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Fulham host Hamburg at Craven Cottage with the tie evenly placed at nil nil. Who’s your money on for a place in the Europa League Final?
A tremendous goalless draw for Fulham in Hamburg kept alive hopes of an all-English Europa League final (3/1, Paddy Power) and Roy Hodgson’s men now simply need to win their home match against the Bundesliga side to book another trip to their opponents’ stadium; which will host this year’s final.
Hodgson rested nine players for Sunday’s trip to Everton and it’s a measure of the resilience in his squad that the Cottagers almost deservedly grabbed a point at Goodison Park.
They can apply this steel to their Europa League encounter and at even money with William Hill they look a huge price to get through considering they have won all of their home games in the competition save for a draw against Roma; a run that includes victories against Juventus, Shakhtar Donetsk and Wolfsburg.
Stan James’ 6/5 for them to book a final berth with a triumph in normal time is an outstanding price too when you consider that Hamburg are in disarray having sacked their manager, Bruno Labbadia, following a poor run domestically which culminated in a 5-1 hammering at Hoffenheim last Saturday.
In what should nevertheless be a relatively close affair, Ladbrokes’ 3/1 for Fulham to prevail by a solitary goal catches the eye and for the more ambitious, bet365 post 8/1 against a 2-1 scoreline.
Bobby Zamora’s fitness could be key for Hodgson’s charges and if the in-form striker makes the starting line-up, he’ll be worth considering at 6/1 (Totesport) to notch first. The opener looks set to arrive early in proceedings too and so case can be made for 888Sport’s 5/6 chalked against the deadlock being broken inside half an hour.
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