Celtic, Rangers and Nottingham Forest are all under fresh management and their fixtures are among our five European acca tips for Thursday’s action.
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Midtjylland vs Celtic
Midtjylland To Beat Celtic And BTTS @ 23/10
Celtic’s promising revival under interim boss Martin O’Neill will be put to the test as they go to a Midtjylland side who have been flying this season.
The 2024 Danish champions have lost only once in 25 games, winning 15 of their last 18, and top the Europa League standings with a 100 per cent record, beating O’Neill’s former club Forest in the process.
Celtic have earned back-to-back wins since O’Neill replaced Brendan Rodgers, beating Falkirk 4-0 and Rangers 3-1, but have work to do in Europe after a slow start.
Sturm Graz vs Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest To Beat Sturm Graz With Under 3.5 Goals @ 6/5
Forest will look to make it back-to-back Europa League wins under recently installed Sean Dyche at stuttering Sturm Graz.
Dyche masterminded an impressive success over Porto in his maiden match in charge - Forest’s first victory since the opening day of the season - and was nine minutes away from celebrating a three-point haul against Manchester United at the weekend.
That should give Forest confidence against a Sturm side who have lost three of their last four matches, drawing the other, and have just three points from three Europa League outings.
Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv
Aston Villa To Win Both Halves Against Maccabi Tel Aviv @ 13/10
Villa will need to put aside off-field distractions and Saturday’s loss to Liverpool if they are to get their Europa League campaign back on track against Israeli champions Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Villa suffered a shock defeat at Go Ahead Eagles last time out, ending a five-match winning run in all competitions, but should be confident of victory at Villa Park, where they have won their last four matches.
Maccabi, whose appearance in Birmingham will be accompanied by a 700-strong police presence due to concerns of unrest, are 32nd in the Europa League with only one point and one goal to their credit.
Rangers vs Roma
Roma To Beat Rangers 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1 @ 17/10
Ibrox hosts a clash between the 2022 and 2023 Europa League runners-up, with Rangers hoping to finally make an impact in Europe this season.
Having been dumped out of the Champions League 9-1 on aggregate by Club Brugge, Rangers are now bottom of the Europa League after losing all three matches. They were also knocked out of the Scottish Cup semi-finals by Celtic at the weekend in manager Danny Rohl’s first Old Firm derby.
If things go to form, then expect a close affair. Roma’s 13 matches this season - nine wins and four defeats - have produced only three different scorelines; eight games have finished 1-0, with the other five fixtures being either 2-0 or 2-1.
Crystal Palace vs AZ
Crystal Palace To Beat AZ And BTTS @ 2/1
Palace’s maiden European campaign hit a bump in the road with their 1-0 home loss to AEK Larnaca, and the Eagles can ill afford a similar outcome against AZ Alkmaar.
That AEK defeat was part of a four-match winless run, but the FA Cup holders have responded with victories over Liverpool and Brentford and will be eager for more of the same ahead of Sunday’s Premier League visit of arch-rivals Brighton.
Eredivisie high-flyers AZ will be no pushovers, though. They were hammered 4-0 by AEK but saw off Slovan Bratislava in their last Conference League outing and head to Selhurst Park on a five-match winning run.
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