly great side, but they are decent and came through a penalty shoot out in order to reach the Europa League group stage. The Romanians lost their first domestic match of the season on the weekend, a result which knocked them off the top of the league, and perhaps had one eye on this encounter. For Liverpool, full back Paul Konchesky should be fit enough to take part after suffering with his hamstring a bit against Birmingham, but Anfield won’t get to see workhorse Dirk Kuyt for some time, as he dealt the club a big blow in picking up a long term injury. This isn’t the first time the two sides have met in Europe, and the most recent encounter was back in 2003 when Harry Kewel netted in a 1-0 win at Anfield to put Liverpool through to the third round of the UEFA Cup. While Liverpool are not going great guns yet, and the pressure will be on them to perform here, football betting on this match should be pretty safe in backing the Reds. Liverpool are six for six in European matches at Anfield since losing to Fiorentina in the Champions League last year. They can also boast a stretch of ten unbeaten games in the UEFA Cup/Europa League itself at Anfield, so the signs are good for Hodgson. As long as they keep things ship shape at the back then there shouldn’t be too many problems. If they do get under pressure though, it is hard to see where a lot of goals are going to come from, as they have only managed two so far in their four Premier League matches.

This is a bigger test than Roy Hodgson may think, but he should be able to use the experience he gained last year in guiding Fulham to the final, to make an impact with Liverpool in this competition. Steaua’s form in Europe away from home last year wasn’t much to write home about, as they lost four away fixtures in a row, which ultimately sent them packing from the competition. With Liverpool having only lost once in 11 matches against Romanian opponents at Anfield, and with Steaua never having beat an English club on the road, it will make for a good betting strategy to get behind Liverpool at Anfield in your Europa League football betting. There may not be a hatful of goals flying in from the Reds, but a win is a win in this pretty protracted competition. This is Group K of the 2010/11 Europa League, with the other two group spots being occupied by FC Utrecht and Napoli.

Liverpool v Steaua Bucharest Prediction: Home win

The Premier League’s entrants into the Europa League for this season, have all learned who their opposition will be in the Play-Off round. The winners of these ties will go into the Europa League group stage for the tournament, the current holders of which are the Diego Forlan inspired Atletico Madrid. Liverpool, who had to come through a qualification round prior to this play-off round, have a tie against Trabzonspor from Turkey. Liverpool, who beat Macedonian side Rabotnicki 4-0 on aggregate in the previous round, will have a much tougher time of things against the Turkish side. Liverpool will begin the tie at home on August 19th, with the away fixture being booked for August 26th. Those are the same dates for all home and away fixtures for the Europa League play-off round. Liverpool have encountered Trabzonspor in European competition once before, with Liverpool comfortably beating their opponents, but that was over thirty years ago which clearly won’t have any bearing on what happens at the end of August.

Big spending Manchester City have an away first leg against FC Timisoara from Romania. They have a much easier fixture on paper, against a side that only came to be an established club less than a decade ago. Naturally the word from the City camp is how tough and tricky a game it will be, showing some respect to a team which their star studded side should hammer. Aston Villa, who are still awaiting the appointment of a new manager after Martin O’Neill suddenly walked out on the Midlands side, will square off against Rapid Vienna from Austria. This will be the second consecutive season that the two clubs have clashed in the Europa League, and Villa will have revenge in mind after the Austrians triumphed last year after winning both home and away legs. Looking at the draw for the English clubs, Villa got the wrong end of the stick really, and whoever comes in as new boss, could automatically win some plaudits by taking Villa deep into Europe.

Scottish sides Celtic, Dundee United and Motherwell are also in the Play-Off stage of the competition, playing Utrecht, AEK Athens and Odense respectively. Wales are represented by The New Saints who play CSKA Sofia from Bulgaria.

