The first leg of the Europa League semi final between Notts Forest and Aston Villa takes place on Thursday and we are wagering it will be a tight game.
Notts Forest
Forest booked their semi final berth with a 2-1 aggregate win over FC Porto. The first leg in Portugal finished all square at 1-1 and Forest were behind early but a freak own goal soon squared things up and that’s how it finished. The return in Nottingham saw Porto reduced to 10 men early on and Gibbs-White scored the only goal of the game shortly afterwards to send Forest through.
Forest won 4, drew 2 and lost 2 of their matches in the League Phase to finish in the play off places in thirteenth. They faced an awkward looking play off against Fenerbahce but a top display delivered a 3-0 win away from home in the first leg and although they lost the return 2-1 they had dome enough. In the Round of 16 Forest lost 1-0 at home to Midtjylland but they won the second leg 2-1 to force extra time and eventually came through on spot kicks.
In the EPL Forest demolished Sunderland 5-0 away from home last time out to boost their fight against relegation. They still have work to do, currently fifth from bottom, 3 points clear of West Ham and 5 better off than Spurs who occupy the only remaining relegation place with 4 rounds of matches to go.
Aston Villa
Villa’s quarter final match up with Bologna turned out to be a one sided affair. They took control of the tie with a 3-1 win in the first leg away from home (Konsa and a brace from Watkins) and finished the job with a 4-0 home win (Watkins, Buendia, Rogers and Konsa).
In the Round of 16 Villa won both legs of their match up with Lille, 1-0 away from home and 2-0 in the return at Villa Park. They came through the League Phase with a fair degree of comfort, winning 7 and losing 1 to qualify automatically in second spot. Their only blip came on Matchday 6, a 2-1 defeat away to GA Eagles.
In the EPL Villa lost 1-0 at Fulham last weekend but they remain in fifth place (good enough for Champions League qualification next season) and they are 8 points clear of sixth placed Brighton.
The Betting:
Forest are 15/10 to win the first leg with the draw at 2.15/1 and Villa can be backed at around 18/10
A game of 3 goals or more in total is priced at even money and it’s 15/20 for both teams to score.
The Verdict:
The winner of this tie will come up against Braga or Freiburg in the final and will really fancy their chances of going on to lift the trophy.
These teams have met twice in the league with Villa winning their home game 3-1 in early January and they drew 1-1 in Nottingham as recently the 12th April. I can see this being as tight as that second league match and I’m with the draw here.
Bet: Match result draw at 2.15/1 with SuperSportBet
Note odds quoted are subject to change
