Europa League - Lazio v Atlético Madrid Odds and Betting Preview

ROME, ITALY - Lazio host Atlético Madrid at the Stadio Olympico in the Europa League Round of 32 this Thursday. The Italian side are favourites to take a lead into the second leg at odds of 11/8 (bet £8 receive £19) with bet365. Los Madrileños are underdogs for the tie but have every chance of walking away with a result, priced up at 2/1 with Coral. Punters can also back the draw at 23/10 with Ladbrokes.

As the self acclaimed "Masters of Rome", fans and board members alike will be hoping to see Lazio take a comfortable lead into the second leg in Spain. The side have been pretty entertaining in the league, which was epitomised by their stunning comeback against Cesena last weekend. Edoardo Reja's form in the league, but with the quality he has at his disposal it could be better. They are third in the league but are five points adrift. They played very well indeed to record a 2-0 victory against AC Milan and will need to replicate this qaulity if they are to beat Atlético.

The Spanish visitors would be reluctant to descibe their domestic campaign as sucessful. A club who has seen the likes of Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan grace its pitches should be aiming to finish higher than sixth in the league, which is the spot they occupy at the moment. In what is arguably a two horse league the side from the capital should be looking to finish third ideally however they have hardly looked like doing that this season. Gregorio Manzano's torid time came to an end quite recently and under new manager Diego Simone they seemed to be looking a bit better. Unbeaten in their last four, the side have this season failed to generate a decent run of results. Also against the big two of Real and Barcelona, they have only scored one goal and conceded an embarrassing nine.

Bookies are guessing that the game will end as a stalemate and thus a 1-1 draw is the favoured result at 11/2 with Coral. Lazio are at 15/2 with bet365 to snatch a 1-0 win whereas for their Spanish counterparts the same result is given at 9/1 with bet365 too. For those seeing some continental mastery, combined with poor defending, the Over/Under market looks interesting. For the conservative punter, Over 2.5 goals is at 21/20 with bet365 and Under 2.5 is at 4/5 with BETFRED. If you are expecting a high scoring game then odds like 6/1 with bet365 for Over 4.5 goals may be tempting. On the other hand, the conservative gamblers out there may prefer Under 1.5 which is given at 12/5 with Boylesports.

In the Half-time/Full-time market Lazio/Lazio is the favourite at 11/4 with BETFRED. Madrid/Madrid is priced up at 7/2 with bet365 whereas more exciting games like Madrid/Lazio and Lazio/Madrid are given long odds of 25/1 and 28/1 respectively (both with bet365). Miroslav Klose is the favourite for this game to break the deadlock. This is hardly surprising; the german giant has scored 12 goals in his last 19 appearances. His strike partner Tommaso Rocchi is right behind him at 13/2 with BETFRED but is doubtful for the tie. For the visitors most hope lies with the brilliant Falcao. The former Porto man has made an instant impact at the Estadio Vicente Calderón and eyes will be on him on Thursday. he can be backed at 13/2 with BETFRED to be the first name on the scoresheet.

The game kicks off at 18.00 GMT this Thursday.

Match Betting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqFLXayD6e8