Europa Conference League Tips: Four of the best bets including Watkins in Amsterdam

• Trends point to goals in Amsterdam

• Molde v Club Brugge to be lively

• Israeli side can upset Fiorentina

• Distracted Fener to slip up

Amsterdam excitement on the cards

Ajax v Aston Villa
Thursday 07 March, 17:45

Aston Villa are the favourites to win the Europa Conference League, and could become the second consecutive Premier League team to lift the trophy. It's also worth bearing in mind that Villa are chasing a Champions League place, so it's a fine balancing act for manager Unai Emery.

However, Emery has a superb record in European competition, winning a hat-trick of Europa Leagues at Sevilla and leading Villarreal to victory in the same competition by beating Manchester United in the final. In his career he has often prioritised European competition over league points, but with a game against top-four rivals Tottenham looming, it's difficult to know whether he'll select a strong side for the trip to Amsterdam.

If Emery picks in-form attacking superstar Ollie Watkins, he should form the basis of our Bet Builder. Watkins scored a superb brace in the weekend's win at Luton, and he has 16 goals and 10 assists in the Premier League this term. We can back him to score or assist here, and throw in BTTS to get us to a combined price of 2.255/4 on the Bet Builder.

English Premier League - Top 20 Assists

Player	Team	Assists
Bruno Fernandes	Man Utd	21
Rayan Cherki	Man City	12
Jarrod Bowen	West Ham	11
Erling Haaland	Man City	8
James Garner	Everton	7
Harry Wilson	Fulham	7
Dominik Szoboszlai	Liverpool	7
Mohamed Salah	Liverpool	7
Morgan Rogers	Aston Villa	6
Enzo Le Fée	Sunderland	6
Pedro Neto	Chelsea	6
Granit Xhaka	Sunderland	6
Lucas Digne	Aston Villa	6
Leandro Trossard	Arsenal	6
Martin Ødegaard	Arsenal	6
Jack Grealish	Everton	6
Adrien Truffert	Bournemouth	5
Brenden Aaronson	Leeds	5
Marcos Senesi	Bournemouth	5
Declan Rice	Arsenal	5

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Ajax have recovered after a truly dreadful start to the season, but they still concede too many goals. They struggled past Norwegian side Bodo Glimt in the previous round, and they have managed just one clean sheet in their last 17 competitive outings. They do usually score though - the Dutch giants haven't drawn a blank at home since a 2-0 defeat to Brighton back in November.

If Watkins isn't involved, I'd recommend backing Over 3.5 Goals at 2.3211/8. That bet has paid out in six of Ajax's last ten competitive matches, and five of Villa's last seven.

Norwegians to entertain again

Molde v Club Brugge
Thursday 07 March, 17:45

Molde's playoff tie against Legia Warsaw was great fun, with a total of eight goals across the two legs. Molde ended up winning 6-2 on aggregate, which was an impressive performance by a team who saw their domestic season end weeks ago. 16 of their last 18 competitive matches have featured three goals or more.

Club Brugge are a massive 20 points off top spot in the Belgian top flight, so this is a hugely important competition. The traditional Benelux powerhouse have one of the best attacking records in Belgium, with 58 goals scored in 28 league matches, and in their Conference League group-stage campaign they rattled in 15 goals in just six games.

Over 2.5 Goals seems overpriced here at 1.9210/11. Molde know they have to go for it here in Norway to have a chance of winning the tie, while Club Brugge were able to put five goals past Besiktas in Turkey in the group stage, so they'll fancy they can score here.

Viola form means we can't trust visitors

Maccabi Haifa v Fiorentina
Thursday 07 March, 20:00

Fiorentina have become an excellent cup side under highly-rated coach Vincenzo Italiano. They reached the finals of the Coppa Italia and the Europa Conference League last season, but lost both showpiece events to Inter and Wext Ham respectively. This term La Viola have reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, and will face Atalanta over two legs.

The concern ahead of this trip to Budapest to face Israeli side Maccabi Haifa is that their away form has been poor of late. Italiano's side has won just one of the last ten games outside the Artemio Franchi, and in the group stage they won just one of their three matches, drawing at Genk and Ferencvaros.

Maccabi Haifa aren't at home because of the current violence in the Middle East, but they had an impressive victory over Belgian side Gent in the playoff round, and in their league they are just a point off top spot after a run of nine wins in 11.

Fiorentina don't need to win this first leg, and they aren't winning consistently on the road. Even though Maccabi aren't strictly at home, I think they can at least draw here, so I'll lay the Italian side at 1.715/7.

Belgian table-toppers to impress

Union Saint-Gilloise v Fenerbahce
Thursday 07 March, 20:00

After agonizingly missing out on the Belgian title on the final day of last season, Union Saint-Gilloise have dusted themselves down and come roaring back. They are eight points clear at the top of the Belgian top flight, and although they dropped out of the Europa League, they still managed a famous home win against Liverpool along the way.

Union SG have won their last five competitive games, and even though they aren't playing their home games in Europe at their usual stadium (they are using Anderlecht's Lotto Park), they have won two and drawn two at home in the UEL and UECL this term. In the playoff round they cam back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Eintracht Frankfurt, and then secured an impressive 2-1 win in Germany.

Fenerbahce are an excellent side, but I wonder how distracted they are by their fascinating title battle with old foes Galatasaray. Fener are just two points behind Gala, and a recent 3-0 hammering in the Turkish Cup at Ankaragucu suggests the league is the priority. Fener won their UECL group, but bizarrely they lost 6-1 at Nordsjaelland and 2-0 at Ludogorets.

I'm happy to back Union SG 1.84/5 here in the Draw No Bet market.

Now read our tipsheet for the UEFA Europa League here!