IT'S been a cracking couple of nights for Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79) in the Champions League, but can he transfer his form to the Europa League? Pressure's on Chris!
Lokeren v Metalist | Thursday 18:00
The Europa League is a horrid competition to bet on, bit like the English League Cup. But I spent a couple of hours researching it yesterday, so it makes sense to share my thoughts with you.
Remember Lokeren? They knocked out Hull in the play-off round of this competition in August. I was fairly impressed so I backed them a fortnight ago at Legia Warsaw at a big price. They lost 1-0, but certainly didn't disgrace themselves.
I'm willing to give them another chance tonight as they host Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv. Lokeren sit 4th in the Belgian league at the moment and are on a decent run of form with no defeat in 5 and no home loss all campaign, so 13/8 to win tonight with Bet365 caught my eye.
They face Metalist, who lost their opening fixture too. Trabzonspor (more of them later) beat them 2-1 two weeks ago and it could be more pain here in Belgium. Kharkiv are having a bit of a ‘mare in their own league at the moment with just 1 win in 6. They haven't won away since July and lie in the bottom 5. Lokeren at 13/8 with Bet365 for me.
Trabzonspor v Legia Warsaw | Thursday 18:00
I really like the 11/10 with BetVictor that Trabzonspor can beat Legia Warsaw this evening. As I mention above, the Turkish side got off to a good Europa League start with a 2-1 win over Metalist two weeks ago, that was no surprise as they have a strong profile in this event.
Trab won their Europa League group last year with an unbeaten record of four wins and two draws. In the Last 32 they were incredibly unlucky to be drawn against Juventus and went out 4-0 on aggregate. But overall it was a very positive campaign. Crucially Legia were in their group last season and the Turkish side won both meetings 2-0.
Those of you that follow me on Twitter will know I used to keep a close eye on Polish football (no time these days) and I can't quite get Legia's awful Europa League campaign out of my mind from last season. Five defeats out of six was a pithy effort and I can't envisage enough improvement for them to go to Turkey and win.
Odds against on Trabzonspor looks lovely. Cheers BetVictor!
Best Bets
Lokeren v Metalist – Lokeren to win (13/8 Bet365)
Trabzonspor v Legia Warsaw – Trabzonspor to win (11/10 BetVictor)
