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Europa League Round of 32 Leg 2 Odds & Predictions

Ryan Metivier

by Ryan Metivier in Soccer News

Updated Feb 23, 2021 · 5:20 PM PST

Europa League
Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz celebrates scoring their fourth goal against Stuttgart during their German Bundesliga soccer match at BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday Feb. 6, 2021. (Thilo Schmuelgen/Pool via AP)
  • Europa League Round of 32 Leg 2 matches begin this week with Tottenham vs Wolfsberger on Wednesday, and 15 more matches on Thursday, February 25, 2021
  • Bayer Leverkusen have scored the most goals in the Europa League competition
  • Read on for the odds and our best bets from the Europa League Round of 32 Leg 2 below

The Europa League Round of 32 comes to a conclusion this week as leg two matches on Wednesday and Thursday will decide the final 16 teams who advance.

After leg one, several of the big clubs look to be in good positions to advance. Tottenham won 4-1, Roma won 2-0, Ajax won 2-1 and Manchester United won 4-0.

On paper, a Manchester United vs Real Sociedad matchup may look intriguing with an EPL and La Liga team going head-to-head. But after a 4-0 road win for United last week, it seems unlikely that Sociedad can stage a comeback, or that Man U will field their strongest lineup, knowing they are basically assured of advancing. Man U also have Chelsea on deck this weekend in the Premier League which will have much more of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s attention.

Other teams like AC Milan, Leicester and Arsenal could only manage draws in leg one of the Europa League. While Leverkusen, Napoli and Salzburg all fell in defeat. When handicapping some of these matches be sure to check if a team actually has a home-field advantage as some matches are being played at neutral venues. Such is the case with Arsenal vs Benfica being played in Greece.

Leg one was an OVER bettor’s dream as 59 goals were scored, the most ever in one night of the knockout round. Will there be more goals in leg two? Let’s look ahead to the odds and best bets from the Europa League Round of 32 Leg 2 matches below.

Europa League Round of 32 Leg 2 Odds

Matchup Home Draw Away
Tottenham vs Wolfsberger -350 +500 +800
Ajax vs Lille -118 +280 +280
Arsenal vs Benfica -125 +280 +320
Napoli vs Granada -167 +300 +450
Rangers vs Antwerp -250 +375 +600
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Maccabi Tel Aviv -150 +260 +425
Hoffenheim vs Molde -350 +475 +800
Villarreal vs Salzburg -118 +280 +280
AC Milan vs Red Star Belgrade -250 +375 +600
Bayer Leverkusen vs Young Boys -182 +333 +425
Club Brugge vs Dynamo Kiev +100 +250 +270
Dinamo Zagreb vs Krasnodar +125 +230 +220
Leicester City vs Slavia Prague -188 +290 +550
Manchester United vs Real Sociedad -110 +260 +275
PSV vs Olympiakos +100 +250 +260
Roma vs Braga -188 +333 +450

All odds taken Feb 23 at Bet365

Hoffenheim vs Molde Prediction

Leg two of Hoffenheim vs Molde kicks off at 12:55 pm EST on Thursday afternoon in the Europa League.

Norway’s Molde was second in the Eliteserien last season, well off the record-breaking Bodo/Glimt. They are currently in the offseason though and only starting to gear up for the next season with a series of friendlies. The last season ended in December, so they have been idle, outside of two warm-up matches. They’ve had two other friendlies canceled and then played last week versus Hoffenheim.

In leg one, Mu’nas Dabbur put Hoffenheim ahead by two early in the match with goals in the 8′ and 28′ minutes. Molde pulled one back in the 41′ before Hoffenheim added a third in first-half stoppage time. However, Sebastian Hoeneß’s Hoffenheim was unable to hold the lead, conceding twice to end the match level at 3-3.

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While second place was still a strong showing last season for Molde, they conceded in 12 of 15 road matches, as well as in nine of their final ten on the road. The Eliteserien is a higher-scoring league but is nowhere near the level of the Bundesliga. That Hoffenheim bagged three last week away from Germany, could be a sign of what is to come this week. Leg one was played on neutral ground in Villarreal, Spain though, taking away any sort of home advantage Molde may have hoped for. Hoffenheim won’t have that disadvantage with leg two taking place at Rhein-Neckar Arena in Germany.

With three road goals in their pocket and coming back to Germany, Hoffenheim have a big advantage in this match. They also should be able to give their full attention to the match. Domestically in the Bundesliga, they are a bang on average side, sitting 11th in the table at 7-5-10 (WDL). They are ten points behind the European places and eight points above the relegation zone.

