Live on Five: Wed 20.05: Man City are just 1/4 with Stan James to beat Red Bull Salzburg in the Europa League but which City will turn up?
City are still in the top four of the Premier League and joint top of their Europa League Group but 2 wins in 8 games is not the form of a 1/4 quote (Stan James). Salzburg’s large 14/1 (Totesport) belies their 3 straight wins and very good 0-0 draw away in Juventus, indicating they may have it in them to force the draw – an 11/2 shot at Ladbrokes.
But which Man City will turn up? The one that thrashed Fulham, the one that was largely outplayed by Stoke, the one that had 30 shots against Birmingham but couldn’t score or the one that fell apart so badly at the back away in Poznan?
With an away trip to Juventus, it is likely Man City will call on a strong XI to shore up 3 points and punters can expect a win for City in a reasonably tight contest. 1-0 to City is 7/1 at bet365 with Adam Johnson 15/2 to score the 1st goal and 9/4 to score at anytime (both William Hill). A tight Man City win could be on the cards, in fact Blue Square say 16/5 that City win by just 1 goal. Backing Salzburg with a 2 goal handicap still returns a 6/5 quote at bet365.
The other Group A teams, Poznan and Juventus, fight it out in Poland and Poznan are 11/4 at Betfred to win. Poznan really impressed against Man City, especially in front of goal. If Juve come to sit back, Poznan will punish them but with only 4 points, the Old Lady need to chase a win, an 11/10 chance at Totesport.
Their could well be goals here as Poznan punish on the break and Juve exploit the slightly worse defence of the home team. 3 goals or more is a tasty 11/10 at Paddy Power.
Elsewhere, Young Boys are just 19/20 (Totesport) to beat Stuttgart, who have 4 wins from 4. The thinking here is that a weak Stuttgart team will travel but they could still force a draw in Switzerland at 14/5 (Coral). In a similar situation, Zenit have 4 wins from 4 and are just evens with Ladbrokes to beat Anderlecht. The Belgian visitors are a handsome 3/1 () as they must win and considering Zenit can’t surrender top spot anymore, the large odds are tempting. Skybet offer 2/1 on Anderlecht in the draw no bet market.
Atletico Madrid will be chasing 3 points over Aris and as they are a short 2/7 with 888sport so think about Atletico winning to nil (1/1 Paddy Power).
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