UEFA Cup Betting Analysis from PinnacleSports

15th May 2007, 19:11

European Cup competitions take centre stage in PinnacleSports midweek soccer schedule with a distinctly Mediterranean flavour to the action. On Wednesday Espanyol and Sevilla guarantee that a Spanish side will take home the UEFA Cup from Glasgow, while on Thursday Roma and Inter Milan meet in the second leg of the Coppa Italia. For both games www.PinnacleSports.com will be offering up to 60% better odds on Asian Handicaps.

Spanish Fans Head to Hampden for UEFA Cup Final

It isn’t a brave prediction to say that a Spanish side will lift the UEFA Cup on Wednesday night. Sevilla play Espanyol in Glasgow in an all-Spanish European final, with the Sevillistas looking to regain the trophy they won twelve months ago in Holland. That night they humiliated Premiership outfit Middlesbrough, 4-0 ending a 60 year drought for a major trophy. It is unlikely that we will see another such one-sided final as these La Liga teams will be so familiar with each other’s games.

The game gives Espanyol an opportunity to step out of the shadow of Barcelona with whom they share a city. They almost did Barca a huge favour in their title chase, when on the weekend they ran Real Madrid close at the Bernabeu, eventually losing in a 4-3 thriller. Walter Pandiani scored a hat-trick underlining his threat to Sevilla’s defenders. Sevilla are just two points behind Real and Barca at the top of La Liga, and have a further distraction with the final of the Copa del Rey on June 23rd. In contrast the Parakeets – as Espanyol are known – are able to concentrate solely on this game, with nothing left to play for in the Primera Division.

Though punters have a wealth of previous encounters to help find a winner, these sides have enjoyed a fairly even recent history. The most significant trend is the number of goals recent meetings have produced with 18 in the last five encounters, providing an average of 3.6. PinnacleSports.com price OVER 2 & 2.5 at 1.909 as the favourite goals total. On the Asian Handicap Sevilla are 2.00 (-0.5) with Espanyol 1.926 (+0.5).

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