Football Tips: Paddy’s 13/2 double for Thursday’s Arsenal and Rangers games

* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widget, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

Thursday night sees a total of 24 matches taking place in the penultimate round of this season’s Europa League Group Stage. Here, we’re taking a dive into the stats and trends and focusing on Arsenal’s home game against Rapid Vienna and Rangers v Standard Liege.

Arsenal have already qualified for the next round while Rangers will probably qualify with a point but will be sure of their place in the next round with a win at Ibrox. Both teams have great records in the Europa League so far but more importantly, can we find some value in the markets? Let’s have a look at what we’ve found.

8pm: Rangers vs Standard Liege – Both Teams to Score? No

Rangers have been pretty impressive all season, especially in the Europa League where they’ve now gone seven matches without defeat, winning five and drawing two. The Group D leaders have won two and drawn two of their Group matches so far, scoring eight and conceding five.

Their home record is nothing short of incredible, they’ve won 10 of their 11 home matches this season, drawing their most recent one, a 2-2 draw with Group D rivals Benfica. Indeed, they’ve been so good over those 11 matches they conceded only three times.

Thursday 8pm: Rangers v Standard Liege
BT Sport 3

Standard have won just one of their Group D matches so far, losing all three of the others. They’re not enjoying the best of form either, having won just one of their last five matches, drawing three and losing one. On their travels they’ve lost four of their last seven, drawing two and winning just one and, worst of all, they’ve only scored in three of those seven matches.

With Rangers’ record of nine clean sheets over their 11 most recent home fixtures, matched with Standard’s lack of goal scoring prowess on their most recent away matches, we’re getting pretty decent value with Both Teams to Score: No here.

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8pm: Arsenal vs Rapid Vienna: Over 1.5 Rapid Vienna Goals

Arsenal are enjoying a wee bump in their season at the moment, they had enjoyed a run of six wins, one draw (winning on penalties) and just three losses over 10 matches but the five since have seen them win two, draw one and lose two. Their last two home matches have seen them defeated by both Aston Villa and Wolves, conceding a total of five goals and scoring just one. Manager Mikel Arteta has some defensive headaches he needs to attend to.

For all these woes though, Arsenal have been good in the Europa League, winning all four of their matches, scoring 12 and conceding just two, but in coming up against Rapid Vienna they’re facing one of the highest scoring sides in European football. The Austrian side have found the net on 22 occasions in nine league matches this season and have put 12 past their opponents over their five most recent matches across all competitions.

Thursday 8pm: Arsenal v Rapid Vienna
BT Sport 2

Away from home Rapid have scored 15 goals over their five most recent matches. They’ll go into this match full of confidence knowing they’ve scored three or more goals in four out of their last five away matches and knowing too that Arsenal have conceded two in both of their most recent home matches.

Indeed, over Arsenal’s 15 most recent home matches they’ve only kept four clean sheets. Arsenal have already qualified for the next round as we know and Rapid need the win here to keep up with Molde who face Ireland’s Dundalk at the same time. We’re getting great odds on Rapid to Score Over 1.5 Goals here and that’s what we’re going with.

Thursday’s 8pm Europa League double

8pm: Rangers vs Standard Liege – Both Teams to Score? No
8pm: Arsenal vs Rapid Vienna – Over 1.5 Rapid Vienna Goals

* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widget, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

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