Warsaw is the venue for the 2015 Europa League final as current champions Sevilla look to retain their crown against first time European finalists Dnipro from the Ukraine. Dnipro caused a big surprise (not at bobookies where we tipped them to qualify) by eliminating Napoli at the semi-final stage while Sevilla took care of business in style by dismissing Fiorentina comfortably over 2 legs and we should be set for a pretty good final here with Sevilla clear favourites. Let's take a closer look at the action from Warsaw tonight. 20.45 - Sevilla v Dnipro - Prediction - Best Bets - See foot of page.
3 times winners Sevilla are looking for a 4th Europa League title in the past 10 years but they face a tricky opponent in DNipro of the Ukraine who are appearing in their first European final tonight in Warsaw. Having won the trophy in 2006, 2007 and then again in 2014, and given their form in this year’s event (winning 8 of their last 9 fixtures) it would be reasonable to say that Sevilla love this competition and are to be considered experts in the event, and with a Champions League place at stake tonight, this will be the most rewarding of all their triumphs if they do indeed end up as winners. Sevilla narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification through the league and know that a win in Warsaw is now their only way of securing a place among Europe's elite next term. Sevilla are unbeaten in their last five competitive fixtures and are clear favourites coming into this final. Dnipro though are certainly not to be under-estimated and having been underdogs in their ties with St Etienne, Olympiakos, Ajax, Bruges and then Napoli in the semis, they will no doubt relish the opportunity to surprise everyone again here. The Ukrainians deserve enormous credit for making the final, not only because of their underdog status in previous ties but for somehow overcoming the political crisis in Ukraine while being forced to play their home fixtures hundreds of miles away in the capitol Kiev. It hasn't been a deterrent to their success though and on home soil they have been impossible to breach, keeping clean sheets in all 5 fixtures in the knock-out stages so it would be foolish to assume Sevilla will walk through them and having drawn 0.0 on 6 occasions this season, we cannot rule out such an outcome here. Sevilla though, are of course a tremendously good side going forward, scoring 2 or more in their last 7 Europa League fixtures, and at least 1 in their last 9. They have only kept 1 clean sheet though in their last 5 away fixtures in the tournament and they will need to be at their best tonight to claim the trophy against this sturdy and resolute Dnipro side who will look to shut up shop and hit them on the counter and they do have attacking talent in the un-pronouncable Yevhen Konoplyanka who is strongly linked to continue his career in the English Premier League next season. Dnipro's biggest worry will come in the shape of 26 goal Colombian forward Carlos Bacca who has 5 goals in this year’s tournament including 3 from his last 4 starts in the quarters and semis, and 6 in his last 10 starts overall. You can back Bacca at 21/20 to score anytime or 3/1 for the first goal. When you look at past finals, 5 out of 10 have seen BTTS and that outcome is priced at odds against 6/5 and while I'm not convinced of it here, I do feel like it has a chance when you consider Sevilla's shaky defense which has just 3 clean sheets from their last 13 fixtures although 2 of those were against Fiorentina in the semi-finals earlier this month. I can see 2 outcomes here, either that Sevilla score early and we have a pretty entertaining game which sees only 1 winner, or Dnipro are able to hold firm and force the game into extra-time following a gritty 0.0 draw, so much depends on how well Sevilla can unsettle their opponents in the opening 20 minutes. I do expect Sevilla to claim the trophy but it might not be as straight-forward as most people assume. Sevilla are just 2/7 to lift the trophy and 8/13 to win in 90 minutes and while I expect them to get the job done, it may take them a while to breach this tough Dnipro side. You can get 5/6 on any goal after 70 minutes (not including extra time) while 16/1 on the first goal to be scored between 70 and 80 minutes could be worth a cheeky pound. I'm going for a 2.0 win for Sevilla as I see some similarities between this final and the 2008 event which saw a smaller, defensively orientated side in Rangers come up short when they took on a Zenit side that were just too strong on the day. Rangers were resilient but in the end the quality came through with 2 late goals, and that's how I see this one materialising with Sevilla so dangerous going forward and only failing to score in 1 of their last 35 games. Yes, 35 games. The Andalucians should have just too much quality for Dnipro and while I don't expect this one to be settled early, I do expect Sevilla to eventually break down their opponents and Spain to claim another trophy on the continental scene and Sevilla to claim their 4th Europa League title since 2006. Here are tonight's best bets! Bo's Sexy Single Total Staked - 2.5 Points Potential Returns - 5.12 Points Carlos Bacca to score anytime @21/20 Bo's Sexy Single Total Staked - 1.25 Points Potential Returns - 6 Points Bacca to score first @3/1 Bo's Correct Score Total Staked - 1.25 Point Potential Returns - 8.12 Points Sevilla to win 2.0 @11/2 Other selected bets Any goal scored after 69.59 minutes - 5/6 First goal scored between 70 and 80 minutes - 16/1 HT Draw FT Sevilla @ 3/1 Comments are closed.
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