Europa League Betting: Liverpool v Lille

Europa League / Tobias Gourlay / 17 March 2010 / Leave a Comment

Eden Hazard might lead Liverpool's Europa League challenge astray.

Recommended Bets: Back Over 3.5 Goals at [3.6]; back Lille To Qualify at [2.02]

Tobias Gourlay is worried about a snake in the grass at Anfield.

A late goal from Eden Hazard (surely nicknamed 'the Serpent') in Northern France last week has left Liverpool fans questioning the assumption that their club's name was on the Europa League trophy just as soon as they took their leave of this season's Champions League before Christmas. Thank goodness the league title isn't riding on this weekend's Premier League game with Manchester United and they can give full attention to overcoming their 1-0 deficit in this tie.

Liverpool's 4-1 win over Portsmouth on Monday night was their sixth in a row at Anfield and makes it hard to oppose the home win at [1.53], even if the man of that match, Alberto Aquilani, has a virus that might keep him out of this one. It was also the fifth game in a row in which they have failed to keep a clean sheet. If they fail again on Thursday evening, they will have had to score three times to be in the next round.

Les Dogues have scored in all six of their away games in this competition so far, four of which have gone Over 2.5 Goals ([2.02]), and in nine of their last 10 on the road in all competitions. Those good scoring records, together with the aforementioned Hazard's first-leg liveliness, will make the Both Teams To Score and Liverpool Clean Sheet markets interesting when they mature, but also raise the prospect of Over 3.5 Goals ([3.6]) as Liverpool go after the three goals they would need in response to an away goal.

If you're persuaded that Lille are likely to score, you might find the 3-1 Correct Score overlong at [14.5], considering it exactly meets the qualification requirements of Liverpool, who will begin as slight favourites to progress to a quarter final. The availability of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard makes three Liverpool goals much more plausible than they would be without them - remember, if you can, the Reds' mind-meltingly dull performance without Torres at home to Unirea Urziceni in the last round - but Lille To Qualify ([2.02]) seems a good way to cover a punt on Over 3.5 Goals.