Europa Odds: Anderlecht Under-equipped For Man U
Anderlecht (+330) vs. Manchester United (+100), Draw (+260)
Manchester United have been gifted with a relatively easy run in the Europa League so far, and they’ve lucked out again for the quarter-finals. They’ll travel to Brussels April 13th to take on Belgian First Division side Anderlecht for the first leg.
Man U have shown they are a notoriously tough team to beat, losing just two of their last 30 games. That’s an impressive feat, but their run has been riddled with draws against far lesser teams.
Their Round of 16 pairing against Russian side FC Rostov should have been a cakewalk for the richest club in England, but they found a way to make it difficult for themselves. They drew the first leg 0-0, and only managed to win their home game 1-0. That’s quite a mediocre outcome against the seventh-ranked Russian Premier League side.
United are currently fifth in the Premier League and out of the FA Cup after losing to Chelsea. They did win the League Cup this year, but their season will be considered a failure without a Europa League win. And with Tottenham, Roma, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Athletic Bilbao all eliminated, there’s really not that much standing in their way.
Anderlecht have done well to reach the quarter-finals. They eliminated Zenit in the Round of 32, edging past them with an away goal. And then went on to beat Apoel Nicosia in the Round of 16.
Their roster is nothing to marvel at, though. The stand-out player this season has been Youri Tielemans, a 19-year-old prodigy straight out of their youth academy. He made his first division debut this season and has already established himself as a crucial part of the team.
Man U have a prodigy of their own but for whatever reason, manager Jose Mourinho hasn’t given him the game-time he deserves. 19-year-old Marcus Rashford has exceeded expectations every time he’s taken to the field, but we’ve seen him take a backseat to more established players even when they’re clearly underperforming.
Manchester United is currently less than the sum of its parts, but with the amount of stars in their line-up, it’s going to take a huge upset for Anderlecht to beat them. They may not be performing at their best, but even on a bad day, Man U are still the third most expensive squad in the world, and that speaks for itself.
Pick: Manchester United (+100)
Don Aguero is a man of many talents, writing about nearly anything you can put odds to. Don has been writing for SportsBettingDime since 2015, covering sports, entertainment and politics. You name it, he's covered it! He is also a steadfast West Ham fan, and has learned to embrace that suffering.
