5 Europa Conference League Tips - 24/02/22

After a 3-1 victory in the first leg, Marseille travel to Azerbaijan to face Qarabag for a place in the last 16 of the Europa Conference League.

Domestically, the hosts are well clear at the top of the table winning four of their last five games but have left themselves a mountain to climb on Thursday.

Visitors Marseille are second in Ligue 1 and entered the Conference League after finishing third in a tough Europa League group consisting of Galatasaray, Lazio, and Lokomotiv Moskow. Forward Arek Milik was the sole bright light for Jorge Sampaoli’s men in the group stages, scoring four times in five games, and immediately carrying this form over to the Conference League bagging a brace in the first leg. We expect the Pole to be Marseille's chief threat again this week, with Milik priced at 11/10 to score anytime.

As predicted, barring any meltdown on Thursday, Leicester will have eased by Randers with Brendan Rodgers's side recording a 4-1 victory at The King Power Stadium last week.

In the first leg, the Foxes started a strong line-up, with the likes of Patson Daka, Youri Tielemans, and Wilfred Ndidi featuring, however, given the tie is all but over, we expect some rotation in the squad on Thursday.

The hosts have had a poor return to domestic football following Denmark’s winter break, suffering a 1-0 home defeat to Viborg leaving Randers sixth in the Superligaen. Even though this tie is essentially over, we still expect the Foxes to win in Denmark, with our tip being Leicester to win 3-0, 3-1, or 3-2 which is priced at 9/2.

Partizan Belgrade welcome Sparta Praha to the Partizan Stadium on Thursday night as both teams vie for a place in the inaugural Europa Conference League round of 16.

The Serbian outfit will look to defend their 1-0 lead at home and will be confident of doing so, keeping clean sheets in their last six domestic outings and conceding just six league goals all season.

Visitors Sparta Praha enter this one unbeaten in six domestically, however, in drawing their last two have fallen behind in the title race. Given Partizan’s astute defensive record this season and last week’s clean sheet in the Czech Republic, we expect the Serbian's rock-solid defence to come out on top this Thursday, with our tip Partizan to win to nil priced at 2/1.

Despite not playing competitive football since early December, Norwegian Champions Bodo/ Glimt silenced Celtic Park and carry a surprise 3-1 advantage into their home leg this week.

Kjetil Knutsen’s men will look to defend their lead this Thursday, with the Glasgow club knowing that scoring the first goal will put pressure on a potentially rusty Bodo/ Glimt side.

Domestically, Celtic are top of the SPFL and have won five consecutive games, including an impressive 3-0 demolition of Rangers thanks to a brace from new signing Rio Hatate. In the Europa League, Ange Postecoglou’s men were unlucky to finish third, winning nine points from a group that contained Bayern Leverkusen, Real Betis, and Ferencvaros, however, they have left themselves a lot to do in Norway this week.

In the Conference League, Bodo/Glimt have been a force at home, winning all three group games including that infamous 6-1 drubbing of Jose Mourinho’s Roma. Whilst we expect the Hoops to put up a good fight, the Norwegian's stellar home form should carry them through this one, with our tip Bodo/Glimt to win and both teams to score priced at 4/1.

Arguably the best game of last week, Slavia Prague’s 3-2 away win over Fenerbahçe has set up a scintillating second leg as the Czech side look to defend their one-goal advantage.

Following the abolishment of the away goals rule, Slavia’s three goals on the road count for a lot less, and therefore Ismail Kartal and Fenerbahçe will be hopeful they may find their way back into the tie.

The hosts sit top of their league domestically, and in scoring 53 times are the division's top scorers, whereas visitors Fenerbahçe are fifth in the Turkish Super Lig, but have won two on the bounce heading into this one. Given last week's game, we expect another action-packed fixture when these two meet this week, however, with home advantage on their side, our tip is for Slavia Prague to come out victorious, priced at 9/4 to win with over 2.5 match goals.