Last Thursday, Manchester United hosted Real Betis in the first leg of their Round of 16 UEFA Europa League tie. In the first half, the score was even at 1-1, before the English side that had last won this competition in 2017, raced to a 4-1 advantage in the second 45 minutes.
The second leg takes place a week later in Spain. Needless to say, Betis will have to play a perfect game at home to even have a chance to turn around the three-goal deficit. They are seeking what would be a historic qualification to next season’s UEFA Champions League. After their weekend draw against Villareal in La Liga, Betis have fallen out of the top-four there temporarily. That is a stark contrast to their opponents from Manchester, who are still firmly in control of their own destiny in the top-four race of the Premiership, despite their recent inconsistency.
Speaking of inconsistency, overall Real Betis have only won four of their last 10 matches in all competitions. In that period, they drew twice and lost the remaining four fixtures. Meanwhile, United won six of their last 10 encounters while drawing three and losing one. The game they lost however, was that iconic 7-0 defeat to Liverpool on the weekend before last. It was of course followed by the first leg victory over Betis and a scoreless draw against relegation-threatened Southampton on Sunday. (That is what we meant by recent inconsistency in regards to the Red Devils.)
United are of course firm favorites to advance to the Europa League quarterfinals, due to their lead from the first leg. But epic comebacks do happen in European knockout competitions every now and then.
Bet: Over 3.0 Goal Asian Handicap @ 2.46
