Two exciting nights of Champions League football are followed by the latest round of Europa League action and there is a host of games taking place.
As ever in this competition there are a number of mismatches, and teams priced accordingly, but several high profile clubs clash on Thursday and I am keen to oppose two home sides.
Celtic, who were given a reprieve by Uefa to compete in this season’s Europa League after FC Sion’s transgressions, welcome Udinese to Glasgow and for the life of me I cannot work out why the SPL team are clear favourites.
Beaten on Matchday 1 in Madrid by Athletico, when rarely troubling the side from the Spanish capital, Celtic’s priority is closing the gap on Rangers domestically and Neil Lennon’s team have made a poor start to the campaign, losing to their fierce rivals as well as St Johnstone in front of their own fans.
Udinese, so unlucky to fall to Arsenal in Champions League qualifying, in contrast currently sit in second place in Serie A and are unbeaten ahead of Thursday’s match.
That is all the more noteworthy given three of Udinese’s fixtures to date have been on the road and Francesco Guidolin signalled his Europa League intentions when naming a strong side to dispatch Rennes with the minimum of fuss on opening night.
At just 2.40 I have to be opposing Celtic and Udinese will fancy their chances of claiming all three points.
It’s a similar story in Bilbao where Athletic are taken on against big-spending PSG.
Languishing just one place from the foot of the La Liga table, Athletic are winless this term and the visitors, favourites for the Europa League in the outright market, are unlikely to offer them an easy ride.
PSG won impressively, 3-0, at Montpellier last time out and, with such massive investment over the summer, bagging a trophy this season will be a priority.
There’s no reason the Parisians can’t go all the way in this competition and, unbeaten in 10 matches, a win in Spain is very much within their capabilities.
2pts Lay Celtic (vs. Udinese) @ 2.40 (Betfair) & 3pts Lay Athletic Bilbao (vs. PSG) @ 2.50 (Betfair)