Europa League Quarter-Final Best Bets - April 9

This victory in the second-leg was their seventh win across their last 11 in the Europe, with the other four ending as draws. Interestingly, Bologna have been better on the road this season, winning five of their six away from home. Meanwhile, they have drawn four of their six at home. 

Aston Villa come into the first-leg of their clash with the Italians on the back of a professional 3-0 win over Lille across the two legs. While they had to work very hard in the first-leg as they won 1-0, they were able to ease past their opponents in a 2-0 win in their second clash. Villa have now won their last seven in Europe, while they have won nine of their 10 outings in the Europa League. 

Bologna's only defeat of their European season came against Aston Villa back in September, and I predict they will have to stomach another frustrating loss this week. 

Nottingham Forest have battled through a very interesting run to get to the Europa League quarter-finals. 12 matches have resulted in six wins, four defeats and two draws. Interestingly, Forest have failed to win either of their last two at home in the competition, with the English side making up for this with wins over Fenerbahce and Midtjylland on the road. Their win over Midtjylland was particularly impressive as their 2-1 triumph followed on from a 1-0 loss at home. 

Forest have made a habit out of conceding of late, with the side failing to keep a clean sheet in any of their last three matches. Meanwhile, Porto have scored in their last seven, while they have seen both sides hit the back of the net in four of their last five in the competition. With this in mind, I back Forest to build on their 2-0 win over Porto back in October with a battling win.