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UEFA Cup Betting preview Thursday 13th March 2008

After Everton and Tottenham’s agonizing penalty-shoot-out exits from the UEFA cup last night, British hopes in the comeptition rest on the shoulders of Bolton Wanderers and Glasgow Rangers as the two sides look to book their place in the Quarter Finals on the UEFA Cup in the second leg of their last-16 matches.

Sporting Lisbon v Bolton (1-1 from first leg)

Bolton travel to the capital city of Portugal all square after the first leg at the Reebok Stadium. Sporting have the crucial away goal that means Bolton simply must score, which is something they have struggled to do since selling Nicolas Anelka to Chelsea in January. Gary Megson’s team have also lost their last three Premiership games in a row and find themselves in the bottom three in the league. Sporting by comparison are currently fifth in the Portuguese Liga.

Wanderers will be without Matt Taylor, Andy O’Brien, Ivan Campo, Kevin Davies, Kevin Nolan, Jussi Jaaskelainen and Ricoardo Gardner through various injuries, whilst Gavin McCann is suspended and Cohen, Steinsson and Rasiak are ineligible for European ties. It’s going to be a makeshift team that will try and bring a result back from Lisbon, but this may be an ask too far for Bolton.

Not surprisingly, Bolton are rank outsiders to win this tie, with Bet 365 pricing them at 6/1. Boylesports have the best odds for Sporting Lisbon to beat Bolton at 4/7. The odds of Sporting and Bolton drawing are 14/5 with VC Bet. All prices apply to 90 minutes only.

Werder Bremen v Rangers (0-2 from first leg)

Walter Smith’s men should have a smoother passge into the Quarter Finals, leading from the first leg 2-0, and knowing that if they score an away goal, then the Germans will have to score at least four goals to progress. Bremen will still believe that is possible, as they are the top scoring side in the Bundesliga, and you would expect the Rangers goal to be under siege from the very outset of this match.

Rangers wilkl be without Jean-Clauyde Darcheville (hamstring) and Daniel Cousin (Broken Jaw). Lee McCulloh returns from a dead leg. Werder Bremen have injury worries of their own, with forwards Ivan Klasnic and Boubacar Sanago missing out. Captain Frank Baumann, Clemens Fritz abd Petri Pasanen should all be fit enough to play despite suffering knocks in their 6-3 defeat at Stuttgart at the weekend.

The odds for Rangers to beat Werder Bremen are 11/2 with Ladbrokes, whilst the odds for the Germans to win this tie is just 4/7 (Boylesports). VC Bet have the best odds for the draw at 16/5.

All odds correct at time of writing. Please click here for the latest odds