Our midweek treble of Match Result & BTTS selections returns a huge price, this week we have a game from League Two and then two crackers from the Europa League on Thursday, have a look…
Northampton Town v Rochdale – 7.45pm Tuesday
Northampton Town to win and BTTS is 5/1 with William Hill
Northampton continue with their great escape from relegation out of the Football League by taking on promotion chasing Rochdale on Tuesday evening. The Cobblers are just three points away from safety and with three sides all on 41 points above them it is looking likely they can get out of this mess with the momentum they currently have. Northampton have been unbeaten for six games now and fans will be far happier than when they were almost ten points adrift. The unbeaten run includes games against second placed Scunthorpe and Play Off placed Southend. Despite facing a side in the top three, I believe being at home and having the fantastic form they do- this will be another important step to safety.
Rochdale will take confidence in the fact they won the reverse fixture 3-2 which also points to the chance of a lot of goals in this one. The Northampton side they face today will be very different to the one they beat back in November and it should be a very intriguing tie. As mentioned I believe Northampton are going to pull off a win here which will come a surprise to many with Dale situated in third place and a win here could actually see them go top. In their last away game seven days ago, Rochdale made the trip to the South West where they lost to bottom of the league Torquay United where it finished 2-1 and I am predicting the exact scoreline here.
Benfica v Tottenham Hotspur – 9.45pm Thursday
Benfica to win and BTTS is 13/5 with William Hill
It is almost one week ago now Tottenham capitulated at the hands of the dangerous Benfica. The Portuguese side won 3-1 at White Hart Lane and will be aiming to hand out further punishment when the two sides meet in the return leg on Thursday at the Stadium of Light. Benfica have now racked up nine wins in a row and along with home advantage you would struggle to make a case for a Spurs victory. In league games, Benfica are unbeaten in an impressive 21 matches and have scored in every single game this season. The away side have to come forward if they are to pull off a shock here and that will play into the hands of free scoring Benfica.
As mentioned, Tottenham have to attack from the start as they need to score at least three goals to make it through, otherwise their season is more or less over. Tim Sherwood has just one chance of keeping his job this summer and that would be by winning this competition. It is hard to look for positives for Spurs fans though as they have suffered three defeats in a row now to big rivals Chelsea and Arsenal as well as today’s opponents Benfica. I can see a home win here but with Tottenham and Tim Sherwood desperate to turn this tie around i can see the London club scoring.
Salzburg v Basel – 8.05pm Thursday
Salzburg to win and BTTS is 2/1 with William Hill
Quite unbelievably the first leg in Switzerland ended 0-0. It was an end to end game with Salzburg surprisingly having the better of the chances. With home advantage now, I can see them making it through in what should be a goal thriller. The Austrian side will be far more confident, they are having a season to remember and have won their last 11 league games with over three quarters of their matches seeing three goals or more scored. After being the better side in the first leg I can see an early goal and the floodgates opening with both sides scoring but Salzburg taking their very good season to the next level by registering a great win here.
Basel were expected to have a lead at this stage having been at home in Leg one. It is however 0-0 and Basel know that just one goal would mean the Austrian outfit would have to score two, to defeat them. Basel have plenty to be proud about in their domestic campaign as they too are unbeaten and have been for 20 matches. The difference is the Swiss side have drawn a lot of games, in fact they have registered fours draws in their last five league games. I certainly see this being a goal fest compared to their 0-0 seven days ago but Salzburg to get the better of the spoils.
A £10 stake on this treble will return an enormous £648 with William Hill
