Thursday's card may not have the glamour of a Champions League night, but with three British sides in Europe and holders Manchester City opening their defence of the Carabao Cup, it offers plenty of opportunities for sharp punters.

A corner‑heavy Real Sociedad side, a mercurial playmaker with a point to prove, and a Greek outfit that could catch Hoffenheim cold headline Thursday's selections.

Here we outline our best bet of the day,  bet builder and top value acca.

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Bet of the Day

Real Sociedad Most Corners v Bournemouth @ 1/1

Bournemouth make their European bow against Real Sociedad in a clash of two coastal clubs with contrasting corner counts.

The Cherries have been getting a middle-of-the-pack 4.5 corners per game so far under Marco Rose while allowing slightly more at an average of five per match.

They have lost the corner battle in both of their away trips so far this season, at the Etihad Stadium and St. James' Park, by a combined 12-6.

Real Sociedad, meanwhile, have accumulated the most corners in La Liga through the opening six rounds with the second-highest average number gained, behind only Real Madrid.

Pellegrino Matarazzo's side have topped the flag-kick tally in all of their home games this term and each was pretty convincing — 7-3,11-3 and 9-3 — so the statistics point to the Spanish side cornering the market on Thursday.

Bet Builder 

Manchester City to Win Both Halves, Rayan Cherki Anytime Goalscorer & Over 4.5 Goals @ 5/1

Norwich's Carabao Cup run looks likely to end on Thursday when they face Manchester City. The club that has dominated the competition in the last decade, winning six of the last 11 Wembley finals.

The Citizens may choose to rest a few key players ahead of a weekend Premier League clash against Sunderland, but they have enough quality to win both halves. 

Rayan Cherki will not have been too happy to be substituted at half-time in Sunday's Manchester derby.

The Frenchman had done little wrong in the first 45 minutes but could get a chance to show Enzo Maresca the error of his ways in Thursday's third-round tie.

The former Lyon man played a starring role in his side's march to the final last season, scoring three goals in five Carabao Cup appearances.

And he should be ideally placed to pop up with another against a Canaries side that conceded four goals at Middlesbrough on Saturday, three of which came from shots just inside the box in an area Cherki loves to occupy. 

Finally, add over 4.5 goals to the Bet Builder. The Canaries were on the wrong end of a seven-goal thriller at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday, so clearly have some holes in their defence.

Acca 

OFI to beat Hoffenheim, Ferencvaros TC to beat Celtic & Besiktas to beat Marseille @ 49/1

Crete is a lovely place to visit at this time of year, but it may prove an uncomfortable trip for Hoffenheim as they open their Europa League campaign against Greek cup winners OFI. 

The Heraklion-based side moved into third place in the table after beating Olympiacos 1-0 at the weekend and currently boast the joint-best defensive record.

The German outfit finally got their first Bundesliga win of the campaign on Saturday in a wide-open contest against Stuttgart.

But they struggled on their last European adventure two seasons ago, losing at Braga and Porto after a 90th-minute equaliser spared them a defeat at Midtjylland.

Include Ferencvaros TC in this accumulator as they head to Glasgow in much better form than Celtic.

The Hoops are reeling from a 3-0 Old Firm drubbing at Ibrox while the Hungarian side, who have already ousted FC Twente and Mohamed Salah's Trabzonspor in qualifying, are on a seven-match unbeaten run.

Besiktas also look like a solid home selection on Thursday as they take on a Marseille squad that have not replaced experienced stars like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Geronimo Rulli and Leonardo Balerdi.

The Ligue 1 side have already lost to Monaco, Paris FC and Rennes and could struggle against a Black Eagles side that signed Dusan Vlahovic and Leandro Trossard in the summer.

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Odds correct at time of publish and subject to change.

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