ASTANA v VILLARREAL
Thursday 23rd November 2017 – Kickoff: 1700hrs
Football – Europe – Europa League Betting Tips
In Group A, there’s a top of the table clash between hosts, Astana and visitors, Villarreal as second place take on first on Thursday night in match day five of the Europa League.
Kazakhstan outfit, Astana, currently sit in second place in the group and just one point behind the leaders and tonight’s opposition Villarreal after losing just one match to date; that defeat could be significant as it was a match day one 3-1 defeat away from home at Villarreal, but they’ve bounced back with wins over Maccabi Tel Aviv both home and away, and gained a point at home to Slavia Prague.
Astana still remain unbeaten at home, but will be severely tested this evening when they come up against the Spanish side who also remain unbeaten away from home. Astana have lost just once in their last ten Europa League ties at home, the loss was against, yes, you’ve guessed it – Villarreal in a 3-0 defeat back in August 2014!
Onto Villarreal, and as mentioned, they sit top of Group A thanks to wins over Astana and Slavia Prague along with draws against Maccabi Tel Aviv and Slavia Prague, but their lead is a slender one with a single point margin over second placed Astana ahead of their trip to Kazakhstan on match day five.
A win tonight for Villarreal would seal their place in the knock out stages of the competition, and let’s not forget that they achieved a 1-0 win away at AS Roma in last year’s competition, so they’re a force to be reckoned with.
Perhaps most significantly though, is their dominance over Astana as they’ve won all of their previous meetings by 3-1, 4-0 and 3-0 margins.
Pick: Villarreal AH0 @ 1.70 Bet Victor looks a solid play
