Expert Betting - Europe League betting previews

Atletico won the first leg by only 1 goal which will make this game a very tight one where every goal can weigh a lot. The Spanish team knows that if they'll score in this game it will be hard for Liverpool to go in the final. Liverpool also know this and they will have a cautious tactic, but they also need to score once at least. Also I think they are confident that they can score more, and avoid playing in the extra time minutes.

Atletico will miss only Tiago for this game, but they have all the big names in first line up. The defenders made a great game in the first leg, and it'll be very hard for them to repeat that performance on Anfield. Liverpool has some important missing players for this game: Torres who is injured for a while, Maxi Rodrigues who came from Atletico this winter and has no right to play, Skrtel also injured, while Riera, N'Gog and Insua are doubtful.

Liverpool lost the first leg against Lille and Benfica by 1 goal in away game and in home ground they've managed to win by 3 goals ( 3-0 against Lille and 4-1 against Benfica). Tonight I think the game will be similar with the one against Benfica, and we probably see goals for both teams. Atletico has a strong attack formations with Forlan leading start (in my opinion) alongside Aguero, supported by wingers Reyes and Simao.

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Kyrgiakos, Agger, Lucas, Mascherano, Babel, Gerrard, Banayoun, Kuyt

Atletico: De Gea, Lopez, Dominguez, Perea, Ujvalusi, Simao, Garcia, Assuncao, Reyes, Aguero, Forlan

I'm confided that the pressure created by the crowd will determine the spanish players to make mistakes and see Liverpool scoring a few times. I hope to see Liverpool in the final, as they are fighting again with real chances to win a trophy after a few years.

Our prediction: Over 2.75, 6/10 @2.02 at 188Bet

Final result: 2 - 1 (1 - 0), -6.00

Liverpool started well the first leg, and they should get more in that game. But Babel took that red card in first half and Benfica started to play better and better, encouraged by those fantastic fans. However, they could score twice only after 2 penalties were given, so we can say that they've won the game with some luck: with one more player than Liverpool, crazy fans encouraging them and two penalties. On Anfield, things should go in the opposite way. Liverpool will have the fans, playing 11 vs 11 and with the motivation that they should win this game to qualify.

It's obvious that Benfica will try everything to qualify as they don't have anything else to fight for this season ( they are almost champions in Portugal and nothing else can happen in the remaining rounds). They have big expectations after they won in first leg. They will miss only Saviola as an important player. The rest of the team is quite the same as in the first leg.

Liverpool still have small chances to get 4th place in Premier League and they will fight till the end. However it's pretty sure that everyone at the club want a trophy, even if it's Europa League and not Champions League or Premier League. So they need a win tonight, and even one by 2 goals or more if Benfica scores. They aren't playing too bad, and I see them with first chance here to qualify. However, they will miss some important players like Skrtel, Insua, Babel or Maxi Rodriguez who already played for Atletico this season in Europa League.

I won't be surprised if this will be an over 2.5 goals game, but I also know that it's very possible to see 1-0 on the scoreboard at the end of the game. So, for me this is the best bet.

Our prediction: Liverpool -0.75, 7/10 @1.76 at 188Bet

Final result: 4 - 1, +5.32

March was a great month for us, and it'll be hard to achieve again this performance with yield over 50% and 40 units in profit. But let's start with this game in Europa League, between Benfica and Liverpool.

Benfica has a great team this season, coached by Jorge Jesus, and with leading stars like Cardozo or Saviola, they managed to win 61 points in 24 games in Portuguese Liga. With only 6 games left to play, and 6 points over Sporting Braga, we can say that they'll win the trophy at the end of the season. But now they have another challenge, to reach or win the final of Europa League. The team is enthusiastic, with good morale, which will gave them wings in games like this one. They can defeat Liverpool, they can score in this game, but it will a hard game. Their last defeat was in November, so a defeat here will cut out their good morale. However I expect them to make a good game in first leg, even if Liverpool will have the first chance to qualify for the second leg.

Liverpool believes to achieve 4th place in Premier League and play again in Champions League next year. But they know they have a difficult job doing this, so they really need some good results even if they won't play next year in Champions League. A trophy will be very good for the players, for the board and the fans. This trophy can be earned by winning the Europa League this season. In order to do this, they need to make a good game now, and maybe score at least one goal to have an easier task in the second leg. By getting here a good result, they can concentrate again in Premier League an hope for some bad results of their opponents: Man City and Tottenham.

Torres is playing great and scoring a lot of goals, I really think that he can score again in this game as Benfica's defense is not so experienced against this kind of players. I hope to see Benfica scoring first as they would have a difficult job to defend against Liverpool. If Liverpool scores first, if they want to close the game they can be successful and we'll lost the bet.

Our prediction: Over 2.5, 5/10 @2.28 at Pinnacle

Final result: 2 - 1, +6.40

In normal conditions, there is no favorite team in this game. Both teams have the same style of playing, offensively with great offensive players like: Baros, Kewell, Keita, Elano for Galatasary and Aguero, Forlan, Reyes, Simao for Atletico. The main problem for Galatasary is that they will miss a lot of these offensive players. The incoming transfer Jo has to replace Baros, but he is also injured, Giovanni dos Santos is not adapted yet and he even might miss the first line up today.

Atletico comes after a great win against Barcelona, and they've showed great football. They have problems only in Primera, but they'll play the final of Copa del Rey, and have a good chance here to advance in Europe League. Great power attack for them, so I expect seeing at least 2 goals for Atletico today. With those offensive problems for Galatasaray, this bet cat be a winning one, however the odds could be better.

Our prediction: Atletico -1, 6/10 @2.15 at Pinnacle

Final result: 1 - 1, -6.00

Ok, some of you can consider this is an optimistic bet, but let's check why should Liverpool win this game easily.
Unirea Urziceni played in Champions League, made 8 points in a group with Sevilla, Stuttgart and Rangers. Won 1-0 against Sevilla at home, 4-1 on Rangers ground, so they look like a good team which can put big problems to any team in Europe League. However, they lost their manager who went in Russia, lost 2 key players who finished their loans (Balan and Varga), and probably the most important thing, they've lost some of the enthusiasm they had at the beginning of the competition, as they were playing for the first time in Champions League.

One more thing is that they come after the winter break, still no official game this year for them, so they can have some problems in their playing style. With a new coach and no official game, you want to get a good result on Anfield? I don't think so, even if they will play defensively all the 90 minutes, Liverpool will find the way of scoring.

Also, let's look on their schedule in this period: they play with Liverpool, then with CFR Cluj, again with Liverpool, then with Rapid Bucuresti and Steaua Bucuresti. CFR, Rapid and Steaua are also playing like them to win the Romanian Liga 1 trophy. So, maybe their thoughts will be to play better in Liga 1 and try to win again the tropy and play again in Champions League next season. However, playing against Liverpool, even if they might not have too many chances, is a great opportunity, and they try to do their best.

Rafa Benitez will miss Torres, which will low the power attack of the English side, but there are a lot of good players in their squad like Gerrard or Kuyt.

Our prediction: Liverpool -1.75, 6/10 @2.15 at Pinnacle

Final result: 1 - 0, -6.00