The fun of the World Cup has come to an end, but there is still a feast of football to take in on Thursday evening.
There is action from the Europa League and Conference League and we have three selections which make up our best bets of the day.
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Bet of the Day
Midtjylland to beat Besiktas @ 9/4
Besiktas finished fourth in the Turkish Super Lig last season, which saw them reach the Europa League qualification spot, but that wasn’t as strong an effort as the league position suggests.
The Black Eagles were only nine points clear of seventh-placed Samsunspor and they were a huge 17 points adrift of champions Galatasaray.
Vincenzo Italiano arrived in Istanbul to take charge of Besiktas last month and the former Bologna boss has beefed up his squad with the big-money signings of Orkun Kokcu and Leandro Trossard.
However, Trossard is unavailable for selection due to his World Cup efforts with Belgium and Besiktas may find life tough against Midtjylland side, who look better prepared for the Europa League qualification rounds.
FCM have played a series of friendly matches in the build-up to Thursday’s tie, with many of their key performers playing a part.
The Boys of the Moor have plenty of talent in their squad with Dario Osorio and Franculino Dju the standout performers, while former Leeds defender Rasmus Kristensen has reinforced the defence.
Midtjylland finished third in the league phase of the Europa League last season and Mike Tullberg’s men look to have been underestimated heading into this contest.
Special of the Day
Benfica to beat St Gallen and over 2.5 goals bet builder @ 19/20
Benfica will be hoping for progress under new manager Marco Silva and the Eagles should soar past Europa League qualifying rivals St Gallen.
Silva has added Georgiy Sudakov, Jakub Kaminski and Enzo Barrenechea to an already talented roster and Benfica were good enough to beat Real Madrid 4-2 in the Champions League last season.
St Gallen saw 119 goals scored in their 38 Swiss Super League matches last term, and while Espen lacks the quality of Benfica, Enrico Maaben’s men are likely to go on the front foot.
A Benfica victory and over 2.5 goals at the AFG Arena pays 19/20 in a bet builder and that makes plenty of appeal.
Longshot acca of the day
Qarabag to beat CSKA Sofia, Twente to beat Ferencvaros, Noah to beat Csf Zimbru Chisinau treble @ 10/3
Qarabag bashed Vestri 6-0 on aggregate in the previous round of Europa League qualification and the Azerbaijan side are a decent outfit at this level of football.
CSKA Sofia failed to impress against a low-level Derry City side and the Bulgarians are opposable on their travels.
A progressive campaign carried Twente above Ajax, Utrecht and AZ in the Eredivisie last term and the Dutch side can see off Ferencvaros, who lost some strong performers in the summer and they look a level below their Europa rivals.
FC Noah failed to topple Ararat-Armenia at the top of the Armenian Premier League last term, but Sandro Perkovic’s men finished with a +42 goal difference and they are a progressive outfit.
The Abovyan side can get past Conference League rivals Csf Zimbru Chisinau.
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Odds correct at time of publish and subject to change.
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