Atletico Madrid v Hannover: Both to score in home win
Published:Inaugural winners of the Europa League in its current format, Atletico Madrid can take a step towards a second final appearance in three years by beating Hannover at 8/15 on Thursday night.
The German visitors are embarking upon their first Europa League adventure, and after stunning Sevilla by conquering them in the round of 16, they are 6/1 to beat another Spanish side here.
It is 11/4 for the draw, and that is the result that Hannover achieved in the away leg of that Sevilla tie, their first and only competitive match against Spanish opposition in the club’s history.
However, Atletico have racked up seven back-to-back home wins in Europe, averaging almost three goals per game in this year’s campaign, and they look unmissable to win at 7/5 with three or more goals being scored in the game.
More than half of Atletico’s 21 European goals have come in the first half of games, and with that in mind, 11/10 looks a great price for the home side to leave at half-time and full-time here
The away side do look dangerous on their travels though, registering strikes in all but one of their games on the road in Europe, and so 5/6 odds on both teams to score are appealing, but not as much as the 5/2 available on both sides notching in an Atletico win.
With both sides seemingly free scoring in European competition, another bet that appears advisable is for there to be four or more goals in the match, which can be backed at 13/8.
There is an obvious selection for the first scorer in the game, as Radamel Falcao, with six European strikes so far this term, can do the business here at 11/4.
The Colombian’s short price stems from his record-breaking exploits in last year’s competition, where he amassed an incredible 17 Europa League goals to lead Porto to tournament glory.
His team-mate Adrian Lopez has notched an impressive five goals in ten games though, and may be worth backing to score last at 5/1.
