Fulham v Odense Europa League Betting Odds

Fulham will look to confirm their place in the knockout stages of the Europa League when they go up against Odense on Thursday at Craven Cottage.

Martin Jol’s side currently occupy second place in Group K, six points behind runaway group winners Twente but crucially one point clear of third placed Wisla Krakow who are in third.

Odense are out of the running having only picked up three points from their five games so far, and Fulham know that a draw in front of a home crowd may be enough, but will look to put qualification beyond doubt by picking up maximum points, especially with Twente likely to rest a host of first team players for their game against Krakow.

Fulham could have put the cat amongst the pigeons in the race for first place with a win against Twente in their last outing, but succumbed to a 89^th minute Mario Janko strike to hand the Dutch outfit the top spot.

The Cottagers will be confident of securing the win they need to go through against an Odense side that has lost their last four in a row on the continent, with their only points in the group coming in their very first game of the competition proper against Krakow.

The last time the two sides met Andy Johnson was on hand to bag both goals and hand Fulham the win in Denmark, but Jol will be unable to call upon the former Crystal Palace man for the game after his sending off against Twente.

Jol has other injury concerns going into the game with three key players likely to be missing. Danny Murphy was instrumental in Fulham’s draw with Arsenal and win over Liverpool in recent weeks, but will likely be missing with an ankle injury he picked up against his former club Liverpool.

Damian Duff is still struggling with a leg complaint while Steve Sidwell may also miss out.

Summer signing Bryan Ruiz may be called upon to play alongside Moussa Dembele – a player Jol has tipped for big things this season – as Bobby Zamora was mystifyingly left out for the loss against Swansea amidst rumours of a rift with Jol.

The England hitman may be leaving Craven Cottage for that 2-0 loss having been left out of the squad altogether, and Jol will be hoping that his decision to cast him adrift won’y backfire.

Match winner

Having emerged victorious in the first leg Fulham are huge favourites to secure the win they need to qualify.

Martin Jol’s men are placed at 1.25 (1/4) with StanJames to take the win while the visitors are 15.00 (14/1) with BetFred.

The draw is 6.00 (5/1), also with BetFred.

First goalscorer

With Bobby Zamora seemingly unavailable to lead the line and Andy Johnson suspended, the responsibility for getting the goals to fire Fulham through is likely to fall upon the shoulders on Moussa Dembele and Bryan Ruiz.

Dembele is 6.00 (5/1) with BetFred to get proceedings under way while Ruiz is the same price with Coral.

Orlando Sa leads the way for the away side, and is placed at 6.00 (5/1) withLadbrokes.

Recommended Bets

First Goalscorer: Dembele, 6.00 (5/1) BetFred

Correct score:  3-0 Fulham, 8.00 (7/1) BlueSQ