Football betting tips: Europa League

2pts Under 2.5 goals at 10/11 (bet365, Betfred)

1pt No Goalscorer at 10/1 (General)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair

Kick-off: Thursday, 20:00 BSTTV: TNT Sports 1

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Well, not the old boss, the one before the one who was sacked after 39 days.

Sean Dyche is the new man at Nottingham Forest, and in a terrible roundabout way it’s kind of the right decision, correcting Evangelos Marinakis’ vanity appointment of Ange Postecoglou after everything fell apart behind the scenes with Nuno Espirito Santo, the man who should actually be in charge.

Lots of analysis has been done over the past week showing that Dyche’s style of play in his most recent managerial spell at Everton is incredibly close on all major metrics to Nuno’s Forest last term, which should make for a much easier transition than during a haphazard month under Postecoglou.

For a team whose only win in all competitions this season came on opening day, that will be a relief.

Dyche takes over a team seemingly in crisis. In the Premier League relegation zone and with only a point from their opening two Europa League fixtures. A team whose success was previously built on defensive solidity that hasn’t kept a clean sheet in their last 20 matches.

Unlike his predecessor, whose gung-ho evangelism ultimately cost him another top-flight job, fixing that end of the pitch will undoubtedly be Dyche’s first task.

It shouldn’t be that hard either, as Forest conceded an astonishing 11 times from set-pieces in their eight games under Postecoglou. There are other actual positives too.

Forest aren’t as bad as it may seem. Despite losing 3-0 at home to Chelsea on Saturday, a result that saw the Australian sacked 19 minutes after the final whistle, they actually played well, dominating the first half before set-piece fragility reared its ugly head immediately after half-time. Even at 2-0 down they missed a hatful more chances.

Porto won’t make this easy, though. The Portuguese club have conceded just twice in 11 fixtures in all competitions this season, winning 10 and drawing one.

The only match they failed to win saw Jose Mourinho’s Benfica secure a goalless draw away from home in a contest that involved just three shots on target.

In the Europa League, Porto needed a 93rd-minute goal to beat RB Salzburg – a match they were fortunate to win 1-0. At home to Red Star Belgrade only in the 89th minute did they eke out a 2-1 victory.

With Dyche looking to get Forest back to basics, this contest is likely to be similarly tight, making the 10/11 about UNDER 2.5 GOALS worth taking. At 10/1 generally, NO GOALSCORER is also advised.

Dyche has been here before. Everton were leaking goals and on a wretched run when he arrived in early 2023. After only a few days’ training he oversaw a 1-0 win at home to Arsenal. Three of his first four home matches ended in 1-0 victories.

But at the prices, and given the form and situations of each team, I just can’t quite back the home side to make the perfect start under their new boss.

Not that I don’t think that’s exactly what might happen.

Odds correct at 1200 BST (22/10/25)

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