Kick-off: 1745, 16/03/2023
Stadium: Estadio Benito Villamarin
TV: BT Sport
Manchester United have plenty of room to play with when taking a 4-1 Europa League lead to Real Betis and may be worth opposing on the night.
Betis held their own in the first half at Old Trafford and will want to give their supporters something to cheer about in the second leg.
We reckon 5/2 for a home win is a value bet in our initial Real Betis vs Man Utd prediction.
Real fired up for return fixture
Betis were behind inside six minutes at the Theatre of Dreams when Marcus Rashford blasted his shot into the roof of the net.
The Green and Whites responded bravely, though, and were level just after the half-hour mark thanks to a sweetly-struck effort from Ayoze Perez.
They almost went into half-time ahead but Bruno Fernandes managed to deflect another Perez attempt onto the post.
United upped the tempo in the second period and a wonder goal from Antony was followed by further scores from Fernandes and Wout Weghorst.
Betis boss Manuel Pellegrini commented: “We competed very well in the first half, but Antony scored a great goal.
“Then their third, from a corner, finished the game off. The game was decided in those minutes.”
However, Pellegrini does know how to beat United, having won four of his last five home games against them with Manchester City and West Ham.
The Spanish fans who vented their frustration in an unseemly manner at Old Trafford will demand revenge at Estadio Benito Villamarin.
Betis are a solid fifth in La Liga and unbeaten in five domestic outings, including a draw with Real Madrid here.
Looking at the Real Betis vs Man Utd odds, we like 21/2 for a 2-1 home victory.
Time for United to rest players?
United’s second-half performance in the opening encounter was a perfect response to their embarrassing 7-0 loss at Liverpool four days earlier.
“I’m very pleased with the performance,” said Erik ten Hag. “We played very well in and out of possession.
“We had a good press, were compact pressing forward and made it difficult for the opponent to create.
“There was a lot of movement and also the character of the team in bouncing back after they made it 1-1.”
However, Ten Hag stuck with the same team which had been humbled at Anfield and only made two changes for Sunday’s goalless stalemate with Southampton.
Going down to 10 men against the Saints after 34 minutes following Casemiro’s red card made that a more tiring contest than expected.
With an FA Cup quarter-final against Fulham coming up, this could be the time for Ten Hag to shuffle his pack.
That could make the Red Devils vulnerable and 9/2 for the hosts to lead at half-time and full-time is added to our Real Betis vs Man Utd betting tips.
Additional stats
[jsEntainMatchAnalytics match_id=”368880″]
[jsEntainMatchHead2Head match_id=”368880″]
Join bwin today and receive up to £20 money back as a FreeBet if your first wager (3+ selections at odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater) is a loser! Terms and conditions apply.
