Live on ITV 4 & Ch 5: Thu 18.00 & 19.45: Liverpool are 19/20 with Stan James to beat Napoli and keep their Europa dream alive.
Liverpool’s mini-revival continued on Sunday as Maxi Rodriguez’s late goal in a tight affair at Bolton gave them a second straight Premiership win and although the Reds are not yet playing with fluency and confidence, the steel and battling qualities shown recently bode well for the visit of Napoli.
Roy Hodgson’s men are Stan James’ 19/20 favourites to see off the Serie A outfit, Ladbrokes’ 10/3 outsiders and although a repeat of the pair’s draw a fortnight ago could prove popular at 5/2 (Betfred), back on home soil, Liverpool have to be fancied.
Nevertheless, a low-scoring affair seems likely, especially as Hodgson could rest one or two players with Sunday’s showdown against Chelsea in mind, and a tally of fewer than 2.5 goals looks a banker at 5/6 with Betdaq. Punters wanting to take that a little further can back the Reds at 6/1 courtesy bet365 to bag the only goal and Partybets price them at 6/4 to prevail without conceding.
An Emmanuel Adebayor hat trick helped Manchester City to a 3-1 triumph against Lech Poznan at Eastlands and Roberto Mancini’s men are odds-on at 8/11 with to do the double over the Polish outfit.
However, on home soil, Jacek Zielinski’s men will be a different proposition and rumours of a rift at City, who have suffered back-to-back league defeats, don’t exactly instil punters with a great deal of faith in an away win.
It could be one to swerve then and indeed a better bet to triumph on their travels, are Sporting Lisbon at 5/4 with 888Sport. The Portuguese outfit hammered opponents Gent 5-1 last time out in this competition and knowing that a victory in Belgium will guarantee their progression, Costinha’s charges can edge it to maintain their hundred percent record in Group C.
Three other teams also catch the eye in the latest round of fixtures but while none are bankers, the prices are big enough to allow punters to keep stakes low.
Firstly Paris St Germain snared a draw away to Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund a fortnight ago and on home soil as the two renew hostilities, the French side look to have been underestimated a touch by William Hill, who rate them at 17/10 to come out on top against a team yet to convince in the competition.
Lausanne’s 97th minute leveller at Sparta Prague capped a fine comeback from 3-1 down in their last European outing and that result suggests that the Swiss side shouldn’t be discounted, especially at a chunky 3/1 (bet365) as they face the Czech champions on their home patch.
Equally underestimated at 3/1, this time with William Hill, are Levski Sofia. Still in with a shout of reaching the knockout stages, the Bulgarians have won their only home game in Group C and although they lost 1-0 to Lille when the pair met in France, they can fare better on home soil against a mediocre outfit, whose away form this term, in all competitions, is far from impressive.
Recommended Bets:
Liverpool to win and under 2.5 goals in the game – 2/1 (Partybets)
Sporting Lisbon to beat Gent – 5/4 (888Sport)
Compare all Europa League odds and bet at the best price.
