We’re in France, Spain and Italy on Thursday for our usual treble with Euro 2016 star Antoine Griezmann headlining this 6/1 shot as his Atletico Madrid host Lokomotiv Moscow.
“His last 10 games have seen him score in seven of them and in what can be considered Ronaldo-like territory, he scored 12 goals. In his past three games he scored a hat-trick, followed by four in a game before a somewhat understandable blank away at Barcelona at the weekend.”
For most of the season Lazio have been among the big entertainers of European football. So far this season they’ve won three games each by 3-2 and 5-1 scorelines and had other wins with scores of 5-2 and 6-1. They’ve also lost matches 3-2 and 4-1, drawn one 3-3 and been involved in plenty of other colourful scorelines.
But as we approach the business end of the season, both in Serie A and the Europa League, things have changed somewhat. Their last three Serie A games ended with a 3-0 win, a 0-0 draw and a last-gasp 1-0 loss to Juventus at the weekend.
It seems their gung-ho style has had to be restrained as the stakes get higher and their game at home to Dynamo Kiev may not be the must-watch viewing some may expect. A narrow Lazio win would be my idea of how this one ends up but Kiev showed they can nick a priceless away goal in this competition, like they did in the previous round at AEK Athens (1-1) and that could happen again here. So the preference is for under 2.5 goals rather than ‘no’ on both teams to score.
Who was Euro 2016’s Player of the Tournament? Despite Portugal’s shock win it was actually Antoine Griezmann who walked away with the coveted trophy after scoring most of France’s goals en route to the final. He had a somewhat quiet season last time round but looks like he might be back to something like his best.
His last 10 games have seen him score in seven of them and in what can be considered Ronaldo-like territory, he scored 12 goals. In his past three games he scored a hat-trick, followed by four in a game before a somewhat understandable blank away at Barcelona at the weekend.
Europa League favourites Atletico are taking this competition seriously and are out to win it. At home to reluctant travelers Lokomotiv Moscow, you’d think Griezmann can add to his tally.
Marseille’s last four results don’t make for particularly good reading but have to be taken into context. Back-to-back 3-0 losses to PSG in Cup and league respectively are perfectly understandable given PSG’s dominance in French football, they lost 1-0 away at Braga but were just managing the tie after taking a 3-0 lead in the first leg and then they drew 1-1 at the weekend when they were already thinking about this match.
With the enigmatic Dimiri Payet in the mood, they can turn it on when it matters as proven by that comprehensive win over a decent-looking Braga.
Bilbao are hardly the best travelers around. In their last three La Liga games away from home, they lost the lot of them 2-0. Home advantage should prove crucial here.
Source: Betfair Europa League
