Europa League :Wolfsburg- Lille
We opposed Wolfsburg on group Matchday 1 when they made the trip to Goodison to play Everton ....
Roberto Martinez has spoken of taking the competition seriously and we know that Spanish teams usually do, so maybe it is in his blood. Having earned their first win of the season at WBA over the weekend, there is good reason to feel that they will keep that momentum going and to build on it. If they have desire to progress, it will of course not be at the expense of their league campaign and with a long trip to Krasnodar up next and that match sandwiched between away trips to Liverpool and Manchester United, their two biggest rivals, it is fair to assume that they will be looking for the points today and then spare one or two the long trip East in two weeks time. Samuel Eto’o sat out the weekend game, but looks sure to start tonight and with no new injuries and the treatment room emptying, Martinez will surely name a strong starting eleven. His team have scored at least twice in all three starts and whilst they have conceded just as freely, Wolfsburg do not pose quite the threat of Arsenal and Chelsea and motivation for German clubs in the competition has been a little questionable in recent seasons and the domestic schedule tends not to do them any favours, with teams sometimes asked to play Thursday-Saturday. Wolfsburg do get a Sunday match this week, hosting Bayer Leverkusen and having made a slow start to the season, that might be the main focus of their week, against a direct rival for a top 4 spot, of which only two are realistically up for grabs.
Everton's record signing Romelu Lukaku was reportedly close to signing for Wolfsburg in the summer, but looking at the direction they finally went in...Nicklas Bendtner, it is hard to believe they were ever really going to spend close to 35m €. They have said that Luis Gustavo and Kevin De Bruyne will be fit to play some part, but the pair have looked a little off the pace since returning late from the World Cup, this looks a good time for Everton to play Wolfsburg.
They lost 4-1, but to say the scoreline was flattering to the EPL side is an understatement and Wolves dominated most of the second half, they had little luck and had to wait until injury time before scoring one of their 27 attempts on goal ( 13 on target). They put that right on the Sunday, beating a strong Leverkusen team 4-1 and have subsequently also beaten Weder Bremen here at the Volkswagenarena. They have scored 27 goals in their last 11 home starts, only losing to Bayern and again look to be giving the competition respect and tonight their best shot. I doubt the same is true of Lille, they have already dropped home points to Krasnodar , have a realistic shot at a Champions League spot and face a difficult trip to Lyon on Sunday. They are already without four midfielders in Rio Manuba, Marvin Martin, Marcos Lopes and Jonathan Delaplace and can ill afford to lose anyone else (only four real midfielders have made the trip tonight) and I expect resistance will drop if and when they concede.
1.5 units Wolfsburg -1 ball 2.16 asian line/Sportmarket.
Wolfsburg : Benaglio, Grün - Jung, Naldo, Knoche, R.Rodriguez, T.Klose, Schäfer - Guilavogui, Malanda, Luiz Gustavo, De Bruyne, Hunt, Arnold, Perisic, Vieirinha - Olic, Bendtner.
Lille : Enyeama, Elana, Butez – Corchia, Souaré, D.Sidibé, Basa, Kjaer, Rozehnal, Soumaoro, Béria – Balmont, I.Gueye, S.Meïté, Ad.Traoré – Roux, R.Mendes, Rodelin, Origi, Frey.
Good Luck.
