Bookmakers are struggling to separate the frontrunners in the outright market, but the path to May’s final will begin to look a little clearer this week. Below Lucky Block previews the round of 16, including Europa Conference League tips and predictions.
Last year’s finalists Fiorentina, sleeping giants Aston Villa, and European royalty Ajax are all heavily favoured to book their tickets to the final in Athens.
Beyond the frontrunners the last-16 pool is spread fairly thin, which should present opportunities for a deep run. Nevertheless, European ties can prove problematic even for the perceived favourites – more on that later.
Europa Conference League Tips and Predictions
Ajax vs Aston Villa Tips
- Aston Villa to Win and Both Teams to Score @ 9/5
Despite being the third tier of European football, the fixture of the round carries plenty of prestige and heritage.
Both former winners of the European Cup/Champions League, Ajax and Aston Villa face off in the first leg of their last-16 tie in Amsterdam.
The hosts’ well-documented struggles at the start of the season have been flipped since a change in management, but stuttering form as of late still sees them as low as fifth in the Eredivisie.
Aston Villa is certainly not the kind of test you want to face when low on confidence. Not only have they won four of the last five in all competitions, but manager Unai Emery holds one of the finest portfolios in European competition.
A Champions League semi-finalist and Europa League winner with Villarreal, along with a further three triumphs with Sevilla; Emery is a master tactician in knockout competition.
Rivalling Tottenham for that coveted Champions League spot will be the club’s priority heading into the latter stage of the season, but major European silverware for the first time since the early 80’s is exactly what Emery was hired for.
As the competition outright favourites, we firmly expect Villa to prevail in this first leg. They have been susceptible to conceding however, allowing at least a goal in six of their last seven, including a total of four over the last two games.
Maccabi Haifa vs Fiorentina Tips
- Maccabi Haifa or Draw @ 13/10
Remember the passing comment earlier about problematic fixtures for the favourites? This could well be one of those.
Last year’s finalists Fiorentina were far from impressive in the group stage, drawing half of their six games. The games they did win, they won convincingly, but all three of those slip-ups came away from home.
Despite now being seasoned Europa Conference League veterans, Maccabi Haifa is one of those destinations that could prove problematic for any side. The throbbing atmosphere created by the near-30,000 fans has been the main driver of their relative success in Europe this season.
I Viola have picked up just 16 points from a possible 42 on the road in Serie A, and their form of late has been flat to say the least, winning just three of their previous 12.
The value is firmly with the hosts for the first leg, and covering ourselves with the double chance makes this a solid selection.
Molde vs Club Brugge Tips
- Over 2.5 Goals @ 97/100
This is a tie that pits two sides very capable of scoring against each other.
Club Brugge will have extra impetus to enjoy a deep run in this competition, having relinquished their Belgian crown last season after three successive title-winning seasons.
This wound has been deepened by the fact they trail Union Saint-Gilloise by 20 points in the Belgian Pro League, so European success is the only invigorating part of their season that remains.
Despite this, they hold the second-best attacking record domestically having scored at a rate of just over two goals per-90.
Molde meanwhile showed that there are no cobwebs despite the Norwegians being in the midst of their off-season. A commanding 6-2 aggregate victory over Legia Warsaw to secure their spot in the last-16 was the kind of goal-laden fixture we expect here.
It is worth noting that Molde has seen three goals or more in all but two of their previous 18.
NOTE: All three of our tips can be combined into one accumulator on the Lucky Block sports betting site, at odds of 11/1. A £20 stake would return £245.
