SCOTTISH football aficionado Gerry Taylor (@thefurlongpole) shares his verdict on Thursday night's Europa League MD6 action involving Scottish clubs.
Lech Poznan vs Rangers | Thursday 10th December 2020, 17:55 | BT Sport
Steven Gerrard unbeaten Rangers side this season will want to sign off the group stages with a victory in Poland. This will ensure a more-preferable draw in the knockout stages early next year.
Lech Poznan have only wracked up three points in Group D, and are playing for pride only. I anticipate a fairly-open match with the pressure off both teams.
Poznan's last eight matches have produced 30 goals, whilst the Ibrox men’s last eight matches have saw a whopping 36 goals.
With this in mind, I fancy a few goals and the Teddy Bears to be too strong for the Kolejorz – so the 5/4 with Paddy Power for Rangers to win and Over 2.5 Goals is the selection.
Celtic vs Lille | Thursday 10th December 2020, 20:00 | BT Sport
Celtic continue to stumble from crisis to crisis on a weekly basis. Fans are currently in a frenzy, as Neil Lennon has been given the vote of confidence to turn things round by the powerbrokers at Parkhead.
It's bad enough taking hidings on Thursday evenings in the Europa League, but both the League Cup KO as hosts to Ross County and then the abject performance in a 1-1 draw to St Johnstone at the weekend are hardly showing any signs of the green shoots of recovery.
Lille, in contrast, are in third place in Europe with regards their current consecutive scoring match run (20) – only behind Milan (29) and Bayern (23). It's very difficult to get away from Lille at 5/4 with Betfair to win this match – that would guarantee them a seeding in the knockout stages.
Another angle that has caught my eye is for the French side to score Over 1.5 Second-Half Goals, especially when you analyse the minutes that they have scored their 12 goals thus far in Group H: 45-60-66-75-67-75-22-55-58-65-80-84.
It makes interesting reading. Throw into the mix that Lennon continually recently has been criticising some of his player’s lack of fitness and Over 1.5 Second-Half Lille Goals makes some appeal at 12/5 with Betway.
Finally, a speculative pound or two on either Burak Yilmaz at 40/1 (Skybet) or Yusuf Yazici 100/1 (Bet365) to score a hat-trick is maybe not the most outlandish punt ever. One will probably start, the other will probably be used as a substitute. Both are also adept from the penalty spot when called upon.
Best Bets
Lech Poznan vs Rangers – Rangers to win and Over 2.5 Goals (5/4 Paddy Power)
Lille vs Celtic – Lille to win (5/4 Betfair)
Lille vs Celtic – Lille to score Over 1.5 Second-Half Goals (12/5 Betway)
Lille vs Celtic – Burak Yilmax to score a hat-trick (40/1 SkyBet)
Lille vs Celtic – Yusuf Yazici to score a hat-trick (100/1 Bet365)
