Thursday evening’s European action sees Spurs travelling to the Netherlands to take on AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League with Man United off to Spain to take on Real Sociedad. Chelsea are in action at the same time too, taking on FC Copenhagen in the Europa Conference League.
Football tipster Shane O’Brien has dived into the markets for these three games to whip up a Multi-Match Bet Builder, and two of his picks are covered by Paddy’s Super Sub offer, too, meaning that if a player is replaced, the pick carries over to his replacement.
Thursday’s Multi-Match Bet Builder tips
*All games kick off at 5:45pm
Real Sociedad vs Manchester United
Over 2.5 goals
Bruno Fernandes to have 1+ shots on target
AZ Alkmaar v Tottenham
Troy Parrott to have 3+ shots
Wouter Goes to be shown a card
FC Copenhagen v Chelsea
Both teams to score, yes
- A Multi-Match Bet Builder with these bets pays at approximately 31/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
Real Sociedad v Manchester United
Europa League match at the Reale Arena, San Sebastián
TV: TNT Sports, 5:45pm
Over 2.5 goals
Manchester United’s penalty shootout defeat against Fulham in the FA Cup last weekend means that their whole season rides on a successful Europa League campaign. United face one of the toughest draws in the Last 16 against Real Sociedad, although the Spanish side come into this tie after consecutive defeats against Real Madrid and Barcelona.
United beat Sociedad 4-0 on aggregate when the sides met in the Europa League knockout stages in 2021, but it is unlikely that they will advance so easily this time around given their significant struggles this season.
Ruben Amorim’s side have been much better in Europe than they have domestically, but they have still managed just two clean sheets in their Europa League campaign to date, while they have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last six games in all competitions.
They will almost certainly concede, but they should be relatively confident of finding the back of the net, considering they have scored in all eight of their European games so far this season.
Bruno Fernandes to have 1+ shots on target
The Red Devils would be a lot worse off without Bruno Fernandes among their ranks this season. The Portuguese midfielder has been by far and away United’s most important player this campaign, especially since the turn of the year.
Fernandes scored his solitary Europa League goal in the 2-1 win over Rangers back in January, and he’s scored or assisted in six of his last 10 appearances for United. He averages, by far, the most shots of any United player, attempting 2.6 shots per game in the league and three shots per game in the Europa League.
He is a very tempting price to land at least one shot on target on Thursday.
AZ Alkmaar v Tottenham
Europa League match at the AFAS Stadion, Alkmaar
TV: TNT Sports, 5:45pm
Troy Parrott to have 3+ shots
Troy Parrott appears to finally be living up to some of his potential after swapping perennial loan spells at Tottenham for life in the Netherlands. The Irish international has scored 17 goals in 38 appearances for AZ Alkmaar this season, including four goals in the Europa League.
He would surely love to add to his tally against his former employers. He is likely to try his luck, at the very least.
Parrott averages well over two shots per game for Alkmaar this season and faces a Spurs side that has been among the most porous in the competition when it comes to shots per game.
Spurs have faced a whopping 15.6 shots per game, which currently ranks as the fifth-worst average in the Europa League.
The former Spurs man will almost certainly get chances here. It is simply a matter of whether or not he can convert them.
Wouter Goes to be shown a card
AZ defender Wouter Goes does not commit a huge number of fouls, but he does have a knack for picking up yellow cards. The young Dutch defender ranks among the lower end of AZ players in terms of fouls per game, averaging just 0.7 fouls per game in the Eredivisie. However, he has also managed to pick up six bookings in the Dutch league, which is the most of any AZ player.
It is a similar story in Europe, where Goes has received two bookings despite boasting the 17th-highest fouls per game average in the AZ squad.
He faces a Spurs side that will cause plenty of problems for AZ, despite Spurs’ many failings over the past six months or so, and it is not beyond reason to believe that Goes may be drawn into a few situations where he may receive a card.
FC Copenhagen v Chelsea
Europa Conference League match at Parken, Copenhagen
TV: TNT Sports, 5:45pm
Both teams to score,yes
Chelsea return to Conference League action for the first time in almost three months and would be forgiven for forgetting that they are still in the competition.
Enzo Maresca’s side should stroll to the Conference League title given the calibre and budget of the opposition remaining in the tournament, and Maresca is highly likely to rotate his squad even now that the competition has reached the knockout stages.
Chelsea’s reserves are still more than good enough to win the Conference League, but that rotation does leave them somewhat vulnerable at the back, with Chelsea conceding in four of their six group-stage outings.
The hosts will take heart from the fact that League of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers and Kazakh side Astana both breached the Chelsea backline in their two most recent Conference League outings, and the Danish side may just give themselves something to cheer about.
There is almost no hope that they will keep Chelsea out at the other end, however.
Thursday’s European football betting tips
*All games kick off at 5:45pm
Real Sociedad vs Manchester United
Over 2.5 goals
Bruno Fernandes to have 1+ shots on target
AZ Alkmaar v Tottenham
Troy Parrott to have 3+ more shots
Wouter Goes to be shown a card
FC Copenhagen v Chelsea
Both teams to score, yes
- A Multi-Match Bet Builder with these bets pays at approximately 31/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
READ MORE
- Shoot on over to Paddy Power News for the best Football Betting Tips & News
- AZ Alkmaar v Spurs Tips: Mathys Tel to make an impact in Joe Cole’s 67/1 Bet Builder
- Real Sociedad v Man United Tips: Joe Cole’s 11/1 Bet Builder
- Introducing Super Sub 2.0: Now with even more markets, including a raft of 2+ and 3+ options!
- Paddy’s Super Sub totaliser: Almost 100,000 EPL bets win from our ace offer so far in 2024/25
THE PADDY POWER GUIDE TO SAFER GAMBLING – EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
