Europa League Betting Tips - Matchday 2

Ferencvaros vs Tottenham

Tottenham's first European game under Ange Postecoglou got off to an inglorious start against Qarabag. The opposition got stuck in the London traffic, meaning a 35-minute delay and then Radu Dragusin got himself sent off after eight minutes.

Spurs made light of that setback to win 3-0, Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke getting amongst the goals.

The pair did the same again at Old Trafford on Sunday as the Lilywhites made short work of Manchester United in an excellent display.

A four-match winning sequence has quelled any pressure on Postecoglou and he'll take his side to the Hungarian capital in confident mood.

They did, though, fall behind in the EFL Cup at Coventry and at home to Brentford in the Premier League recently and in their last two European campaigns Spurs have drawn two and lost five of eight games on the road.

Ferencvaros were much better than their 2-1 loss at Anderlecht suggested last week and can take a share of the spoils on their own patch.

THE DRAW

Real Sociedad vs Anderlecht

As noted, Anderlecht were possibly fortuitous to get all three points in their opening game, with Ferencvaros, boss Pascal Jansen adamant his side should  'absolutely should not have lost' that contest.

The win came amid a five-game winless streak domestically and Anderlecht now head to San Sebastian to face a Real Sociedad side that ended their own poor sequence of results with a 3-0 win over Valencia in La Liga at the weekend.

Sociedad drew 1-1 at Nice on Matchday One and the win over Valencia should serve to boost their morale.

Their Belgian visitors haven't scored a single goal in their last three away games in the Europa League proper and may come home from Spain with nothing to show for their efforts.

REAL SOCIEDAD TO WIN

Slavia Prague vs Ajax

Both of these teams started with wins. Ajax hammered four past Besiktas in Amsterdam, the visiting side unable to muster even as much as a shot on target, while Slavia Prague were 2-0 winners away to Ludogorets.

This is a hard game to call and it could be that goals are at a premium.

Slavia haven't conceded in any of their five games since they were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by Lille in August - a two-legged tie they will recall with regret.

Jindrich Trpisovsky has watched his side win 12 of their 14 games this season in all competitions so far.

Former Nice boss Francesco Farioli is also building a rock-solid foundation at Ajax. Besiktas didn't land any sort of blow and, overall, the Amsterdammers have conceded just once in five games since August.

Slavia have won 11 of their last 14 home games in European competition, but this Ajax side has a solid backbone and so the best bet in this game is for Under 2.5 Goals to be scored.

UNDER 2.5 GOALS

FC Porto vs Manchester United

The dark clouds are gathering around Erik ten Hag once more. The Manchester United boss appeared to be on borrowed time at the end of last season before an FA Cup final win over neighbours Man City saw him given a reprieve.

Things haven't gone well this season overall and Sunday's abysmal home reverse against Tottenham means the United boss is in the headlights again.

Porto had a whopping 29 goal attempts against 10-man Bodo/Glimt in Norway last week, but somehow contrived to lose 3-2.

This clash with the Red Devils - the first between these clubs since a Cristiano Ronaldo stunner sent United into the 2008/09 Champions League semi-finals - would always have been a prestige contest for the Portuguese side.

United's players appear from the outside to be going through the motions and they may come unstuck again at the Estadio do Dragao.

PORTO TO WIN

Rangers vs Lyon

It has been an embarrassing week for one half of Glasgow's great football divide after Celtic shipped seven goals in Dortmund, but city rivals Rangers tend not to fall victim to such humbling defeats, due in no small part to their willingness to make themselves a hard team to beat.

The Light Blues have lost just one of their last 17 home games in European competition and can avoid defeat against Lyon, the Ligue 1 side having left Ibrox with a 2-0 Europa League group-stage victory in September 2021.

Philippe Clement's team started slow this season, but the Gers have won four on the spin without conceding, including a 2-0 victory at Malmo in their opening Europa League game last week.

Pierre Sage's Lyon find themselves no better than 11th in the French top-flight with just seven points from their opening six games, though they did come from behind to win at Toulouse most recently as they, like Rangers, slowly gather pace.

Both these sides would likely accept a point in Glasgow and, in what looks sure to be a close contest, that outcome makes plenty of appeal.

THE DRAW