After Arsenal’s UCL-humiliation on Wednesday will things go better for Tottenham and Manchester United in their Europa League fixtures this evening?

First up is a trip to Belgium for Spurs, who take on Gent at 6pm on BT Sport 3. Unlike their opponents, Tottenham won’t be too happy about being in the final 32 of the Europa League. That’s because their route to the knockouts was through demotion from the Champions League, Spurs finishing behind Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen after a dismal, partially Wembley-set, campaign. Their league form has been much better, though last weekend’s loss to Liverpool – their first since mid-December – has seen them slip 10 points behind table toppers Chelsea.



Part of Tottenham’s problem in the Champions League was goals, or lack thereof, the London club scoring just 5 times (3 of which coming against CSKA Moscow in their final game). Their issues up front have been somewhat resolved since then, however. Harry Kane has 16 goals in all competitions and sits at a Super Mega PGM of 40-47, while Dele Alli, the club’s driving force in the last couple of months, is at 21-26.

As for Gent, they’ve struggled in the Belgian First Division and could well miss out on a place in the league’s Championship play-offs. In terms of their European performance, they finished a distant 2nd to Shakhtar Donetsk – the sole side to win in the competition to win all 6 group games – both of their victories coming against Turkey’s Konyaspor. In other words, Spurs shouldn’t have too many problems on Thursday, with Spreadex offering a Tottenham/Gent (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.55-0.75 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.4-2.6.

Manchester United will then try to keep their unbeaten streak intact when they host Saint-Etienne, at 8.05pm BT Sport 2. Jose Mourinho may feel justly frustrated at the moment – his United haven’t lost a league game since the 23rd of October, yet have not managed to climb above 6th place between then and now. Of course, if United didn’t draw so many games – 7 out of their last 16 league appearances – things might be different. Nevertheless it does mean that the Portuguese manager may be a bit more interested in the Europa League than he seemed to be at the start of the season.



United could only finished 2nd in their group, losses to Feyenoord and Fenerbahce on the road meaning they were 1 point adrift of the latter by the time the stage was over. The competition has been, however, the source of some of the club’s best performances this season, especially at Old Trafford. They also have the prolific Zlatan Ibrahimovic who, in his time with PSG, scored 14 goals against Saint-Etienne, more than he has against any other side in his career. That understandably leaves the Big Swede with a pretty muscular Super Mega PGM of 63-73, trailed by Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial at 33-39 and 27-32 respectively in the absence of the injured Wayne Rooney.

Saint-Etienne will feel a bit aggrieved that, after topping their (admittedly weak) group they were drawn against Man United. The French side’s form in Ligue 1 has been decidedly mixed, now lurking just outside the top 4 thanks to a loss against Nice a fortnight ago, though they did beat Lorient 4-0 at the weekend. Still, United have seen some heavy home wins in Europe this season, with Spreadex offering a Man United/Saint-Etienne Goal Supremacy spread of 1.7-1.9 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.65-2.85.