Europa League Play Off First Legs

Liverpool to win: 1/3 at SkyBet
Draw: 7/2 at Totesport
Trabzonsport to win: 8/1 at Totesport

Manchester City to win: 8/11 at Blue Square
Draw: 13/5 at Totesport
FC Timisoara: 4/1 at Bwin

Aston Villa to win: Evens at Bwin
Draw: 9/4 at Totesport
Rapid Vienna to win: 13/8 at SkyBet

Europa League Outrights
Manchester City: 13/2 at Bet365
Liverpool: 10/1 at SkyBet
Juventus: 14/1 at Totesport
Atletico Madrid: 16/1 at Stan James
Aston Villa: 25/1 at BetFred
Celtic: 80/1 at Totesport

Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester City will learn will learn their European opponents for the Europa League play-offs on Friday. The draw is for the Europa League Play-Off draw, and Liverpool booked their place in the week, with a 2-0 victory over Rabotnicki at Anfield. That secured a 4-0 aggregate victory over the Macedonian side, as Liverpool began their quest for some European silverware after missing out on a place in the Champions League this year. They will be joined by Manchester City and Aston Villa who qualified directly for the play off stage of qualification thanks to their finish in the Premier League, and Celtic who dropped out of the Champions League qualification. England will be looking for another strong representation in the competition this year, after Fulham reached the final of the competition last year, losing to Atletico Madrid.

The Europa League play off ties are played on August 19th and August 26th

Europa League Outright Odds
Manchester City: 6/1 at SkyBet
Liverpool: 10/1 at Boylesports
Juventus: 14/1 at Stan James
Atletico Madrid: 14/1 at Victor Chandler
Porto: 25/1 at SkyBet
Aston Villa: 25/1 at BetFred

For Tottenham, they get their first taste of Champions League football this season, as they going into the final qualification round which stands between them and  place in the Group Stages of the main event. Spurs, who finished fourth in the Premier League last season, know who they can come up against, and that will be Dynamo Kiev, Braga (who knocked out Celtic in the previous round), Sampdoria, Auxerre or Swiss opponents Young Boys. Having never kicked a ball in anger before in the Champions League, this is a big event for Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham. They will be looking forward to this, and hopefully they will be able to join Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal in the group stage of the Champions League proper.

Champions League play off ties are played on August 17th/18th and second legs on 24th/25th of August.

Champions League Outright Odds
Barcelona – 7/2 at SportingBet
Real Madrid – 5/1 at Paddy Power
Chelsea: 13/2 at SkyBet
Man Utd: 17/2 at Bwin
Inter Milan: 14/1 Boylesports
Arsenal: 16/1 at Bet365
Tottenham: 50/1 at Bet365

Liverpool v Rabotnicki Odds

Liverpool to win: 1/10 at Stan James
Draw: 9/1 at William Hill
Rabotnicki to win: 33/1 at ExtraBet

After a comfortable first leg 2-0 away win in Macedonia, Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is set to select a stronger squad for the return Europa League fixture at Anfield on Thursday. Liverpool’s first leg came just 18 days after the end of the World Cup, and new boss Hodgson sent out an inexperienced squad, resting some of his senior players. There was no Steven Gerrard, Joe Cole or Glen Johnson, but under fire striker David Ngog scored the brace, and Liverpool were comfortable enough in a dull encounter, which gave them the upper hand in this Europa League Third Round qualifier. In a strange approach to the game, Hodgson actually set up a defensive side and Liverpool’s thoughts about attacking only flourished when there was little caution about doing so. The style of the game showed just how valuable the Europa League is to Liverpool this season, even if they did not send out their strongest side.

The match at Anfield on Thursday could see the Anfield debut of Joe Cole who was picked up for free after being allowed to walk out of Chelsea in the summer. Roy Hodgson is now ready to put out his strongest side that he can for the second leg of the encounter, getting some valuable match fitness and sharpness into his best players. He apparently has no qualms about throwing some senior players back into action, after some of them turned out on a friendly on the weekend. That will mean a return to the competitive side for Captain Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Maxi Rodriguez and probably Cole, but Liverpool still will not be completely at full strength. Fernando Torres, still at the heart of much transfer speculation is out injured, and Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel are not available after only just returning to training.

