Jack Wright’s Europa League Final 10/3 Bet Builder

Two front foot managers bring their entertaining teams to the Europa League final this Wednesday and we should be in for a treat. Atalanta can beat anyone on their day, just ask Liverpool after their 3-0 humbling in their quarter final first leg tie at Anfield. In Gianluca Scamacca they have a striker who has hit peak form at just the right time plundering 11 goals in his last 15 appearances. Can they become the first side to beat Leverkusen this season?

Xabi Alonso's men are the competition's leading scorers so far this term with 31 goals hitting the back of the net in all 12 of their ties. Gian Piero Gasperini has seen his side get on the scoresheet in 11 of their 12 Europa League fixtures. So, for me calling a winner is a tall order but with the firepower on display both teams to score is a great foundation for the bet builder.

This Leverkusen side are on the brink of immortality in the German game. At the weekend they became the first team to go an entire Bundesliga campaign unbeaten. They have won 42 of their 51 fixtures across all competitions this term and with this and then the German Cup final to come could complete a treble.

As already mentioned, Die Werkself are the competitions top scorers with a feature of that their ability to keep going to the final whistle. Scoring 19 of those 31 goals in the second half with at least one after the interval in every Europa League match played this term. In this competition alone they have kept their unbeaten run intact with a 90+2 goal against Qarabağ in the first leg, then 90+3 in the second (followed by a 90+7 winner!). An 89th minute equaliser at West Ham and a goal on 90+7 in the second leg at home to Roma.

A by-product of teams that continue to attack is the number of corners they win. Especially those sides that love to take a shot at goal as regularly as possible. Leverkusen definitely fall into that bracket having fired off a tournament high 234 attempts at goal and are a team that won’t take their foot off the gas even if they take the lead. Alonso’s men have taken 41 second half corners in the competition to date averaging 3.42 per match, taking at least two in 11 of those 12 fixtures.

The last selection brings in the final element of any game – the referee. Finals are of course traditionally competitive, with so much at stake and players not wanting to give an inch. Equally as the game progresses there is the added chance of time wasting and the dark arts being deployed to protect an advantage or to keep in the game. Here we have István Kovács in charge and he is certainly not shy when it comes to pulling his cards out of his pocket.

The Romanian official has taken seven European fixtures this term, six Champions League ties and one in the Europa League showing a combined 41 yellow cards with one red at an average of over six per game. His only appointment in this competition saw him hold the whistle for Villarreal vs Marseille and brandish eight cards. His last European game was last month’s Barcelona vs PSG tie where the visitors picked up four cautions with the hosts seeing five players booked and one sent off.

Mr Kovács warmed up for this fixture with his last domestic appointment on 12th May where he issued six yellow cards for FC Dinamo București and four for opponents FC UTA Arad with a red for both sides too.