Football betting tips: Europa League
1pt Morgan Rogers to be carded at 4/1 (bet365)
1pt Elliot Anderson to be carded at 3/1 (bet365)
0.5pt Rogers and Anderson card double at 18/1 (bet365)
*All bets settled in 90 mins
He’s undermining the integrity of the competition was the cry from east London on Sunday as Aston Villa boss Unai Emery made six changes for the visit of Tottenham.
Spurs raced into a two-goal lead and went on to win the game 2-1. Combined with West Ham’s 3-0 defeat at Brentford the day before, the Hammers slipped into the relegation zone.
That’s why West Ham fans are annoyed at Villa - in a round about way they could have relegated them.
But look at the starting XI, it wasn’t like they waved the white flag. Besides, what do you honestly expect Unai the European connoisseur Emery to do?
Your #AVLTOT team news is in ✊ pic.twitter.com/6EY4SOh5Os
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) May 3, 2026
He loves the Europa League and his side are in a very cushty position in the Premier League.
Even after Sunday’s defeat, they remain in fifth with a six-point cushion to sixth, level on points with Liverpool in fourth with three games to go.
Anyway, some of Villa's big hitters will be better for a bit of rest and boy will they need it ahead of Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg because at the halfway stage, Nottingham Forest lead 1-0.
Chris Wood’s penalty was the difference in a nip-and-tuck first leg at the City Ground. Villa are generally 3/4 to win in 90 minutes on Thursday and Forest are generally 4/6 to qualify.
Forest boss Vitor Pereira took a leaf out of Emery’s book for his side's trip to Stamford Bridge on Monday as only three players (Matz Sels, Jair Cunha, Igor Jesus) survived from their 5-0 win against Sunderland.
Not that it mattered, Forest were three up before the hour mark and went onto win 3-1. Now they are six points clear of the relegation zone and most firms aren’t even offering a price for them to be relegated anymore.
It means they can focus their undivided attention to this European semi-final - which is a scary prospect.
They’re 10 unbeaten and have won their last five games, keeping three clean sheets and scoring 14 goals since drawing to Thursday’s opponents in the league.
The only issue for Forest is Morgan Gibbs-White took a whack to the head at Stamford Bridge after a collision with Robert Sanchez.
It required a lot of stitches, he might not be fit to play here which would be bad news as he has been scintillating recently. Gibbs-White has had a hand in 16 of his side's 42 goals since the turn of the year.
Morgan Gibbs-White shared an update on Instagram after his nasty clash of heads against Chelsea 🤕 pic.twitter.com/rKdrrCTX3R
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 4, 2026
With regards to the betting, I’m delving into the player card market.
Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg is obliging, dishing out 44 yellow cards and two reds across 11 appearances in this competition. He's had highs of nines and lows of one but given the circumstances here, you’d like to think there'll be a few yellows flashed.
A couple of incidents stood out from the first leg, both involving ELLIOT ANDERSON.
The first was a naughty tackle on Ollie Watkins which Emery said "could have broken his ankle" but it went unpunished.
The other was a cheeky nutmegs on MORGAN ROGERS. Really humiliating stuff.
England team-mates? Elliot Anderson stop that 🤧
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 30, 2026
📺 @tntsports on HBO Max pic.twitter.com/slkFCQ2ryW
Rogers is understandably seething, he commented "see you next week mate" on Anderson's Instagram post.
Friendly banter between compatriots? Or the promise of vengeance? I'll go with the latter and given both players' card records, backing the pair TO BE CARDED as singles and as a CARD DOUBLE is the play.
Rogers has nine cards in the Premier League and Europa League and considering his career cards per 90 average, quotes of 4/1 are a touch too big.
Anderson is on 11 cards for the season, he’s a point shorter to be booked here but still looks a touch big.
The double pays out at 18/1 with bet365.
Odds correct at 11:00 BST (05/05/26)
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