Europa League Thursday match predictions: Bank on Barca

Best bets, analysis and predictions for Eintracht Frankfurt v Barcelona and Leipzig v Atalanta in the Europa League on Thursday.

Best bets

Barcelona to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 8pm
1pt 7-10 BoyleSports

Leipzig to beat Atalanta 5.45pm
1pt 4-5 Hills

Preview

A 4-0 thrashing of El Clasico rivals Real Madrid has so far been the highlight of a reformed Barcelona's season but they could yet end the campaign with a trophy in the cabinet.

The Blaugrana have gone from strength to strength under manager Xavi, winning eight and drawing one of their last nine matches in all competitions, and they are well-placed to win their Europa League quarter-final tie with Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt.

At 7-10, they look a solid bet to win the first leg at the Camp Nou, which is gradually returning to fortress status this season with only two defeats suffered in 14 home league fixtures this term.

Atalanta overcame one Bundesliga club when they knocked out Bayer Leverkusen at the last-16 stage but they could have their work cut out repeating the feat against German side Leipzig.

Since the arrival of manager Domenico Tedesco in early December, Leipzig have lost only two matches in the league and are fresh from a 4-1 spanking of Borussia Dortmund.

They received a bye to this stage after Uefa removed Russian club Spartak Moscow from the competition but their aggregate victory over Real Sociedad in the knockout round playoffs shows that they deserve to be here. They can take a big step towards the last four.

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