FC Midtjylland v Southampton: Tough ask for Koeman’s men

Southampton travel to Denmark with a real task on their hands after their struggles in the first leg at St Mary’s against FC Midtjylland. Saints laboured early on in that game and a second half penalty from Jay Rodriguez made sure they didn’t embark on this trip requiring at least two goals.  

The former Burnley striker looked sharp in the second half last week and after dropping to the bench at Watford at the weekend he should return here. Jay Rod is a 5/1 shot to open the scoring against the Wolves.

Victory here at 20/21 would confirm the south coast club’s passage into the group stages of the Europa League, but a draw could also provide that. A share of the spoils at 21/10 could be worth a shout. An intriguing price when it is also considered the hosts have served up three stalemates from as many outings.

Ronald Koeman’s men have drawn three of their previous four games in all competitions and are likely to avoid the temptation to be too gung ho in this clash. A 2-2 draw would see his side through without any need for extra time and that can backed at a healthy 14/1. 

Midtjylland are no pushovers. The Danish outfit are an overly hefty 13/5 to win this game. Their owner, Matthew Benham, is the man behind the moneyball approach at Brentford and it’s been pretty successful so far in Denmark. The Herning-based club are the Danish champions and already find themselves four points clear at the top of the league this season, after just six games.

However, they have struggled in European competition and their last four matches on home soil in the Europa League have seen them concede seven goals. That will offer real encouragement for the Premier League side, who are 5/4 to score over 1.5 goals.

Those fancying a victory for Koeman’s menace take advantage of Ladbrokes price hike that sees Southampton to win and both teams to score boosted from 11/4 to 4/1.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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