The Europa League’s English sides don’t have too much to play for this Thursday, with their fates already decided.

For Arsenal, they’re already through to the last 32; they’ll be looking to secure Group H’s top spot when they travel to Koln at 6pm on BT Sport 2. The Gunners put in what was arguably their best performance of the season so far on Saturday, shocking Tottenham to beat their North London rivals 2-0. It was a nice rebuttal to their pre-international break loss to Man City, and will hopefully translate into a decent run heading into Christmas.



It’ll likely be a very different side sent out on Thursday, however. Olivier Giroud – who missed the derby through injury – is set to lead from the front, and sits at a Super Mega PGM of 36-42. Arsene Wenger will also use the relatively unimportant fixture to give more game-time to his youngsters, including EFL Cup-saviour Edward Nkietiah and Chuba Akpom, both at Super Mega PGMs of 22-27.

Arsenal aside, Group H is far from settled, with Red Star Belgrade, BATE Borisov and, indeed, Koln all in the running for the next round. The Germans, who rattled the Gunners in their curtain-raiser before succumbing to a 3-1 defeat, could really do with a win on Thursday. That’s easier said than done, however, with Spreadex offering an Arsenal/Koln (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.15-0.35 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.65-2.85.

A bit later Everton’s visit from Atalanta gives caretaker manager David Unsworth another chance to prove himself at 8.05pm on BT Sport 2. Thursday’s fixture marks the 6th game in charge for Unsworth, a period that hasn’t really seen the Toffees make any great strides towards recovery. In the league they’ve lost to Leicester, beaten Watford thanks to an injury time penalty, and drawn against 20th place Crystal Palace; they exited the EFL Cup at the hands of Chelsea; and in Europe they lost 3-0 to Lyon after capitulating in the final 20 minutes.



That latter loss means Everton have just 1 point from 4 Europa League group games, making them one of just 3 sides to already be out of the competition. That could make their face-off with Atalanta a bit of a write-off – yet it is worth noting that the club are in need of a confidence-boost, so getting revenge for their 3-0 Italian trashing back in September may be motivation enough. It may also provide Wayne Rooney a chance to get on the scoresheet for the first time in a month, with the former England forward at a Super Mega PGM spread of 19-23.

As for Atalanta themselves, they’re basically through to the next round already, top of Group E on the same 8 points as Lyon. A decent victory on Thursday would help maintain their goal difference advantage over the French club, with Spreadex offering an Atalanta/Everton (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.2-0.4 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.4-2.6.