Football Bet of the Day: Glens’ Euro dream to be dashed tonight

Molde v Glenavon
Thursday 19 July, 17:00

We ended up in a position where we had to thank the Lord last night. No, not that one, the Lord otherwise known as Nicklas Bendtner. The Danish dynamo scored a penalty deep into stoppage time against Valur which salvaged Rosenborg’s Champions League campaign, and rescued our Asian Handicap bet.

We’re staying in Norway, but switching our focus from the Champions League to the Europa League. Molde are flying in the domestic Eliteserien, but their European campaign is in danger of suffering an early demise. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men lost 2-1 at Glenavon in Northern Ireland in the first leg, but they are still strongly fancied to turn the tie around.

Even Glens boss Gary Hamilton admits winning over two legs is “mission impossible”, and he is hampered by the absence of key players. The reality of part-time football has hit home – keeper Johnny Tuffey is away at a wedding, while four other players are on holiday.

Molde will be keen to send a message after a careless first-leg defeat, and their league form suggests they can win this handsomely. In their last three contests in the Norwegian top flight, they have won 3-0, 4-0 and 5-1. I believe they can win by a similar margin this evening against a team that has determination and a willingness to work, but little technical quality. Even a full-strength Glenavon would struggle to live with a Molde side with lots of European experience, but they are missing half a team. If their own manager doubts they can hang on, who are we to argue?