Rafa's Chelsea are the best English bet

 

With no British winner in 12 years, Christian Crowther assesses the prospects of glory for the four competing in the Europa League's knockout rounds...

 

In the last two seasons, English football has not even had a representative in the quarter-finals, however, could this be the season when a Premier League side finally gets their ribbons around the trophy?

 

Liverpool 18.0

Zenit v Liverpool, Thursday, 17:00, ITV4

Brendan Rodgers fielded strong teams in the group stage and, with nothing much else left to play for on the domestic front, the Northern Irishman will no doubt throw everything at it. They have a tough draw against Champions League dropouts Zenit, though the rusty Russians have not played competitively since early December and could be caught cold. Liverpool's recent away performances at Arsenal and Manchester City suggest that they do have the quality to go far, providing they get through this tricky tie though, which is far from certain.

 

Chelsea 7.8

Sparta Prague v Chelsea, Thursday, 18:00, ESPN

If any of the four British teams have the squad to win this competition, it's Champions League holders Chelsea and, with a favourable draw to boot, they have to be the worthiest contenders from this bunch. From his time with Liverpool, it's obvious that Rafa Benitez is a masterful continental tactician and the Spaniard should be able to guide Chelsea's stars a long way, if not all the way. With the Premier League seemingly unobtainable, the motivation should be strong.

 

Tottenham 15.0

Tottenham v Lyon, Thursday, 20:05, ITV

After winning this competition with Porto, Andre Villas-Boas certainly possesses the requisite CV to guide Spurs through. AVB's Tottenham team are capable too, though the draw has not been favourable to the Lilywhites. Lyon provide possibly the toughest opponents across the four English ties, with Inter the likely reward if they progress. Lyon currently sit second in Ligue 1 and made the semis of the Champions League just three years ago. If they do get through to the latter stages, Tottenham's top-four push could ultimately prove too big a distraction.

 

Newcastle 30.0

Newcastle v Metalist, Thursday 20:05, ESPN

Given Newcastle's current predicament at the wrong end of the Premier League table, it's hard to predict how much attention Alan Pardew will be willing to give this competition. You'd imagine Premier League survival will take priority for the Geordies, though if they can get negotiate this tie successfully against Metalist and league results pick up, Pardew may be tempted to push harder. At this stage though, the Magpies are big outsiders.

 

Conclusion: With incredibly tricky ties to negotiate first off, Liverpool and Tottenham are harder to back at this point, with Newcastle representing the lottery punt. Under Rafa's guidance, Chelsea are rightly placed as second favourites behind Atletico Madrid 7.6 and right now looks a good time to back the Blues for glory before their price shortens.

 

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