Football Bet of the Day: Antony can strike for Betis

We've been left to lick our wounds again as Wednesday's Football Bet of the Day came so close to landing. Robert Lewandowski duly delivered in front of goal, but Coventry's Haji Wright let us down for a winner.

Still, onto the next one!

Football Odds

Now I’ve turned my attention to the Conference League on Thursday night in an attempt to find a winner. Real Betis host Jagiellonia - a Polish outfit - in the quarter-finals, looking to find their way through to the semis. The Spanish side are massive favourites for this game, priced at just 2/7 to secure the win, so I’ve looked at a Bet Builder to try and lengthen our odds. 

Obviously I’m going to pick out Real Betis to win this first leg. They are far superior to their Polish opponents and should be able to show their class having drawn 1-1 with Barcelona last time out in the league. They only finished 15th in the bloated league phase but have since knocked out Gent and Vitoria to make it to the final eight. 

Historically Betis haven’t been that competitive in Europe, in fact they are now in the last eight of a Uefa competition for the first time since 1997/98, while their opponents Jagiellonia are enjoying a memorable journey in their first appearance in a European knockout stage.

Real Betis have won eight of their 15 home games in La Liga this season and they shouldn’t have any problem in beating their Polish opponents, who currently sit third in the Ekstraklasa. They beat Cercle Brugge in the last round, 3-2 on aggregate, but the goals they scored in the 3-0 win at home all came after their Belgian visitors were reduced to 10 men. 

Real Betis vs Jagiellonia Odds

Away from home they were beaten 2-0, and I can see Betis enjoying a big win on home soil here, to put the tie out of reach. One man who I’m backing to find the net is Manchester United loanee Antony. The £80m+ fee United splashed out on him was fairly ridiculous, but there is a player in there and he is finding his confidence at Betis, who want to make his loan signing permanent this summer. 

He’s scored five goals so far for the Spanish club, but he’s got two of those in four Conference League outings. He is trusted by Manuel Pellegrini and the reason I’m backing him to find the net is that his side should dominate this game, and create plenty of chances. Pablo Fornals, Giovani Lo Celso and Cucho Hernandez should all provide enough firepower to tear the Polish outfit apart, and I think Antony will be able to capitalise. 

The final pick to round off this Bet Builder is backing Afimico Pululu, Jagiellonia’s striker, to pick up a yellow card. Pululu is quite the physical specimen and loves to rough up defenders when given the chance. He’s conceded the most fouls in the Conference League this season (31) but is also the most fouled player in the competition (33). 

That gives you some idea of the player he is and he is going to have to be a nuisance to give the away side a chance of getting the ball up the pitch. Incredibly, he’s only picked up one yellow in this competition so far, but I think he is owed one given the amount of fouls he is involved in. 

This Bet Builder is the Football Bet of the Day for Thursday, April 10 and is priced at 7/1.

Offers

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