Europa League betting tips: Thursday's preview, predictions & latest odds for round of 32 ties, including Brugge v Man Utd & Olympiacos v Arsenal

Recommended bets

1pt Arsenal to score 2+ goals at 11/10

1pt Each team to receive 20+ booking points in Rangers v Braga at 100/30

1pt Celtic to beat Copenhagen at 13/10

For details of advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record

Club Brugge v Manchester United

• 1755 GMT kick-off

The plan was always to blood young players in the cake walk of the group stages before taking things a bit more seriously in the knockouts, and that should be the case here despite Manchester Utd's Champions League qualification hopes being given a huge boost thanks to City's recent ban.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer obviously can't count on that, with an appeal still pending, and the Europa League represents a genuine route back to Europe's top table, and still an easier one than via the Premier League.

The team news will be interesting but Bruno Fernandes can play and it may be a good opportunity for Odion Ighalo to get some minutes against the Belgian league leaders, who showed when going 2-0 up at Real Madrid that they can upset even the very best on their day.

Brugge haven't lost at home in the league for almost a year but unsurprisingly lost to both PSG and Real Madrid in the Champions League, conceding eight goals, and have a W3 D3 L3 record in European football at home recently.

United have looked much stronger on the road recently and while you can't really compare Brugge's record in the Belgian league, in Europe there have been plenty of goals for both sides in recent home games, and Solskjaer's men have scored in ten of their last 15 road trips. The 7/4 on an away win is tempting but team selection is a worry, so we're going for goals.

Prediction: Brugge 1-2 Man Utd (Sky Bet odds: 9/1)

Best bets: Both teams to score & over 2.5 goals at 6/4

Key stats

• Club Brugge are winless in their last 10 meetings with English sides in all competitions (D2 L8) since a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the 1994-95 Cup Winner’s Cup quarter-final.
• Manchester United and Club Brugge have faced each other twice before, with the Red Devils winning 3-1 away and 4-0 at home in 2015-16 Champions League qualifying.
• Club Brugge were eliminated from the Europa League at this stage last season, last progressing from a knockout tie in the competition in 2014-15 (last 16 vs Besiktas).
• Manchester United are unbeaten in their last 10 Europa League knockout stage games (W6 D4), since a 0-2 loss at Liverpool in March 2016. Indeed, they won the competition the last time they were in it in 2016-17.
• Man Utd have fielded 32 different players in the Europa League this season, more than any other side. They’ve also had 11 different teenage players play for them in the competition this season, more than double that of any other side.

Copenhagen v Celtic

• 1755 GMT kick-off

The Danish champions host the Scottish champions in the first leg of an intriguing contest that Neil Lennon's men are favoured to win after a surprisingly dominant group display that included a double over Lazio - who are now challenging for the Italian title.

The Bhoys did lose their last Europa League game at Cluj, but they'd already bagged top spot in their group by then and that was their only defeat after four wins and a draw, so they're in solid European form and this tie should be well within their grasp given that form.

Copenhagen are their league's top scorers at home but in Europe it's a much tighter affair with all their group games yielding under 2.5 goals, and while Celtic are on a storming run, they usually concede in Europe having kept just one clean sheet in their last six trips.

Celtic can win this though and take a big step towards the next round.

Prediction: Copenhagen 1-2 Celtic (Sky Bet odds: 17/2)

Best bets: Celtic to beat Copenhagen at 13/10

Key stats

• This is the first meeting between FC København and Celtic since the 2006-07 Champions League group stages – Celtic won 1-0 at home before losing 1-3 in Denmark.
• Celtic’s last away win against Danish opposition was in September 1983 (4-1 vs AGF Aarhus), with the Bhoys losing both competitive visits since.
• FC København have won just one of their last seven Europa League home games (D2 L4 – excluding qualifiers), beating FC Lugano 1-0 on MD1 of this season’s campaign.
• Since beating Boavista 1-0 in the 2002-03 UEFA Cup semi-final, Celtic haven’t won any of their nine knockout stage away games in major European competition, also failing to score in any of these nine matches (D1 L8).
• FC København are the lowest scorers of the 24 teams to reach the Europa League knockout rounds via the group stages this season (5).

