UEFA Europa League Round of 16 Betting Tips

There’s round of 16-second leg action this week with a place in the quarter-finals up for grabs. Let’s look at some interesting matches to bet on. 

West Ham v Sevilla

West Ham host Sevilla in the return leg of the UEFA Europa League on Thursday at the London Stadium. Sevilla come into the match with the upper hand since they won the first leg 1-0 in Spain a week ago. The first leg was only West Ham’s second defeat against Spanish opposition in Europe with the previous defeat coming against Real Madrid in the Cup Winners Cup in the 1980-81 season. West Ham’s first-leg defeat was their eighth in a European tie, they have still managed to progress from such position three times from the previous seven instances. 

Sevilla have progressed from 19 of their 20 UEFA Cup/ UEFA Europa League ties when winning the first leg including their 18 in a row only eliminated in such position against Kaiserslautern in 1982-83. Sevilla has failed to win any of their five away matches in Europe drawing three of them and losing twice. 

West Ham will be without Jarrod Bowen for the return leg and might struggle against Sevilla. A scoring draw is a relatively good bet on the match.

Galatasaray v Barcelona

Barcelona travel to Turkey to face Galatasaray with the mission of progressing to the quarterfinals after drawing 0-0 at home. It’s a tricky match since they need to score which is something they failed to do in the first leg. Galatasaray have won one of their previous nine meetings against Barcelona in all competitions with the victory coming in the 1994/95  Champions League match. They are winless in the last five matches drawing two and losing three. This will be the fifth time Barcelona face Galatasaray away from home in the European competition with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss in the previous four encounters. 

Barcelona have progressed from seven of their eight last 16 ties in the UEFA Europa League with the defeat coming against Celtic back in the 2003/04 season. Galatasaray only attempted three shots in the first leg against Barcelona – no team had a fewer in a game this season in the UEFA Europa League. 

Except Barcelona to be firing on the day and claim a victory to progress into the next round.

Lyon v Porto

Lyon’s win over Porto last week was their victory against these opponents in five attempts. Porto has won the last three matches held in France beating Monaco, Marseille, and Lille which is more than one win in their previous 15 matches in France. Lyon has only been beaten twice in the home 22 matches in the UEFA Europa League matches with the defeat coming against Juventus and CSKA Moscow.

Lyon has been eliminated from one of their six UEFA Europa League ties when winning the first leg but their last elimination came from the last encounter against CSKA Moscow in the 2017/18 season in the round of 16. This is a tricky game for both sides. But a 1-0 advantage to Lyon isn’t enough to guarantee progress for the home side. Still, Porto carries a continental advantage over the home team. A win for the away side is the good bet