This past weekend they won 4-0 at home to Werder Bremen, but that is their only win domestically in their past four. In those past four, they’ve scored eight while conceding nine. Those results have read: 4-0 (W), 2-2 (D), 3-1 (L) and 4-1 (L). Basically Hoffenheim matches usually offer goals. They have the second-highest OVER 2.5 totals in the Bundesliga at 17-5 and third-highest average goals in their matches at 3.4.

Hoffenheim’s performance in the Europa League thus far has been nothing short of brilliant. They were undefeated in the group stage at 5-1-0, easily handling lesser opponents, outscoring them 17-2. They’ve now scored multiple goals in six of their seven Europa League matches.

I expect Hoffenheim to take the win in this one while scoring at least twice. However, I also think Molde are good value to find the back of the net as well which will add some needed value to this bet.

Pick: Hoffenheim to Win & Score Over 1.5 Goals + Both Teams to Score (+137)

Bayer Leverkusen vs Young Boys Prediction

In leg one last week these teams played out a seven-goal thriller in Switzerland where Young Boys were victorious 4-3. They’ll do it again in Germany this week at 3:00 pm EST.

Young Boys were quick off the mark last week taking a two-goal lead in the first 19 minutes of play and extending that lead to 3-0 just before half-time. But Leverkusen came out of the break firing with two goals from Patrik Schick in seven minutes followed by another from Moussa Diaby soon after to draw level at 3-3.

Theoson Siebatcheu’s second of the game in the 89′ minute though would prove to be the winner for the Swiss side. The game saw plenty of action with Young Boys taking 16 shots (eight on target) and Leverkusen 17 (with nine on target).

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For Leverkusen, a side competing for a Champions League spot in the Bundesliga, they’ll enter this match off the back a disappointing 1-1 draw with 13th-placed Augsburg this past weekend. The draw extends their unbeaten streak in the league to three, however, they also have just a single win in their past five.

After Thursday’s Europa League match they’ll host Freiburg on Sunday.

When it comes to the Europa League this season, Leverkusen’s matches have all offered plenty of fireworks. They outscored their opponents 21-8 in the group stage, however, they did concede in five of those six matches. That trend continued in the round of 32 against Young Boys.

Runaway leaders Young Boys in the Swiss Super League are a huge 18 points ahead of second-place Basel in their domestic competition. They were 2-0 winners at home to Servette on the weekend and have now won six-straight and are undefeated in 11 in the Super League.

With such a large lead domestically there is no reason for Gerardo Seoane to rotate his players this week. Meaning this match should get their full attention.

In the eight Europa League matches Young Boys have played this competition, they’ve scored in all of them. That includes in both group stage matches against Roma (though both losses) and of course the four to Leverkusen last week. So they are certainly capable of finding the back of the net.

Goalscorer odds for this match could offer value on Leverkusen’s top scorer in the Bundesliga in Lucas Alario at -120 or Schick at +120. For Young Boys, Jean-Pierre Nsame (odds N/A) and Siebatcheu (+187) have been pacing their frontline in the Swiss league with 12 and eight goals respectively. Nsame leads the Swiss league in scoring and has scored five goals in his past four matches. He has four in six Europa matches but did not play last week.

This one has all the makings of another high-scoring affair. And with Leverkusen being forced to win and likely by scoring multiple goals, the door will also be open for Young Boys to get on the scoresheet as well.

Pick: Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals (-138)

Dinamo Zagreb vs Krasnodar Prediction

Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb will host Russian side Krasnodar at 3:00 pm EST Thursday in the Europa League.

Zagreb have been flying in this tournament and were one of a handful of teams that went undefeated in the group stage with a record of 4-2-0 (WDL). They won each of their last four in the group stage and outscored their opponents 9-1, in keeping five clean sheets.

While they failed to keep another clean sheet in leg one of the round of 32 last week. they continued their strong overall play by winning 3-2 in Russia. Zagreb struck first, however, the teams were tied 1-1 at the half and 2-2 in the 69′ minute. Bruno Petkovic had two goals for Zagreb, while Iyayi Believe Atiemwen scored what would be the match-winner in the 75′ minute.

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They’ll now return home with a strong road goals advantage for leg two. They’ll also be the more rested side having not played since last week’s Europa League match. They did not play this weekend in Croatia’s 1. HNL domestic league. There, they sit tied at the top of the table at 15-3-3 (WDL).

Across all competitions, Zagreb is 13-1-2 and has now won four-straight. They’ve also kept clean sheets in three of those recent wins, all in the league.

Krasnodar finished last season in the Russian Premier League in seventh place and are currently in their offseason with the season ending in December. Aside from recent friendlies, Krasnodar also played on Sunday in the cup and fell 2-1 to Sochi.

The Byki reached this stage of the Europa League through elimination from the Champions League, where they won just one of their six group stage matches (Rennes).

I like a confident, rested Zagreb side to control this match and claim a win once again on Thursday.

Pick: Dinamo Zagreb win (+125)

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