Olympiacos v Arsenal

• 2000 GMT kick-off

This is a real test for Mikel Arteta's new Arsenal, as this testing trip to Athens is exactly the type of examination that requires defensive strength, concentration and character to pass - three things the Gunners have been seriously lacking in recent years.

They did, of course, get to the final last year and this is a tie that they should get through comfortably enough, but Olympiacos are notoriously strong at home - they've won their last eight and drew with Spurs and pushed Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

A theme with both of those contests is goals, and it's a theme that runs through Arsenal's Europa League campaign, having scored at least twice in eight of their last 12 games in the tournament - of which they've won eight.

It's a similar case to Man Utd here as Arsenal should win this, but a strong home side, plus a Gunners outfit who love a draw this season would just put you off. Goals in Greece seem far more likely.

Prediction: Olympiacos 2-2 Arsenal (Sky Bet odds: 12/1)

Best bets: Arsenal to score 2+ goals at 11/10

Key stats

• None of the eight previous meetings between Olympiakos and Arsenal have finished level, with each side winning four games each including 3/4 home wins for the Greek side.
• This will be Arsenal’s ninth meeting with Olympiakos – they’ve only ever faced Bayern Munich more often in all European competition (12).
• Olympiakos have won just one of their last 11 knockout stage matches in major European competition (D4 L6), winning 3-0 at Osmanlispor at this stage of the 2016-17 Europa League.
• Arsenal have progressed from 11 of their last 12 two-legged knockout ties in the UEFA Cup/Europa League, falling only at the 2017-18 semi-final in this run.
• Bukayo Saka has been involved in six Europa League goals this season (2 goals, 4 assists), more than any other Arsenal player. Indeed, only three players in the competition as a whole have been involved in more goals than the 18-year-old this term.

Rangers v Braga

• 2000 GMT kick-off

Rangers need to use home advantage in the first leg against a dangerous Braga side who've already shown they can operate at this level when topping their group with an unbeaten record that included a win at Wolves.

Finishing unbeaten in the Europa League group stages doesn't sound too difficult, but Braga and Ghent are the only two teams that managed it - and that shows you that they'll be a tough nut to crack.

A rocking Ibrox will be a unique experience for them, so Steven Gerrard's side at least have the chance to take some sort of advantage with them back to Portugal for the second leg. Braga have been in great form, winning nine of their last ten to put them into third in the league after what was a torrid start to their campaign.

And while that form can be misleading at times in Europe, Braga's winning run includes two wins over Porto, two wins over Sporting Lisbon and an away win at Benfica in their last seven games in all competitions - that form is rock solid.

Looking at that, 11/5 on an away win looks more than a little tempting but Braga would probably take a score draw and the draw is definitely in play here. The BTTS record of both in this competition is good (Wolves 4/6, Braga 5/6), but Braga's disciplinary run is something to behold.

Braga have picked up a whopping 33 yellows and three reds in their last eight games, and in their biggest Europa League trips to Besiktas and Wolves they recorded six and four yellows respectively. They'll bring all the niggle Rangers can handle and in that atmosphere we should see plenty of yellow.

Prediction: Rangers 1-1 Braga (Sky Bet odds: 5/1)

Best bets: Both teams to score & 20+ booking points each at 10/3

Key stats

• This will be the first ever meeting between Rangers and Sporting Braga – Rangers have never lost a home match against Portuguese opposition before (W6 D2), including a 2-0 win against Porto in this season’s group stage.
• Braga have lost both of their previous away games against Scottish sides in European competition, going down 1-3 against Hearts in September 2004 and 1-2 at Celtic in August 2010.
• This is Rangers’ first appearance in the knockout stages of a major European competition since the 2010-11 Europa League – they beat Portuguese side Sporting CP in the round of 32 before being eliminated at the last 16 stage.
• Including qualifiers, Braga are unbeaten in their last 13 matches in European competition (W9 D4), netting 29 goals in total across these games.
• Rangers’ Alfredo Morelos is the top scorer in the Europa League this season with six goals. No Rangers player has ever scored more in a single season in a major European competition (excluding qualifiers), with the Colombian equalling James Forrest’s haul from the 1964-65 European Cup

Odds correct as of 0900 GMT on 20/02/20

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