If Liverpool can beat Rabotnicki away from home with an inexperienced side, then there is not doubt about them repeating the feat. Rabotnicki, coming out of the top of the Macedonian league simply are not good enough. The Macedonians will send out the same side from the first leg in Skopje, and they seem to be resigned to their fate already. One player who won’t be appearing for Liverpool is Javier Mascherano who was not registered for the tournament. Mascherano is expected to leave Anfield to move to Inter Milan, after wan ting to get out of Anfield. Still, even if the senior players do not complete the ninety minutes, Liverpool will be far too strong for the opposition. After this Third Qualifying Round, Liverpool will go in the Europa League Play Off round, the winners of which, will enter the proper Group Stage of the main tournament.

Liverpool to win Europa League: 12/1 at Coral

Sports betting week 2 - 8 August

Date	Sport	Org.	Venue	Event
3-4 Aug		UEFA	Europe	CL - 3.Qualificationround - 2nd leg
5 Aug		UEFA	Europe	EL - 3.Qualificationround - 2nd leg
7 Aug		DFB	Augsburg	German Super Cup
8 Aug		FA	Wembley	Community Shield
7 Aug		FFF	France	Ligue 1
2-8 Aug		WTA	San Diego	Southern Carlifornia Open
31 Jul-8 Aug		WTA	Cincinnati, OH	Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open
2-8 Aug		WTA	Copenhagen	e Bok's Danish Open
1-8 Aug		ATP	Washington, DC	Legg Mason Tennis Classic
1 Aug-1 Sep		UCI	Germany	Germany-Tour
5-8 Aug		PGA	Akron, Ohio	World Golf Championship

Liverpool v Rabotnicki Betting Odds

Rabotnicki to win: 12/1 at Totesport
Draw: 5/1 at Boylesports
Liverpool to win: 1/4 at Stan James

Thursday, July 29th, Skopje, Macedonia, Kick Off: 19.45 GMT

New Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson takes his troops in competitive battle for the first time on Thursday, as the Anfield outfit look to book their place in the Group Stages of the Europa League. Yes, that is the extent of Liverpool’s adventures in Europe for this season, having to qualifying for the Europa League, and it begins against Macedonia side Rabotnicki Skopje. There have been hints that while Hodgson was expected to leave some of his senior players out of the side, he is respectful enough of the competition to contemplate throwing in the likes of Steven Gerrard and former Chelsea player Joe Cole. Both were involved at the World Cup, along with the likes of Jamie Carragher, Glen Johnson, Milan Jovanovic and Javier Mascherano and wanted to give them some extra rest ahead of the new season. But the Anfield boss could well be leaning towards putting Gerrard and Cole in particular, right into the starting line up. While the situation is not too tough of one, it is one which needs a confident hand to get through without any kind of scares. The calming influence of the midfield general Steven Gerrard, would certainly help in that factor.

Despite the quality of the opposition, Liverpool and Hodgson can afford no early scares as they look to qualify for the competition. There will be a play-off round for them if they get through this third qualifying round, so there is still work to do. Hodgson’s decision may go against the advice of the Anfield medical crew, who are insistent that the players still need more of a break in order to be ready for the new Premier League season which starts in August. Liverpool lost to German side Kaiserslautern 1-0 on the weekend in which new signing Milan Jovanovic got a run out, and under pressure striker David Ngog got a start. The speculation over Fernando Torres still swells, as Hodgson is hopeful that he will stay at the club, but admits that the player has a problem with the club, and not Hodgson himself. If he does depart it will leave a huge hole in the club, and although Torres is expected to return to training on Monday as he recovers from an injury, the window of opportunity to transfer him will be closing soon.

