Europa League preview and odds: Sevilla vs Molde

Published on: 16/02/2016

Europa League preview and odds: Sevilla vs Molde

February 18, 2016 19:00pm - Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan

Europa League - Round of 32, First leg

Europa league specialists Sevilla will be aiming for their third-straight UEFA crown and their fifth in total, when they welcome Ole Gunnar Solskjaers Molde to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Thursday.

Sevilla on course for Euro hat-trick

After enduring a tough time in the Champions League, Sevilla are back in the competition that they have dominated over the last two seasons. The Spanish team had a poor start to the season on all fronts, and were dumped out of Europe`s elite competition at the group stage.

However, since losing to Borussia Monchengladbach back in November, Unai Emery`s men have lost just one game out of 21 in all competitions. Remarkably, they have won 12 home games in a row, scoring 30 goals and conceding just two in the process.

Molde may struggle after winter break

With the Norwegian league yet to kick-off, Molde will be coming into this game having played no competitive football since their 1-1 draw at Ajax back in December. Since then, they have lost four straight pre-season friendly matches. As a result, they may struggle against a team that is currently in the middle of a 12-game home winning streak.

Molde raised a few eyebrows with their group stage performances, beating Celtic home and away and holding Ajax to a pair of draws. They finished top of Group A with a total of 11 points from six games. They have lost just one of their last six away games in this competition.

Team news

The home side will be without Grzegorz Krychowiak and Nicolás Pareja for this clash.

Recent form (All competitions)

Sevilla: WWWWW

Molde: LLLLD (including friendlies)

Betting odds and tips

Sevilla are dominant on home soil and should breeze past a team that has not played any competitive football for two months.

You can back Over 2.5 Goals at 1/2, and Sevilla to Win to Nil at 8/11 - both with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 16/02/2016

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (16/02/2016 14:43:16) but are subject to change.