Europa Conference League: First Leg Betting Tips

The Europa Conference League, the newest of UEFA’s knockout events, is down to the last 24 teams with 16 of them in action on Thursday.

The play-off round first-leg ties feature the eight teams who were runners-up in the group-stage campaign against eight clubs discarded from the Europa League.

There are plenty of European big-hitters going to post on Thursday, among them Ajax and Eintracht Frankfurt, and we have tips from both of their contests.

Tip 1 - Maccabi Haifa to beat Gent @ 33/20

Israel aces Maccabi Haifa are having to trek up to Hungary to resume their European campaign but should be confident of being able to see off Gent.

The Bozsik Stadium in Budapest plays host to this tie between Maccabi, who pipped Panathinaikos for third place in their Europa League group, and Gent, who were runners-up behind another Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv, in this competition’s group stage.

And Maccabi are flying. Since losing at ‘home’ to Rennes in a Europa League tie in early November - also in Budapest - they have played 20 matches and lost just one of them in 90 minutes.

They hit the top of the table two weeks ago and won 2-0 at Beitar Jerusalem at the weekend.

And their form is in stark contrast to Gent’s, the Belgian side having failed to win since Boxing Day, a run of six matches which has seen them drop to sixth place in the table and right out of the title race.

Tip 2 - Sturm Graz to beat Slovan Bratislava @ 10/13

Sturm Graz returned from their winter break with a 2-0 cup win over Austria Vienna before following that up with a creditable 1-1 draw at Austrian Bundesliga leaders Salzburg.

Any point taken from mighty Salzburg is a well-earned one especially as it keeps Sturm just two points adrift in second spot, and means they take enormous confidence into the visit of Slovan Bratislava in the Conference League.

Sturm are here having dropped out of the Europa League where they found Atalanta and Sporting Lisbon too good to dislodge, but they nailed down third spot.

And Christian Ilzer’s men are in good form having not lost a domestic game since early November.

Slovakian league leaders Slovan also returned from a winter pause at the weekend and did so with a win, beating Zilina 4-0.

But they head for Austria minus two key players, veteran Austrian and ex-Spurs centre-back Kevin Wimmer and Canadian international keeper Milan Borjan both suspended.

Tip 3 - Ajax vs Bodo/Glimt Over 3.5 goals @ 6/5

You would expect goals and plenty of them when Ajax take on Norwegian aces Bodo/Glimt at the Johan Cruyff Arena.

The Conference League looks a big deal for Ajax who are having a sorry season by their standards and will not be winning the Eredivisie.

Both teams have scored in each of Ajax’s last 12 matches, nine of which produced four goals or more. And their three home matches in the Europa League, a campaign in which they finished third behind Brighton and Marseille, produced 12 goals.

There is a temptation to think they will win this easily but this is not a vintage Ajax and Bodo/Glimt, lest we forget, were quarter-finalists in this competition two seasons back.

They are just emerging from hibernation but last week’s 4-0 win at Malmo in their final friendly suggests they are still a more than capable outfit.

Tip 4 - Union Saint-Gilloise to beat Eintracht Frankfurt @ 23/20

Union Saint-Gilloise are on course for a first Belgian league title in 90 years and are more than capable of doubling up with a lengthy run in the Conference League.

You could argue they had one of the shorter straws by being paired with Eintracht Frankfurt but Union have good grounds to be confident.

The match is being played at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium in Brussels, a neutral venue but not one that proved a handicap in the Europa League group stage in which they beat LASK and Liverpool - both 2-1 - and drew with Toulouse.

And Eintracht’s efforts over the autumn in this competition were fairly modest, finishing seven points off PAOK in their group and even managing to lose 2-0 at Aberdeen.

They have returned from the winter break with two wins, two draws and a defeat in the Bundesliga, nothing that will have Union fearing the worst.

They also play Freiburg away on Sunday in a massive match in the chase for European places and will have one eye on that assignment.