Argentinean midfielder Javier Mascherano has demanded that he be allowed to leave Anfield, as he wants to join up with former boss Rafa Benitez at Inter Milan. Mascherano and Maxi Rodriguez both turned up for training at the beginning of the week, but the Mascherano camp has been unhappy about his future at Anfield. Contract talks between him and the club have fallen down, and it is more likely than not that Hodgson will agree to the sale, in order to raise some funds for the club. Despite missing out on Champions League football, and despite the threat of departing players, there is a sense of optimism around Liverpool supporters that the clearing out of Rafa Benitez has been helpful. There is an unknown quantity in charge no, in terms of experience at the top level of the English game in Hodgson, but he could just be the right hand needed to steady the ship. Their first task is to come through the Europa League qualifier away leg on Thursday in Macedonia, and take on step closer to reaching the group stage. Last season, Hodgson took Fulham all the way to the final of the Europa League, where they lost to Atlético Madrid, Liverpool’s conquerors in the competition. They really should have not too many problems in this fixture, the only concern is the lack of striking power up front and being able to take changes.

Europa League Third Qualifying Round To Qualify
Liverpool: 1/33 at Bet365
Rabotnicki: 14/1 at Bwin

Sports betting week 26 July - 1 August

Date	Sport	Org.	Venue	Event
13 Jul-1 Aug		FIFA	Germany	U-20 Women's WC
27-28 Jul		UEFA	Europe	CL - 3.Qualificationround - 1st leg
29 Jul		UEFA	Europe	EL - 3.Qualificationround - 1st leg
27 Jul-1 Aug		WTA	Stanford, CA	Bank of the West Classic
27 Jul-1 Aug		WTA	Istanbul	Istanbul Cup
26 Jul-2 Aug		ATP	Gstaad	Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad
26 Jul-1 Aug		ATP	Los Angeles, CA	LA Open
27 Jul-1 Aug		ATP	Umag	ATP Studena Croatia Open Umag
1 Aug		FIA	Budapest	Grand Prix of Hungary
27-31 Jul		GGC	Goodwood	Glorious Goodwood Festival

Europa League Second Qualifying Round

While there is not going to be a great deal of focus on either the Champions League or the Europa League just yet, there are of course, plenty of football betting opportunities to be taking advantage of. You can usually find an interesting story to follow, and for that, we will head to the Europa League, where you can study Liverpool’s potential first opponents. Liverpool enter into the fray of the Europa League in the next round of things, ie the third qualifying round, and they have been drawn against FC MIKA Ashtarak or Rabotnicki. Those are not names which are going to dominate Europe anytime soon, so here is a little low-down on them, and a quick look at what Liverpool can expect. New Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is contemplating resting his World Cup stars for this one, showing you how much of a battle he expects on his hands. After picking up Joe Cole, Milan Jovanovic and now defender Danny Wilson from Rangers, Hodgson is clearly not about to waste any time in putting together a side which can get Liverpool heading back in the right direction. His first competitive match in charge will be in the third

FK Rabotnicki are from Macedonia, and they hold a 1-0 lead over their opponents, going into the second leg of their qualifying effort. They have now won three out of three in their qualification matches so far, after scoring eleven goals against Andorran opponents Lucitans in the first qualifying round. Rabotnicki went out in the third qualifying round of the tournament last year, but looking back at the 2007/08 UEFA Cup, they played English side Bolton in the first round proper, drawing 1-1 and then losing 1-0 against the Premier League side. Opponents Mika entered straight in the second qualifying round of the Europa League, but the side from Armenia failed to find the back of the net in their 1-0 defeat against Rabotnicki. They have never been past the second qualification round. So, who will win the battle of Macedonia v Armenia? Well, bookmakers are actually learning towards Mika having enough in the tank to win the second leg back on their home turf, which is a little surprising. But, Mika had three attempts on target to Rabotnicki’s one in the first match, but the latter went down to ten men in the first half, and stole an 87th minute winner. Still, match odds have Mika 11/8 at SkyBet to win Thursday’s match, while Rabotnicki are 2/1 at Bet365 to win. A draw will fetch you 12/5 at Ladbrokes.

Liverpool, who are 12/1 second favourites at Coral to win the Europa League, will play the winners in the Third Qualifying Round of the Europa Cup, with the first leg at Anfield on July 29th, and the return fixture on August 5th.