Matchday 3 of the Uefa Europa League takes place on Thursday and our focus is on Go Ahead Eagles v Aston Villa and Notts Forest v Porto
Go Ahead Eagles v Aston Villa
Go Ahead Eagles lost their first UEL match 1-0 at home to FCSB of Romania but they bounced back on Matchday 2 with an excellent 2-1 win at Panathinaikos thanks to 2 late goals from Milan Smit.
GA Eagles have won 2, drawn 4 and lost 3 of their matches in the Dutch top flight and are below halfway in the standings.
The Europa League has more than played its part in Villa’s recovery from a really poor start to the domestic season. John McGinn was the scorer in their 1-0 home win over Bologna on Matchday 1 and he was on target again in their 2-0 win away to Feyenoord which saw Villa finish the round as 1 of 7 teams with the maximum 6 points.
Villa were 2-1 winners at Spurs in the EPL at the weekend, their third straight win in the league and their fifth across all competitions and they are now in mid table with 12 points and very much looking up.
The Verdict
I wouldn’t mind checking the Villa team sheet before playing this one as there is potentially scope for rotation but should they field something approaching their strongest available line up I would expect them to win this with daylight.
Bets: Handicap, Villa -1 goal at 21/20 with Betway
Notts Forest v Porto
Forest have turned to Sean Dyche as their third manager of the season after they pulled the plug on Ange Postecoglou time in charge which spanned just 39 days. During that time Forest drew 2-2 away to Betis on Matchday 1 before fluffing their lines at home in a 3-2 defeat to Midtjylland.
Forest’s 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea last weekend saw Big Ange depart and their only win in any competition came at home to Brentford on the opening weekend of the season. Dyche will take his side to Bournemouth on Sunday and they will kick off in the bottom 3 which just 5 points from 8 matches.
Porto are another side on maximum points after an injury time goal gave them a 1-0 win at Salzburg which was followed by a 2-1 home win over Crvena Zvezda which came courtesy of another late strike.
Porto top the log in Portugal unbeaten with 7 wins and 1 draw and they have conceded just 1 league goal in 8 outings this season whilst scoring 19.
The Verdict
Whether the appointment of Dyche will spark the required reaction from the underperforming Forest players remains to be seen but old school as he is I see scope for a direct approach and a few Forest corners. I’ll take a speculative aim the home side will be awarded 7 or more.
Bets: Forest Corner Range 7 or more at 2.35/1 with Betway
Note prices quoted are subject to change