Feyenoord v Marseille

Feyenoord v Marseille: French side will upset the odds

Feyenoord are the favourites in this Europa Conference League semi-final first-leg, but Dan Fitch favours Marseille at generous odds.

Feyenoord missing five players

Two big names in European football meet in the semi-finals of its newest competition, when Feyenoord host Marseille in the Europa Conference League semi-final on Thursday.

Feyenoord were the first Dutch team to win a European trophy and are also the last to do so, having lifted the UEFA Cup against Borussia Dortmund in 2002. The changes in football have made it very difficult for clubs outside of the biggest leagues to win European trophies, but the advent of the Conference League now makes it a more likely possibility.

Third in the Eredivisie, Arne Slot's team are unbeaten in the five games (W4 D1) since losing 3-2 at the league leaders Ajax. At the weekend they beat Utrecht 2-1 at home.

Slot has a number of injury problems ahead of this match. Justin Bijlow, Marcos Senesi, Guus Til, Jens Toornstra and Alireza Jahanbakhsh are all out.

Marseille only second to PSG in France

Marseille come into this semi-final in the sort of form that should make them extremely confident.

They seem likely to finish second in Ligue 1. A recent 2-1 defeat away at the champions PSG is the only time in the last 11 games that they have been denied victory, winning the other ten.

Marseille are managed by the much travelled Jorge Sampaoli, who led Chile to the Copa America back in 2015. Appointed in February last year, Sampaoli has had a great impact on the club, with the side losing only eleven times in his 61 games (W34 D16).

The French club have waited even longer for a European trophy than Feyenoord, last winning one when they lifted the Champions League back in 1993. Marseille's quest to end that run, will come without the injured Leonardo Balerdi, Konrad de la Fuente and Cengiz Under.

Marseille are the value

Feyenoord are the 2.24 favourites, with Marseille at 3.35 and the draw at 3.75.

These prices seem like something of an overreaction to Feyenoord's home advantage. While the hosts are unbeaten in their last eight home games (W5 D3), the level of opposition has not met the standards of a team such as Marseille.

Most people would rate the French top flight as stronger than the Dutch equivalent and in addition, Feyenoord have had an easy run in this competition, while in-form Marseille dropped out of a tough Europa League group, where they only lost one game. Marseille are 2.44 in the Draw No Bet market and 1.78 to avoid defeat, Double Chance.

Feyenoord guarantee goals

Feyenoord's first group game in this competition was a 0-0 draw. Since then, all nine of their subsequent matches in the Conference League have seen goals from both teams. You can back both teams to score at 1.66, while over 2.5 goals is 1.76, having also landed in all nine of those games.

You can combine those two wagers in a Bet Builder on the Sportsbook and get odds of 1.82. Add Marseille in the Double Chance market and you have a treble at odds of 3.33.