Europa League Final Preview

There is an all-Premier League final in this season’s Europa League as Tottenham Hotspur face Manchester United at the San Mames in Bilbao.

The game is due to kick off at 8pm GMT and will be broadcast on TNT Sports 1 in the UK. 

This is an all-or-nothing game for both of these teams in regards to their respective seasons. 

Both will finish in the bottom half of the Premier League table, so the winner will claim a trophy and a place in next season’s Champions League and the loser ends up with nothing.

United remain unbeaten in the Europa League but they have lost all three meetings with their opponents so far this season.

Spurs suffered one defeat in the League Phase and they also lost their first knockout game, fighting back from a one-goal deficit to beat AZ Alkmaar 3-2 on aggregate.

Tip 1: Over 2.5 Goals @ 10/11 with Paddy Power

There is a chance this could be an incredibly cagey affair given how much is at stake, but on the other hand an early goal could open everything up and the fact both defences look vulnerable suggests the latter is the more likely scenario.

The odds favour both teams scoring, with yes priced at 13/20 and no at 11/10 with Paddy Power, so the better angle could be siding with at least three goals in total – covering both teams combining for over 2.5 or one running away with it.

Spurs have conceded in each of their last 12 Premier League games, a run stretching back to a 1-0 win over United back in February, while Ange Postecoglou’s side have just one clean sheet in their last seven assignments in all competitions.

This fixture tends to produce goals as over 2.5 goals has landed in three of the last four meetings, while there have been at least three goals scored in each of United’s last five Europa League games.

If one of these teams is behind in the latter stages they will need to go all out in attack and that could lead to a few late goals, so all the ingredients are there to make this a high-scoring final.

Tip 2: Son Heung-Min to score or assist @ 13/8 with Paddy Power

If Spurs are to lift the trophy they need a big performance from their star men and one of those is captain Son Heung-Min, who could have a say in this final.

The South Korean scored against United in Tottenham’s 4-3 EFL Cup win in his only start against the Red Devils this term.

Son hasn’t been able to match his exploits from the last few seasons in terms of his attacking output but he still has a decent haul of seven goals and nine assists in 30 Premier League games, as well as three goals and two assists in this competition.

The forward has featured as a substitute in Spurs’ last two games following an injury so he should come into the final fairly fresh, and at 13/8 he looks good value to either score or register an assist.

Tip 3: Alejandro Garnacho 2+ Shots on Target & Dominic Solanke 2+ Shots on Target Bet Builder @ 10/1 (9.94/1) with Paddy Power

Backing United’s Alejandro Garnacho and Dominic Solanke of Spurs to each record two attempts on goal as a bet builder has appeal as an outside bet.

Garnacho has a shooting accuracy of around 33% across all competitions this season and he’s been getting plenty of chances of late, with the Argentine averaging 3.4 attempts per-game across his last 10 Premier League starts.

Solanke has a slightly better shooting accuracy with just under half of his attempts on target, and comfortably over 50% when taking into account his blocked efforts.

Solanke has had multiple attempts in eight of his last 10 league games, so there is a reasonable chance that both the Tottenham attacker and Garnacho can at the very least test the keeper twice each.