iBet: Napoli are a fast improving outfit hungry for silverware

Europa League

Outright: Back Napoli at 25-1 each way with BetVictor

Tonight: FC Twente V Hannover, lay under 1.5 goals at 3.4 to one with Betfair (kick off 8.05pm)

The Europa League carries a bit of a health warning from a punting point of view, because you can never be sure how seriously clubs are taking it. That certainly applies to the English clubs, who are very loath to send strong teams to away fixtures in particular. In the outright betting there’s the added complication of teams who finish third in their Champions League groups moving into this competition. They are in theory better than all the teams in partaking in the early rounds. However, history tells us that they don’t tend to do that well – in the last 12 years only Atletico Madrid in 2010 and Shakhtar Donetsk in 2009 have dropped out of the Champions League and gone on to lift the trophy. This also makes it a very hard competition for the bookies to price up. Betting comparison site OddsChecker.com tell me that no pre-tournament favourite has won the Europa Cup in the last 12 years, so you can see that the value lies with the longer priced teams who are going to field strong line-ups throughout. One such team could be Napoli, who are a fast improving outfit hungry for silverware. They have started the season well with three straight Serie A wins and the stand-out 25-1 available with BetVictor looks decent value.

Advices

In tonight’s games it may pay to expect goals in the clash between FC Twente and Hannover. Twente have scored 15 goals in their five league games and Hannover nine in their three, and they both have the profile of teams that will field strong sides.

Betfair gives you better value. To see how much more you can win go to www.betfair.com/betchecker

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