The Midweek Brings the Champions League and Europa League Semifinals
Published April 26, 2022 by Florin P
Manchester City and Liverpool have a clear edge in the Champions League semi-finals, while Leipzig and West Ham are favorites in Europa League.
The second to last stage of the Champions League and Europa League is scheduled for this week, as the best teams meet in the semi-finals. English teams dominate the lineup, with three representatives, while Germany and Spain have two squads in the semi-finals. Rangers are the only team from Scotland aiming for a place in the final, but they are underdogs in the match scheduled for Thursday evening.
Manchester City Takes on Real Madrid
Manchester City advanced to the semi-finals, at the end of highly contested games against Atletico Madrid. Now they have a squad at full strength and are once again in dire need of a victory in the first leg. They will come out firing on all cylinders in their attempt to defeat Real Madrid in England, before the second leg in Madrid. bet365 sports credits them with the first chance and odds of 1/2, while the visitors are priced at 5/1 to pick all three points on the road.
Villarreal Prepares for Stern Liverpool Test
Villarreal caused the biggest upset of the Champions League by defeating Bayern Munich. They take on Liverpool on Wednesday and once again the odds appear to be stacked against them. This time, they will need to score the first goal on the road, while hoping to wrap up qualification in the second leg. Liverpool is invincible in the last 15 games and has no players missing for this fixture, so the odds of 3/10 offered by bet365 sports are justified. The visitors are priced at 8/1 to cause an upset on the road.
Leipzig Tries to Keep Scoring Streak Alive vs Rangers
Leipzig will probably have another chance to play in the Champions League next season, but this is the best chance to win the Europa League. Playing at home against Rangers provides an excellent opportunity against a team that hasn’t reached the decisive stages of the competition so far. Both teams are nearly at full strength, but none will take too many chances upfront in the first minutes of the game. Leipzig is the favorite with odds of 2/5 at 1xBet, while the visitors are priced at 8/1 to win the first leg.
West Ham and Frankfurt Aim for Biggest Goal this Season
West Ham and Frankfurt are unlikely to play in the Europa League next season, but one of them will play the final this year. Home pitch advantage is going to be huge for both teams and West Ham has this edge in the opening round. They lost to Chelsea this weekend but put up a valiant fight and should be able to defeat Frankfurt. The Germans conceded plenty of goals and will have a hard time recovering if they allow an early one in London. 1xBet offers odds of 9/10 on West Ham to prevail.
Disclaimer:
The odds mentioned here were accurate at the featured bookmakers at the hour the article was written, respectively on Tuesday, April 26 at 7 A.M. UK time.
