Sports Blog 26/08/2015: UEFA Europa League Play-Offs 2nd Leg Preview – FC Midtjylland vs Southampton, Thursday 28th August 2015

It’s been a dreary start to the season for Southampton; that might not matter, however, if they can secure a place in the Europa League proper when they face Midtjylland at 7.45pm on BT Sport Europe.

Last week saw Southampton makes things a mighty lot harder than they needed to be; Tim Sparv gave Midtjylland the leader just before half time, importantly gifting the Danish side an away goal. And whilst a 56th minute penalty from Jay Rodriguez saw the game end 1-1, with the Saints unlucky not to nab a winner especially with Steven Caulker having a goal disallowed, the Ulvene go into the 2nd leg with the advantage.



Performance-wise it was a far cry from the Southampton that dismantled Vitesse 5-0 over two legs, but is frustratingly in keeping with their showing in the league since the start of the season. An opening day draw against Newcastle at least saw the Saints score 2 goals; that’s more than can be said for their next 2 matches, with a 3-0 loss against Everton at St Mary’s followed by a lifeless snore-draw against Watford (who, incidentally, are proving to be quite adept at grinding out results; at least they have been in the early days of 2015/16).

There is also the issue of Sadio Mane. At 6/1 to be the first scorer in Thursday’s trip to Denmark, the young Senegalese international was one of Southampton’s best signings last season, grabbing 10 goals in his debut year. Already this season in Europe Mane created 2 of the Saints’ 3 goals in the 1st leg against Vitesse before sealing the Dutch team’s fate with an 89th minute strike in the 2nd leg. However, with the transfer deadline approaching the rumour machine is increasingly linking the winger with Tottenham, much to Ronald Koeman’s annoyance, who last Saturday bemoaned the fact that the transfer window extends into the start of the season.

Given Southampton’s recent struggles in front of goal Koeman is understandably concerned about losing one of his best attacking options, especially with these destabilising reports coming on the eve of arguably Southampton’s biggest game since they were promoted. Without Mane the Saints would be over reliant on Graziano Pelle (at 9/2 to score first) up front, especially since Jay Rodriguez (also at 9/2) is only just getting back into the swing of things after his lengthy absence.



Midtjylland, meanwhile, are in the midst of another great season in the Danish Superliga. Unbeaten in their 6 league games, the Ulvene are 4 points clear at the top of the table, the only disappointment in this nascent season being their Champions League qualifying exit at the hands of APOEL. And with 2 of the 3 top scorers from the 2014/15 Superliga in their ranks, with Morten Rasmussen and Martin Pusic at 11/2 and 13/2 to score first respectively, the Danish side will be justifiably happy with their season so far.

They also have less to do than Southampton on Thursday night. A 0-0 draw will suit the Danes fine, putting the onus on the Saints to do something they have been struggling with lately: score a damn goal. Yet our Spreadex traders have faith that the English side will rise to the occasion, offering a slim Southampton/Midtjylland (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.35-0.55 alongside a low Total Goals spread of 2.25-2.45.

Make sure to check out Spreadex’s fixed odds and spread betting opportunities for both this game and the rest of the Europa League play-offs!