Best football bets and expert advice for Thursday 15 February
After two nights of Champions League and Championship action, the Europa League and Europa Conference League return on Thursday.
The first legs of these play-off round matches feature the teams who dropped out of either Champions League or Europa League and take on the sides who finished second in their pools.
While some clubs are returning from their winter breaks, others are looking weary after a busy few months and that combination could lead to an entertaining evening of football.
Galatasaray to beat Sparta Prague and both teams to score @ 23/10
Galatasaray finished third behind Bayern Munich and Copenhagen in a strong Champions League group, edging out Manchester United, and could be a team to watch in the Europa League.
First, they have to make it through a play-off against Sparta Prague, who finished ahead of Real Betis in Group C to reach this stage.
Sparta returned to domestic action with Sunday's 3-0 win at Karvina, but lost away to both Betis and Rangers in the pool stages before winning at Limassol.
Gala's home form let them down in the Champions League, as they recorded score draws against Copenhagen and United, either side of losing to Bayern.
This looks a hefty price, but it could be a high-scoring affair in Istanbul and Gala's star-studded squad should be able to grab a first-leg lead.
Treble: Both teams to score in Lens v Freiburg, AC Milan v Rennes and Union SG v Eintracht Frankfurt @ 4/1
The Europa League and Conference League can often be more entertaining than the Champions League and there is real potential for goals.
Lens have conceded in all three of their home games in 2024 and also failed to keep a clean sheet in the Champions League, so Freiburg will see this match as a chance to find some form after a run of three straight domestic defeats.
They scored three times away at both Olympiakos and TSC in the groups and could net again at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
Another French club, Rennes, have also been in the goals, with both teams scoring in their four games in all competitions prior to Sunday's 1-0 win at Le Havre.
It was a similar story for hosts AC Milan, who had seen a 'Yes' in BTTS in five straight games before beating Napoli 1-0 in their last match.
It could be an entertaining game at the San Siro, while finally, dropping into the Conference League, both teams have scored in six of Union SG's last seven and they and Eintracht Frankfurt could put on more goals.
Die Adler have kept just one clean sheet away from home since winning 1-0 at HJK in November and, with both preferring to play on the front foot, the 17:45 kick-off in Brussels could spark a high-scoring treble.
Shakhtar Donetsk to beat Marseille - 85/40
There could be real value in backing Shakhtar Donetsk to beat Marseille in the first leg of their Europa League play-off.
The political situation in their country means the Ukrainian side are still required to play their 'home' matches at a neutral stadium.
All three of their Champions League Group H were held at Hamburg's Volksparkstadion and they return to that ground on Thursday.
The Miners should be confident running out at the ground, as after losing their opening pool match at 'home' to Porto, they beat both Barcelona and Antwerp.
Rust might be an issue, with the Ukrainian Premier League in its mid-season break, but they take on a Marseille side who have failed to win their last five and seem unsettled under ever-volatile boss Gennaro Gattuso.
*all odds correct at time of writing and subject to change
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