Villarreal won't stop Porto's treble charge
Villarreal have already claimed three notable scalps - can they take out a Porto side in absurd form? Which Portuguese club will join the winners of that encounter in Dublin for the final? Here are our Europa League semi-final first-leg predictions...
Porto v Villarreal (8.05pm, Five)
For much of the campaign, Villarreal looked likely to finish third in La Liga but having been the sixth worst team in the division since the start of February, they are no longer sure of a top-four place.
Yet despite their domestic struggles, the sole non-Portuguese Europa League survivors' continental form has been unaffected, securing their spot in the semi-finals with five successive victories over the daunting Champions League-bound trio of Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen and FC Twente.
This is undoubtedly their toughest test to date though as they visit the [2.34] tournament favourites Porto, who appear on course for a treble in highly-regarded young manager Andre Villas Boas' first season in charge.
The Portuguese champions' record against Spanish opposition isn't great, however more important than that is their streak of a dozen wins in a row in all competitions which makes them impossible not to back at [1.67]. Their last five games have had over 3.5 goals so cover that too at [3.25].
Benfica v Braga (8.05pm, ESPN)
While the above semi-final stands out as one to back overs in, this is definitely an unders one given that Braga have only fired four times in their six Europa League ties to date, limiting their opponents to just two. Those statistics suggest that under 2.5 goals is a complete steal at [1.82].
Braga head into this clash on a 12-match unbeaten run that included a 2-1 triumph over Benfica, but their record at the Estadio da Luz is dreadful, winning only one league fixture there ever and failing to score on their last four visits, all of which ended in either 1-0 ([6.6]) or 2-0 ([7.6]) defeats.
Like those recommendations? A £10 double on over 3.5 goals at Porto and under 2.5 in Lisbon provides a £42.80 profit using the Betfair Coupon...
Published: 28 Apr 2011
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