INTER MILAN take on Bayer Leverkusen on Monday night in the Europa League quarter-finals. Brett Curtis (@brett_curtis92) showcases his favourite fancies.
Inter Milan vs Bayer Leverkusen | Monday 10th August 2020, 20:00 | BT Sport
Inter Milan host Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League quarter-final on Monday evening. Antonio Conte's side dispatched Getafe 2-0 on Wednesday, while Leverkusen beat Rangers 1-0 to seal a 4-1 aggregate win the following evening. The straight knock-out tie between the two sides will take place at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Inter boss Conte will have Alexis Sanchez available for selection after he completed his permanent move from Manchester United earlier in the week week, but he will likely utilise the Chilean from the bench with Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku leading the line.
Leverkusen will be hoping Kai Havertz can showcase precisely why Chelsea are linked with a £80m move for him this summer. The 21-year-old scored six goals in seven league starts after the restart, although may play a little deeper here with fit-again Kevin Volland up-front.
However, Havertz's goals were not enough to seal a Champions League qualification spot for his side, leaving winning the Europa League as their last shot at dining at Europe's top table next season.
In contrast, Inter finished second in Serie A – just a point behind champions Juventus, albeit helped by the fact the Turin side lost their last two dead-rubbers of the season – having taken an impressive 24 points from 11 games since the restart.
Personally, I think they are the more convincing of the two sides here, so to receive better than evens on Inter to win in 90 mins (11/10 Unibet) seems a solid price.
Having had a little bad luck with player bets of late, sometimes it pays to keep things simple on the outright market.
Indeed, Inter have kept six clean sheets in their last seven games and while it'd be no major surprise to see Leverkusen bag one, I think Lukaku and Martinez's pace and prowess can cause no end of problems to the German side's back-line.
Too often they rely on the highly-promising Edmond Tapsoba to bail them out, but the 21-year-old will need serious support with two devastating strikers in his vicinity.
With Sanchez and Christian Eriksen to call from on the bench if needed, Conte's side should have enough in the tank to book their place in the final four without requiring extra-time or penalties.
If you're looking for a slightly bigger price, though, I think Lukaku to score and Inter to win at 9/4 (Betfair) is probably worth a poke. It's hard to envisage the Belgian not scoring here should Inter win given the form he is in.
Best Bets
Inter Milan vs Bayern Leverkusen – Inter Milan to win (11/10 Unibet)
Inter Milan vs Bayern Leverkusen – Romelu Lukaku to score and Inter Milan to win (9/4 Betfair)
