The second leg of the round of 16 ties goes down this Thursday with all attention turning to the top three favourites: AC Milan, Bayer Leverkusen and Liverpool. Two of those sides have practically secured safe passage to the quarter-finals, but Leverkusen have work to do.
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Slavia Prague vs AC Milan – Milan (-2)
AC Milan already have one foot in the next round of the Europa League after a convincing win in the first round of 16 leg against Slavia Prague. Olivier Giroud was once again amongst the goals that day, as he, Tijani Reijnders and Ruben Loftus-Cheek handed the Serie A giants a 3-1 lead at half time. A further finish from Christian Pulisic brought home a 4-2 aggregate lead for Milan.
This also extended Milan's run to three games unbeaten with 1-0 wins over Empoli and Lazio in March putting Milan second in Serie A and above Juventus now with 18 wins and only five losses on the board. Now into the second leg, another routine win and a comfortable spot in the last eight of the Europa League is expected.
Odds are now at 15/2 (8.5) for Milan on the -2 handicap line.
Bayer Leverkusen vs Qarabag – Leverkusen (-2)
The continent held its breath the other day when Qarabag took a 2-0 lead against the relentless record-breaking Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg. It was the first time this season any team across Germany and in the Europa League had a two-goal lead against them, but as Xabi Alonso's men have done so often this season, they proved their excellence.
The tie finished 2-2 with late finishes from Florian Wirtz and Patrick Schick, and Leverkusen would again win over the weekend with a 2-0 victory over Wolfsburg to remain 10 clear in the Bundesliga.
What's better for Alonso's side is how they're at home in this second leg, which is a place where they have won every game this season besides draws with Borussia Monchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund. In fact, Leverkusen have already beaten Qarabag 5-1 in the group stages at the BayArena.
Odds for Leverkusen to win against a -2 handicap line are at 6/5 (2.2).
Liverpool vs Sparta Praha – Liverpool (-2.0)
Although Liverpool lost top spot in the Premier League over the weekend, an unprecedented four major trophies in a season is still on the cards with them expected to beat Manchester United on Sunday for a spot in the FA Cup semi-finals, while they already have the EFL Cup and have practically secured a quarter-finals Europa League position.
Darwin Nunez carried on his solid goalscoring form with two goals in the first half against Sparta Praha, as Luis Diaz, Dominik Szobszlai and Alexis Mac Allister all netted a goal each in a 5-1 win. In the draw with Manchester City last time out, Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Andrew Robertson all started on the bench and may now come into the side, which probably only makes things worse for Praha.
Liverpool to win against a -2 handicap line are at 7/4 (2.75).
