Thursday’s football tips: Go for corners as Forest battle Ferencvaros in the Europa League

Fahad Umar
January 28, 2026
1:58 pm

It’s the final round of games in the Europa League group phase tonight and Nottingham Forest will be hoping to sneak into the top eight with a win over Ferencvaros.

It looks like a tall order for Forest as they sit in 16th place, three points behind eighth-placed Betis, and will need a lot of results to go their way.

But it should be a decent spectacle as Fernencvaros will also be chasing the win that would guarantee their automatic entry to the last 16.

Nottingham Forest vs Ferencvaros top betting tips

Sean Dyche’s side head into this game with their morale boosted after an excellent 2-0 win at Brentford in the Premier League.

They’re odds-on favourites at a best 13/20 with Ladbrokes tonight but it won’t be easy against the Hungarian champions, who are unbeaten across their seven games in the group stage.

We should see goals at both ends with each side chasing a win and BTTS pays 17/20 at Betway. Adding on over 2.5 goals boosts the odds to 13/10 at Coral.

Interested in why both teams scoring is such a strong angle? Check out our Masterclass on BTTS and sharpen your match-reading game.

Ferencvaros’ last four European games have hit double figures for corners so I also like over 9.5 flag kicks at 17/20 with Paddy Power.

Celtic vs Utrecht

Celtic ground out a battling 2-2 draw away to Bologna in their last Europa League game and now just need a win at home to Utrecht tonight to reach the knockout stages.

The Hoops couldn’t have asked for better opponents in their final fixture, with the Dutch side out of contention after losing six of their seven group games.

Utrecht have also lost five in a row in all competitions so they head to Celtic Park in a state of disarray.

It’s no surprise to see Martin O’Neill’s men as 10/29 favourites at Unibet but combining a Celtic win with under 3.5 goals boosts the odds to 6/5 at Ladbrokes.

The Hoops will start at a high tempo and I like the 11/10 on offer at McBookie for them to win over 3.5 first-half corners.

Aston Villa vs Red Bull Salzburg

Aston Villa have already qualified for the last 16 of the Europa League so I’d imagine Unai Emery will ring the changes for their final game at home to Salzburg.

The Austrians only have an outside chance of reaching the knockout stages, having banked just six points so far in a disappointing European campaign.

But they need a win to keep their faint hopes alive and could be worth a punt at a whopping 11/2 with Bet365 if Villa field a second-string side.

If you want to play it a bit safer, Red Bull Salzburg are 13/8 with Bet365 in the double chance.

I’d be surprised if we saw a lot of cards in this one as Villa could go through the motions. Betting against both teams picking up a card pays a decent 2/1 at Bet365, who price under 3.5 cards at 5/6.