Europa League SOT Markets to Watch for the Round of 32

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will rest and rotate much of his first team squad when Real Sociedad visit Old Trafford on Thursday for the return leg of their last 32 tie, with Manchester United leading convincingly from the first leg.

As the big guns will get a rest, some of United’s youthful prospects may get the chance to start, including the likes of Hannibal Mejbri, Shola Shoretire, and new £30m signing Amad Diallo from Atalanta, as all three were left out of United U23s squad which lost to Everton on Monday.

After joining up with the club in January, Diallo made his senior debut in the 4-0 win in the first leg of this tie and should be in line to start after also featuring in the matchday squad at the weekend against Newcastle United. His form for the under 23’s should excite supporters already as his debut for the youth side saw him score twice in a 6-3 win over Liverpool and he followed that up by scoring one and assisting three in another goal-fest, a 6-4 win over Blackburn Rovers.

Diallo is now priced at 4/9 to have 1+ shots on target, and 9/4 for 2+.

After a crazy first leg in Belgium, Rangers take a slender lead back to Ibrox for the visit of Antwerp, in which the away side will need to either win by two goals, or score five away goals.

James Tavernier and Kemar Roofe went off injured down the right-hand side in the 4-3 win last week, meaning two big goal threats, both in front of goal and creatively could be missing for this match. Therefore, Rangers may need to utilise other attacking opportunities such as set pieces to provide goals this week.

Connor Goldson in defence has had a wonderful scoring season for a central defender with eight goals across all competitions so far, averaging roughly a goal every five games. Standing at 6ft 3, he is an ever-present for Rangers, playing 90 minutes every week and he could be one of the main threats to add to the seven goals scored in a topsy-turvy first leg.

Goldson to record one or more headed shots on target is priced at 2/1 with Sky Bet.

In the second of two legs played at neutral venues, Arsenal and Benfica travel to the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus with the score evenly poised at 1-1 from the first leg in Rome, with Benfica classed as the away side for this one.

After dropping back into the bottom half of the Premier League table this week, Arsenal’s best chance of qualifying for European football next season may be via a cup route again, just like last season after their eigth place finish was followed up by an FA Cup win. However, the Europa League is the last of the cup competitions they are still involved in this time around.

It will be a tough test against an established European outfit in Benfica, who also have the current Europa League top scorer, Pizzi, in their ranks. His penalty in the first leg was his seventh goal of the competition in just his fifth start this season. The Portuguese midfielder is on set piece duty for the Lisbon club, meaning his shot frequency is expected to be much higher than most of his teammates thanks to free kicks and penalties. In this competition, he has averaged just over two shots per game.

Pizzi is unquestionably Benfica’s most influential attacking outlet, and our tip is for him to have at least one shot on target in each half against Arsenal, available at 22/1.

After a stalemate in the Czech Republic seven days ago, Leicester City will look to get the job done when they welcome Slavia Prague to the King Power Stadium this Thursday, and win a European knockout tie for the time in four years.

James Maddison is a doubt for the fixture after leaving the field early against Aston Villa on Sunday, meaning the mantle may be passed firmly onto Harvey Barnes to provide the spark that could send the Foxes into the last 16. Leicester’s left-winger has scored in his last two league games and had a good chance to decide the tie in Prague last week.

If Slavia show up with a low block, then chances may be at a premium for Jamie Vardy in behind up top, but this could leave space on the edge of the area for players like Barnes and Youri Tielemans to shoot from distance as the only way through.

Brendan Rodgers saw his side dispatch all three group stage opponents at home rather comfortably, and it can be argued Slavia are at a similar level to the likes of Braga and AEK Athens, so another routine success could be on the way, especially with the form of Barnes recently.

Our tip is for Barnes to have two or more shots on target from outside the box here, priced at 7/1.

By Andrew Delaney