Europa League best bets: table-toppers Arsenal, Chelsea and Rangers aim to consolidate leads
Three of the four British teams in action in the Europa League top their groups ahead of the third round of matches.
Chelsea, Arsenal and Rangers face tests with varying degrees of difficulty as they attempt to consolidate their positions, while Celtic probably need to avoid defeat in Austria against RB Leipzig if they are to stand any chance of progressing to the next stage of the competition.
We’ll start with Arsenal’s chances of extending their 10-game winning streak against Sporting, which, stick with me, may hinge on the North London derby on December 2.
Arsenal’s last Europa League group game on November 29 is set to take place in Ukraine just three days before the game against Tottenham, so manager Unai Emery will want to ensure qualification has already been achieved to enable some of his stars to remain at home before that huge match.
Emery will tweak his starting line up in Portugal but, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Danny Welbeck, Aaron Ramsey and Henrikh Mkhitaryan likely to start, they have more than enough firepower to outgun their opponents.
Sporting’s leading scorer this season is former Manchester United player Nani with three goals, while their defence looks far from solid. Evens about an Arsenal win looks a good price, while Arsenal to be leading at the end of both halves could be worth an interest at a general 12/5.
RB Leipzig v Celtic
Brendan Rodgers’ side will face elimination in the group stages if they fail to pick up at least a point in Germany and the manager may be hoping that his generous hosts supply plenty of their owners’ energy drinks in the dressing room before the match.
RB Leipzig have scored 12 goals in their four matches in the Bundesliga and are fast starters on their own ground, registering their first goals in the third and ninth minute in two of their last three matches.
The home side will be most punters’ bankers of the day at around 2/5 but it may be worth taking a chance that the time of the first goal is between 0-10 minutes at 11/4 or 11-20 minutes at 7/2.
Rangers v Spartak Moscow
New manager Steven Gerrard has a perfect record at Ibrox and will be hopeful of back-to-back home wins in the Europa League after beating Rapid Vienna 3-1 earlier this month.
Rangers are around 5/4 to win, but bets should be focused around the goals market here, with the home team having scored at least three goals in each of their last five games. Their opponents also have weapons of their own, with Spartak forward Ze Luis scoring five goals in his last three matches.
Over 2.5 goals at 5/6 looks a good thing, while over 3.5 at 2/1 and over 4.5 at 11/2 should also be considered.
Chelsea v Bate Borisov
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri made seven changes before his team’s last Europa league match with MOD Vidi and his side struggled to break down the visitors.
Sarri changed his entire defence and rested N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Eden Hazard for that game, which was settled when Alvaro Morata eventually made the breakthrough in the 70th minute.
More of the same can be expected here, with Hazard already ruled out with a back problem, and a play on the match to be level at half time before Chelsea go on to win could pay dividends at 3/1.
