talkSPORT tips – Best football bets and expert advice for Thursday 22 January

The penultimate round of league phase fixtures takes place in the Europa League on Thursday and that competition is the focus for our daily football tips.

We’ve looked over the fixtures and picked out three bets ahead of the action.

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Wednesday’s football betting tips

Bet of the day

Porto to win at Viktoria Plzen @ 19/20

Viktoria Plzen are yet to be beaten in the league phase but that record will be put to the test when they host Porto on Thursday.

The visitors are clinging on to a place in the top eight and will be keen to avoid a play-off as they battle for silverware domestically and in Europe, and the Portuguese big guns come into this game in a rich vein of form.

Porto are on a nine-game winning run and they’ve gone five without conceding. Plzen may be unbeaten in the league phase but they’ve also failed to score in their last three games in this competition, and they had to dig deep to nick a point at Panathinaikos in the last round of games.

Plzen have been exceptional in Europe this season but Porto are a level or two above their hosts and they have enough quality to come away with maximum points.

Bet Builder of the day

Braga vs Nottingham Forest – Ricardo Horta 1+ Shots on Target, Callum Hudson-Odoi 1+ Shots on Target, Igor Jesus 2+ Shots on Target, Morgan Gibbs-White 1+ Shots on Target @ 7/1 

One of the biggest games of the day, both in terms of the size of the clubs and what is at stake, takes place in Portugal as Braga host Nottingham Forest at the impressive Estádio Municipal de Braga.

The hosts sit seventh in the standings but Forest would leapfrog them with a win and potentially move into the top eight.

Shots on target is the focus and visiting forward Igor Jesus can register at least two attempts on target. Jesus averages 2.4 shots per-game in this competition and is shooting with 50% accuracy, while team-mate Morgan Gibbs-White averages 0.8 shots on target per-game from 1.4 shots in total.

Callum Hudson-Odoi has had at least three shots in all of his Europa League appearances and averages 1.2 shots on target per-game.

For Braga, Ricardo Horta averages exactly one shot per-game either on target or blocked in this competition and in Portugal’s top tier he averages 1.2 shots on target per-game.

Acca of the day

Porto, Ferencvarosi, Dinamo Zagreb and Basel all to win – @ 17/1

Porto are our Bet of the Day so it makes sense to add them to this win accumulator tip. Their game at Plzen is one of the early kick offs, with the other three legs all starting at 8pm.

Hungary’s Ferencvaros have a last-16 place in their sights as they remain unbeaten after six games, winning four, and they should be able to make home advantage count against Panathinaikos, who have lost back-to-back away games in Greece’s top tier.

Dinamo Zagreb take on Romania’s FCSB in what is perhaps a must-win affair for both teams as the pair sit in the bottom eight. Zagreb beat Fenerbahce 3-1 in Croatia earlier in the league phase and can make home advantage count here.

Finally, Basel impressed in defeat to Aston Villa last time out in Europe and that performance suggests they may have too much for hosts Salzburg, who have five defeats in six games. 

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Odds correct at time of publish and subject to change*

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