Europa League Knockout Playoffs Rundown and Top Betting Picks

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AS Monaco vs Leverkusen

The Europa League knockout round playoffs served up some thrilling encounters in the first leg, none more so than the highest-scoring affair of them all: Leverkusen vs AS Monaco. Now, Monaco brings a 3-2 aggregate lead back to the Stade Louis II as it looks to qualify further in the competition.

While many of its domestic and European matches have been tough to call, if you’re betting online, it’s pretty safe to put your money on Monaco to find the back of the net, having done so in 33 consecutive Ligue 1 fixtures. However, it failed to score twice in the group stage of this competition.

Leverkusen missed a golden opportunity to take the opening leg of this tie, reacting well in the second half with two goals in the opening 15 minutes. Still, they ultimately left too many gaps at the back through the latter stages. History suggests that its odds of beating Monaco and qualifying in the Round of 16 are long, as Leverkusen has been eliminated from all 11 two-legged knockout ties when losing the opening fixture at home. Nevertheless, we still expect a high-scoring affair between two of the most entertaining teams in the competition.

Nantes vs Juventus

Nantes snatched a draw from behind at the Allianz Stadium in the first leg, more than holding its own against a Juventus side unbeaten at home in the competition. The French side went down 3-1 last weekend at the hands of Lens, and with its top-flight status still not 100% secure, this should be a welcome distraction from its domestic struggles. Still, we won’t include it in our Europa League picks.

Juventus know that winning the UEL trophy is now its likeliest route to a Champions League return after a recent Serie A points deduction left it well adrift of the top four. Juventus managed to bounce back from its midweek draw by securing a 2-0 away victory over Spezia in Serie A last Sunday, courtesy of goals either side of halftime from Moise Kean and Angel di Maria.

Juventus has struggled in recent years in Europe, winning only one of its last nine and conceding an average of two goals per game. However, the Italians head to France having won six of their last eight away games in all competitions, and we’re backing them to win this clash and qualify further.

AS Roma vs Salzburg

AS Roma will look to build on a hard-fought 1-0 win over Verona when it takes on Salzburg in the Europa League last 32, return leg. The Romans aim to overcome a one-goal deficit in front of home fans but keep in mind that they struggle with some injury issues with their main striker Paulo Dybala still out. However, Tammy Abraham should be fit for the return leg despite suffering a head injury in the Serie A game, while fit-again midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum should once again start from the bench.

On the other hand, Salzburg did well to beat Tirol in its last league match, but it will have much bigger fish to fry at Stadio Olimpico. The club has been dominating the Austrian Bundesliga year after year, and it can even afford to rest key players ahead of important European games. Salzburg showed that it is a reliable team, but it also displayed in the Champions League that it struggles on the road against solid teams. Salzburg will be happy with the draw, so we are backing it to return home with a positive result.

Union Berlin vs Ajax

The VAR prevented Union Berlin from returning home with a narrow lead, but the club remains the favorite to progress even if it was held to a goalless draw at home by bottom-side Schalke. Union Berlin, led by Swiss manager Urs Fischer, thus failed to take advantage of Bayern Munich’s slip-up in a 3-2 loss at Gladbach. The club is priced at +120 on the three-way moneyline for Thursday’s match against Ajax, according to the latest Europa League odds.

Union Berlin is now equal on points at the top of the Bundesliga table with the reigning champion Bayern and with Dortmund in the most exciting title race in Europe’s top five leagues.

Fischer’s men have done extremely well to keep things quiet at the back in the last two games. They limited Ajax to zero shots on target last Thursday at Johan Cruijff Arena, turning their venue into a real fortress, and we don’t expect them to give Ajax too many scoring chances. This is why we are backing the under for this match.

The odds and predictions in the article are based on the time of writing and publication. They may differ as to when the actual event takes place.