Manchester Utd v FK Rostov
15:00
Man Utd were unable to hold on to their lead in the first leg as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw in Rostov, but that was nonetheless a good result and the Red Devils are as short as 1.08 to progress to the quarters. Rostov, meanwhile, stretched their unbeaten run to seven games as they drew against Terek Grozny on the weekend, so they may fancy their chances of an upset.
Man Utd have won 11 of 14 unbeaten European home games since 2013/14 and they’ve been in excellent form at Old Trafford, unbeaten in 21 there and keeping clean sheets in four of their last five. What’s more, sides that have drawn the first away leg of a Europa League knockout tie since 2014/15 are W14-D0-L6 in the return, so Utd are certainly deserved favourites.
However, we’re not so sure the Red Devils should be as short as 1.3. Rostov were well-beaten in their opening Champions League group game at Bayern, but since then they were only beaten 2-1 at Atletico, while they managed draws at PSV and at Sparta Prague in the last round. Utd have struggled to outgun the lesser sides at home all season, being held to draws by the likes of Bournemouth, Hull and Burnley and with that in mind we’re backing Rostov +2 on the handicap.
Betting intelligence provided by Football Form Labs
