Manchester United and Stoke City continue their respective Europa League adventures on Thursday night.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United were dumped out of the Champions League in the group stages but demonstrated they are still a force in Europe with a 2-0 win at the Amsterdam Arena in their first leg tie.
Ajax face a huge battle if they are to reach the last-16, with the Dutch side needing at least a 2-0 win themselves if they are to force the tie into extra time.
The Eredivisie outfit need to attack from the off if they are to stand any chance of reaching the next round and, as anyone who watches the Premier League regularly will know, United are always a threat on the break.
There have been reports that England international Wayne Rooney missed training on Wednesday and is a doubt for Ajax’s visit. However, the Old Trafford outfit should still be too strong for the Dutch side, even without their star man, with the likes of Javier Hernandez, Danny Welbeck and Dimitar Berbatov more than capable of filling the void.
The reigning Premier League champions are
Betfred's 1/3 favourites to seal the victory, while Ajax are 8/1 and the draw can be backed at 4/1. However, considering the fact that Ajax simply have to throw men forward it may be worth backing United at 8/11 to secure the win with a -1 handicap, even if they are without Rooney.
In contrast Stoke have a mountain to climb if they are to keep their European campaign alive. The Potters suffered a 1-0 first-leg defeat at the Britannia Stadium and need to win at the Mestalla if they are to progress in the Europa League.
Valencia are a tough side on home soil and they have only lost two La Liga matches at the Mestalla to date. Stoke have a reasonable away record domestically, but it is hard to envisage them getting anything at Valencia, even if the Spanish side decided to rest key men Roberto Soldado and Ever Banega as they did in the first leg.
Potters boss Tony Pulis has vowed to name a strong side and go for the win in Spain, but the task ahead of them is a great one and Stoke’s European adventure could well come to an end on Thursday night.
Valencia are 4/9 to secure the win and it is hard to see anything other than a victory for the high-flying La Liga outfit, while a Stoke victory is priced at 13/2 and the draw can be backed at 16/5.
Both Manchester United and Valencia are amongst the favourites to seal Europa League glory, with United priced at 4/1 and Los Che 9/1 to seal the title. Stoke and Ajax, who have first-leg deficits to recover, can be backed at 80/1 and 200/1 respectively to secure the Europa League crown.
