Our Tips for the Europa League Quarter-Finals - 08/04/21

Manchester United’s hunt for a first trophy in four years continues in the Europa League on Thursday and with the Red Devils as the favourites (6/4) and Granada the 28/1 outsiders, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men are expected to make easy work of this.

Bruno Fernandes remains the club’s main man with 23 goals in all competitions this season, including two in four in the Europa League and four in six in the Champions League prior to their exit.

The Portuguese superstar is also on penalty duty and Granada have conceded the most penalties in La Liga this campaign with 10, and no doubt Fernandes will be licking his lips at that prospect.

United are the clear favourites in this one, and a win is expected as they return to Old Trafford the following week, so we’re picking Fernandes to score and win at 2/1.

Arsenal’s form took a tumble once again last week in their defeat to Liverpool as the Reds ran riot in a 3-0 victory where the Gunners looked like their former self once again.

Mikel Arteta's men have, at the very least, upheld a positive run of form in the Europa League and they have rarely looked in doubt in this regard. In fact, if it wasn’t for United’s stellar showings in Europe and fantastic Premier League form, Arsenal would be the clear favourites to win the competition and bag their first-ever European trophy.

The Gunners did scrape past both Benfica and Olympiacos in the earlier knockout rounds, mainly due to the consistent defensive mishaps which have been an issue throughout Arteta's entire reign at the club. On the other hand, Arsenal have scored seven times across these four knockout fixtures.

Slavia Prague, however, have been near enough faultless all competition long except for their 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen back in the group stages. The club have since knocked out both Rangers and Leicester City, and they will once again be a serious challenge for the Gunners after a brilliant 2-0 win at the King Power Stadium last time around.

With Arsenal winless in almost a month and losing to Olympiacos in their last Europa League clash, we believe the Czech Republic side are being slightly overlooked and we're backing a draw to happen at 3/1.

In what is the tie of the round in terms of competitiveness, Ajax will play hosts to Roma in the first leg of this Europa League quarter-finals draw as both clubs sit at 5/6 to qualify into the semi-finals.

Ajax, who were finalists in 2017 and semi-finalists in the Champions League two seasons ago, are just a few games away from sealing another Eredivise title after scoring an incredible 85 goals and conceding just 20 from 27 league fixtures.

Roma, on the other hand, have had a poor campaign by their standards as they now sit in seventh having conceded an almighty 44 goals from 29 games in Serie A, and in truth, this might be their last taste of European football for at least another campaign, given their league form.

The club do still uphold European medals within their squad, however, with Pedro and Henrik Mkhitaryan both helping Chelsea and United win the competition, respectively, whilst Borja Mayoral has a Champions League medal with Real Madrid. At the same time, elite scorer Edin Dzeko remains a threat, despite just seven Serie A goals this campaign.

It's an impossible clash to call over two legs, but for this fixture, we're backing Ajax to win with a low scoreline given the drastic differences in form on the league front for the two.

Whilst the Premier League clubs and the Ajax-Roma clash will grab the headlines, there is little separating Dinamo Zagreb and Villarreal at this quarter-finals stage. The Spanish side are the 1/3 favourites to qualify at the end, but at 23/20 on the night, not much is expected in this clash.

Villarreal have been back at the top end of La Liga for the past two seasons now after a 14th-placed finish in 2018/19. Unai Emery has transformed the club back into a Champions League fighter and with Gerard Moreno bagging 23 goals across the board this campaign, whilst Paco Alcacer has 10, the Spanish side are expected to do enough to get through this time around.

Dinamo Zagreb are top of the table over in Croatia once again, but after a 3-0 comeback against Tottenham Hotspur, they can't be counted out too quickly. However, given Emery's exceptional record in this competition and Villarreal's superior ability, we expect them to win to a low scoreline.