Europa League

Atletico Madrid v Athletic Bilbao – Wednesday, May 9th
Money-Back Special
If there are four or more goals in this game, Paddy Power will refund all losing First Goalscorer, Last Goalscorer, Correct Score & Scorecast singles on the match

Manchester United out to 9/1 in Europa League betting

Manchester United have shifted out from 100/30 to 9/1 to win the Europa League after suffering a 3-2 defeat to Athletic Bilbao at Old Trafford.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s men are now 3/1 to make the quarter-finals of Europe’s second-tier tournament as they face the task of overturning the deficit at the San Mames next Thursday.

Manchester City also suffered a surprise defeat in their first leg of their final 16 tie, losing 1-0 at Sporting Lisbon, but remain odds-on to make the final eight with the Portuguese outfit 6/4 to progress.

The Premier League leaders remain favourites in the Europa League outright betting but have drifted slightly from 5/2 to 11/4, ahead of Atletico Madrid and Valencia (both 5/1) and Athletic Bilbao (11/2).

Sky Bet’s Danny Quick said: “It’s been a terrible night for the Manchester clubs with United facing both a deficit and the added issue of conceding so many away goals, but things would have looked a lot more bleak had it not been for Wayne Rooney’s late penalty.

“The English clubs losing (were) fairly favourable results in terms of our books, but a few shrewd punters managed get on the 36/1 double for both Manchester clubs to suffer defeats.”

Man Utd v Athletic Bilbao, Thursday 8.05pm C5
Money-Back Special
If Man Utd lead this game at anytime but fail to win Paddy Power will refund all losing 1st/last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match.

Sporting Lisbon v Man City, Thursday 6pm ITV4
Money-Back Special
If Man City lead this game at anytime but fail to win Paddy Power will refund all losing 1st/last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match.

Porto v Man City, Thurs. 8pm ITV1
Money-Back Special
If Man City lead this game at half time but fail to win, Paddy Power will refund all losing 1st/last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match.

Ajax v Man Utd, Thurs 6pm Five
Money-Back Special
If Man Utd lead this game at half time but fail to win, Paddy Power will refund all losing 1st/last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match.

Stoke v Dynamo Kiev, Thu. 8.05pm ITV4 & Setanta
Money-Back Special
If Ireland and England are drawn together in the same Euro 2012 group, Paddy Power will refund all losing 1st Goalscorer, Last Goalscorer, Correct Score and Scorecast singles on the match.

Shamrock Rovers v Rubin Kazan, Thurs 6pm TV3
Money-Back Special
If Shamrock Rovers win this game, Paddy Power will refund all losing 1st/last goalscorer, correct score and scorecast singles on the match.

Porto v Sporting Braga, Wed 7.45pm, FIVE
Money-Back Special
If there are more than 4 goals in this match, Paddy Power will refund all losing 1st/last goalscorer, correct score and scorecast singles on the match.

The Europa League continues this Thursday with crisis club Liverpool facing a tough trip to Napoli and Man City welcoming Lech Poznan to Eastlands. Stephen Irvine looks ahead to both games featuring the Premier League teams.

Liverpool’s season continues to unravel in front of their eyes, Sunday’s defeat at Everton leaving them joint-bottom of the Premier League, and next up is a tough trip to Naples to face Napoli. The Italians are the 10/11 favourites for the match with the draw available at 12/5 and Liverpool 14/5 with Blue Square.

Having drawn both their matches in this competition to date, 0-0 at home with Utrecht and 3-3 away against Steaua Bucharest, Napoli can leapfrog Liverpool at the top of Group K with a win here, the Reds having drawn at Utrecht and beaten Steaua at Anfield. While their form in this competition might not make them the most attractive punt at 21/20, domestically they have been excellent – 12 points from 7 games means they’re currently 4^th in Serie A – and Walter Mazzarri’s men are bound to see this one as a far bigger game than their previous two.

Uruguayan hitman Edinson Cavani is their main goalscroing threat having scored 6 times in 7 games for the side he joined this summer, and the target man is available at 6/1 to score the first goal in this match, or 13/8 to get on the scoresheet at any time. Marek Hamsik is arguably the player with the biggest reputation at the club, and the classy Slovakian provides a real threat from midfield. He is available at 7/1 for the first goal, and that could be a shrewd bet considering that Blue Square offer unlimited places each-way on that market.

Liverpool’s woes are perfectly highlighted by the absence of both Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres from the party travelling to Italy, and with all eyes on the Premier League clash with Blackburn on Sunday, this game is seen as far less important by Hodgson and his staff. That will of course mean the likes of David Ngog will be involved here, and the club’s top scorer already has 5 in Europe this term and could be a tempter at 2/1 for a goal at any time. Raul Meireles’s Anfield career is yet to take off, but with the absence of senior players this could be the perfect time for the Portuguese to make his mark, and the 4/1 about him scoring at any time also appeals.

Ultimately, though, it’s tough to see the Reds winning here against a quality side who are in good form, and for a correct score bet, Napoli to win 2-1 at 7/1 and 3-1 at 18/1 both look like solid selections. Over 2.5 goals also looks well worth backing at 11/10 with Blue Square.

Manchester City have none of Liverpool’s domestic concerns, Sunday’s win at Blackpool seeing them reach 2^nd in the Premier League, and they are big favourites to brush Lech Poznan aside with the home win a 1/6 chance, the draw 11/2 and the away win 11/1.

The unpredictable Polish side come to Eastlands off the back of an amazing 3-3 draw away at Juventus and a 2-0 home success over Salzburg, and it’s clear that the Group A leaders must not be taken too lightly by Roberto Mancini and his team. Currently the champions of the Polish league, Poznan have kept 4 clean sheets in 4 games if you include their 2-legged play-off, and this could well turn out to be a far more frustrating affair for City than their quote of 1/6 suggests.

Latvian striker Artjoms Rud?evs is the visitors’ main threat, and the man who banged in a hat-trick in that incredible game at Juventus certainly stands out as a good bet for the first goal at 14/1, and again, that looks particularly good given Blue Square’s offer of unlimited places on each-way bets. The veteran Artur Wichniarek should start up front along with Rud?evs, and the man who spent his best years at the top level in Germany is also 14/1 for the first goal here.

City have put out a strong side throughout this competition so far, though given the quality they have throughout their squad, it would almost be difficult for them not to do so. With Carlos Tevez carrying a huge amount of his team’s burden so far this term, it will be interesting to see if he is afforded a rest here, but with City short of options up front, he may well end playing even with Arsenal coming to town on Sunday. So prolific has the Argentinean been, he is a 9/4 favourite for the first goal with Blue Square and odds-on at 4/6 for a goal at any time during the match. David Silva has been used sparingly at City so far, though he gave a timely reminder of his class with a great goal at Blackpool on Sunday and the 11/8 about him to get on the scoresheet looks like a fantastic bet.

City aren’t the sort of side who will press on for 5 or 6 goals in the style of Arsenal in Europe, but it is hard to see anything other than a fairly routine win for them here, despite Poznan’s heroics in Turin. Get with City to win 3-0 at 6/1, while City to win to nil looks unmissable at 4/5, and it would hard to argue too much with backing Man City -1 on the Handicap at 8/15.