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Europa League

Europa League predictions and free football tips

Free football tips, best bets and predictions for Thursday's semi-final second legs in the Europa League

Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz celebrates his first-leg goal against Roma
Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz celebrates his first-leg goal against RomaCredit: NurPhoto

Where to watch

Bayer Leverkusen v Roma
TNT Sports 2, 8pm Thursday

Atalanta v Marseille
TNT Sports 3, 8pm Thursday

Best bets

Florian Wirtz first goalscorer v Roma
TNT Sports 2, 8pm Thursday
1pt each-way 7-1 bet365

Atalanta-Atalanta double result v Marseille
TNT Sports 3, 8pm Thursday
1pt 7-4 Betfair

Thursday Europa League predictions

Bayer Leverkusen have not lost any of their 48 matches in all competitions this season and Roma need to beat the German champions by at least a two-goal margin in their semi-final second leg to have any chance of reaching the Europa League final.

Having sealed their maiden Bundesliga title on April 14, Leverkusen are hot favourites to complete a domestic double by beating second-division Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final.

Xabi Alonso's men also head the Europa League betting after a 2-0 first-leg win away to Roma, where Florian Wirtz opened the scoring before a stunning strike from midfielder Robert Andrich.

Leverkusen's attacking success this season has been a real team effort and five different players were on the scoresheet for the champions in Sunday's 5-1 Bundesliga win at sixth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt.

However, 21-year-old Wirtz catches the eye in the first-goalscorer betting, having started in the centre-forward role in the first leg in Rome.

The Germany international has scored four goals in seven Europa League starts this season and his recent hot streak in the Bundesliga includes a hat-trick against Werder Bremen, scoring with three of his five shots after coming on as a half-time substitute.

While Roma are 25-1 to qualify from their semi-final, their Serie A rivals Atalanta are odds-on to beat Marseille in 90 minutes after a 1-1 draw at the Stade Velodrome.

Marseille may rue their failure to take a first-leg lead as striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed a couple of good chances and substitute Azzedine Ounahi hit the post.

No team in Ligue 1 have taken fewer points away from home than Marseille's 11 from 15 games and Jean-Louis Gasset's side have lost three of their last four Europa League trips to Brighton, Villarreal and Benfica.

They were trailing at half-time in the last two of those defeats and Atalanta, who have won all four of their domestic fixtures since knocking out Liverpool in the Europa League quarter-finals, can take control of the tie early on in Bergamo.


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James MiltonRacing Post Sport

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