The first legs of the Europa League quarter finals take place on Thursday and our focus is on Bologna v Aston Villa and FC Porto v Notts Forest
Bologna v Aston Villa
In the League phase Bologna won 4 of their 8 matches, drawing 3 and losing just the 1 and they finished tenth to make the play offs. That defeat came at Villa (1-0) in the opening round back on the 25th September and they haven’t lost in this competition since then. In the play offs they won both legs of their match up with Brann 1-0 to set up a Round of 16 clash with Roma. Bologan had home advantage in the first leg which finished 1-1 and after the return in Rome was level at 3-3 in 90 minutes, Bologna found the winner in extra time to win 4-3 on the night.
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.
Porto v Notts Forest
Porto booked their quarter final place with a 4-1 aggregate win over Stuttgart, winning the first leg in Germany 2-1 and finishing the job with a 2-0 home win. Porto finished the League Phase with 5 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat to qualify automatically in fifth position. That lost came against Forest, 2-0 in Nottingham on 23rd October.
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.
Thursday’s Bets
I can see scope for a couple of goals in each of the first legs covered above but not much more than that. I will take my chance with 2-3 goals in total in both games as a double which should pay around 3/1.
Note odds quoted are subject to change