Heading in to the second leg of the Europa League semi-finals, there is all to play for in both matches, with both ties remaining tight after the first leg.
After what looked like it was going to be a 0-0 draw at El Madrigal between Villarreal and Liverpool, it was the home team who secured the advantage, thanks to a late goal. Given their home form in the Europa League this season, it should have come as no surprise to Jurgen Klopp, that Villarreal were going to be a tough team to break down. The Yellow Submarine secured Champions League football for next season, thanks to their win on the weekend in La Liga and will come in to the match at Anfield with great confidence.
Liverpool on the other hand, went down 3-1 at Swansea in the Premier League and have left themselves with too much to do in order to qualify for the Champions League through their domestic league placing. A number of players who will feature against Villarreal were rested for that match but it was still a poor performance from the reds.
Villarreal are undefeated in their last 5 away Europa League games, including an impressive 1-1 draw at Napoli and 0-0 at Bayer Leverkusen. The draw is available at 14/5 with BetFred and the draw, with under 2.5 goals is on offer at 3/1 with Ladbrokes.
A repeat of any but one of Liverpool’s 6 home Europa League results this season, will see them eliminated from the competition. With no away goal, opening and attacking Villarreal will not be an option and Liverpool will have to be methodical in their approach. A repeat of the 2-0 victory over Manchester United would see them progress and it’s available at 7/1 with BetVictor. However, Villarreal have to be slight favourites, given the result from the first leg and they are 19/10 with Betfair to qualify.
The other semi-final is poised at 2-2 between Sevilla and Shakhtar Donetsk, after the first leg in Ukraine. The defending champions, Sevilla, will be much the happier of the two teams following that result and are favourites to complete the job at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, with odds of 7/10 from Bet365.
However, despite not travelling well in the Champions League, Shakhtar are unbeaten in their last 4 away games in the Europa League and have recorded wins over Sporting Braga, Anderlecht and Schalke in their last 3 outings. It would be considered a significant upset, should Shakhtar win this game and they are 9/2 with William Hill to come out on top. Considering the form of Sevilla at home, losing just 1 of their last 21 games, these odds are not very tempting and the more likely scenario is for a home win, with both teams to score and this is on offer at 2/1 with BetVictor.
There are two exciting games in prospect, with a place in the Europa League final at Basel, the prize for the two winners.
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