SCOTTISH football aficionado Gerry Taylor (@thefurlongpole) shares his verdict on Thursday night's Europa League MD2 action involving Scottish clubs.
Rangers vs Lech Poznan | Thursday 29th October 2020, 20:00 | BT Sport
These two teams have had contrasting starts to their league campaigns. Rangers sit top with a six point gap to the rest in Scotland, whilst the Polish team sit below mid-table in 10th in the Ekstraklasa.
The hosts remarkably have scored exactly two goals in all of their last five outings, winning the past four ‘to nil'
I think ultimately Rangers will have to much for Poznan on the night, however, as I'm not a big fan of putting up odds-on shots, an angle-in that pays 11/5, seems a lot more palatable.
Poznan remarkably have scored in 27 consecutive away matches in all competitions. Although Steven Gerrard's defence has looked pretty solid of late, there have been one or two chances that the likes of Livingston etc have passed up lately.
So the bet suggested – Rangers to win and Both Teams To Score at 11/5 (Bet365) should have a fair chance of landing, given the Poles prolific goal stats on-the-road.
Lille vs Celtic | Thursday 29th October 2020, 17:55 | BT Sport
Neil Lennon's side come into this, on the back of back-to-back defeats and then a 3-3 draw at the weekend against Aberdeen at Pittodrie. That one will feel almost like a defeat to the Hoops as they dropped more points in pursuit of 10 titles in-a-row.
In contrast Christophe Gaultier's charges are sitting proudly joint-top of Ligue 1 along with PSG – having gained W5-D3-L0 in their eight matches – only having conceded a paltry three goals in the process.
Lille have a very strong home record, winning 11 out of their last 14 at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Even more impressively, the hosts have won 10/11 of these by shutting out the opposition. With this in mind, the 2/1 Bet Victor are offering on Lille to win to nil, certainly looks worth an interest.
The main danger to the under-pressure Shane Duffy and co at the heart of the Celtic defence is Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz. The veteran front-man has four goals in Ligue 1 thus far, averaging a goal every 150 minutes or so.
Burak will be looking forward to facing up to a back-line that have shipped seven goals in the last three matches. As you will know, I like to have a penalty-taker onside where possible. He is a 22/5 poke with Unibet to nab the opening goal, this is probably worth a small dabble at those odds, as he is 3/1-10/3 with other bookmakers.
Best Bets
Rangers vs Lech Poznan – Rangers to win and Both Teams To Score (11/5 Bet36%)
Celtic vs Lille – Lille to win to nil (2/1 BetVictor)
Celtic vs Lille – Burak Yilmaz to score first (22/5 Unibet)
