Europa League – Thursday Night Over 2.5 Treble

August 20, 2015August 20, 2015 Jack Critchley Bilbao, Dortmund, Europa League, Odd, Southampton

There's a number of first leg matches tonight in the Europa League and whilst many clubs face a hefty journey of a Thursday night, it means we have some good action to get stuck into. We fancy goals in the first matches as sides look to take the advantage back with them for the 2nd legs.

Odd v Borussia Dortmund

A reasonably short trip to Norway (compared to some of the other clubs in the competition) for Borussia Dortmund who started the season in flying form winning winning 4-0 on the opening day of the new Bundesliga season. Monchengladbach won't be the hardest of opponents they come across this season, but they probably aren't any worse than the Norwegians. Odds have been scoring and conceding over in the Eliteserien, including a 6-3 win away from and a 2-2 draw with Molde. If both sides play their game, we should expect goals.

Zilina v Athletic Bilbao

Conquerers of Barcelona – Athletic Bilbao are in action tonight and it's a bit of a trek for them as they face relatively unknown Slovakians Zilina. If Bilbao can put so many goals past the Spanish Champions and Champions League winners, you have to feel they will want to take a comfortable lead back to Spain. Zilina themselves can score, but probably haven't faced this calibre of opponent in quite some time. They won 9-0 in the Cup recently and drew 2-2 at the weekend, so they're clearly in the goalscoring frame of mind.

Southampton v Midtjylland

Our final suggestion is the game involving Southampton. The Saints saw off Vitesse in the last round and put 3 past them on home soil. The Dutch league is generally considered a little stronger than the Danish division, so Southampton should have no problem seeing this out. If they take a comfortable lead back to Denmark, they won't be under pressure and won't be following their fellow Premier League side West Ham out of the competition.