All games are on Thursday at 20:05
Fiorentina v Dinamo Kiev
Live on ITV4
Back both teams to score @ [1.9]
We’re sticking with a bet that landed in the first leg, particularly as it is still available to back at a comparable price to last Thursday.
Fiorentina haven’t fired a single blank in the Europa League this term despite wading 11 fixtures deep, while Dinamo Kiev have been shut out only once, when condemned to an unlikely 3-0 defeat by AaB in October. They have compensated since with 17 goals in eight outings.
The other factor in the Ukrainians’ favour is that their hosts have clearly never partaken in a Daz Doorstep Challenge, obtaining a pretty shabby two clean sheets in 13 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Napoli v Wolfsburg
Live on BT Sport 1
Back over 2.5 goals @ [1.74]
Though Rafael Benitez’s instinct may be to sit on his side’s unexpected 4-1 advantage with all the exuberance of a serial Musical Chairs winner, Napoli have kept just three clean sheets in 12 so probably aren’t best suited to such an approach.
Instead, the three-goal lead gives them the luxury of not needing to rely on a shutting of the defensive shop while simultaneously forcing Wolfsburg to play even more offensively than they do by default.
All three of the Bundesliga second-place team’s three clashes with Italian opposition this season delivered three goals or more, as have four of their five Europa League road trips to date. Napoli boast the same over-2.5-goal rate in the competition at the San Paolo.
Zenit St Petersburg v Sevilla
Back both teams to score @ [1.75]
Sevilla possess European football’s favourite “dangerous lead” having taken the home first leg of a double header 2-1, affording their foes the equivalent of the beefy bouncer accompanying the weedy guy who doesn’t intimidate you much: an away goal.
However, the holders have the perfect antidote to such concerns in the form of a 14-match away scoring streak across La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Europa League, topped off with three goals apiece on their ventures to Borussia Monchengladbach and Villarreal in the past two rounds.
Zenit have netted in a dozen successive Petrovsky Stadium assignments, so this jury can find no case against backing both teams to score.
A £10 treble provides an estimated profit of £40.90 if successful
