Nuremberg are prime value at 11-8

Tottenham and Everton, both holding leads secured in the away leg, should progress to the next round of the UEFA Cup on Thursday evening, but backers have little to bite on with Spurs 2-7 to beat Slavia Prague and Everton 1-4 to overcome SK Brann.

Bolton have a far tougher assignment, trying to hold on to a 1-0 lead at Atletico Madrid, and the Spanish side are no better than William Hill’s 1-2 to come out on top. Bolton are a massive 15-2 with Bet365, but that price does underline the size of their task.

Of the remaining British sides, Rangers travel to Panathinaikos after a goalless home draw, and Aberdeen visit tournament favourites Bayern Munich on the back of a 2-2 home draw.

Aberdeen’s job is clearly monumental, but Rangers, at 17-5 with VC Bet, are quite interesting. The match is likely to be another nervous, edgy affair, and if the crowd begins to get restive that will heap pressure on the home side.

Nor will Rangers be overawed - they have scored three at Lyon and two in Stuttgart in this season’s European adventures.

However, the best value of the evening may lie away from the British clubs.

Nuremberg, trailing 1-0 to Benfica, are 11-8 with Stan James to see off their Portuguese opponents back on home soil and that looks a decent price. The German side were unlucky to lose the first leg in Lisbon after controlling much of the match and went down only to a long-range strike in a game of few chances.

Nuremberg have a genuine match-winner in the vastly experienced Jan Koller, and though Benfica are second in their domestic league they have won only ten of their 19 games - hardly formidable form in one of Europe’s weaker divisions - and trail Porto by ten points.

   Omen seekers will also note that Benfica have never won in 14 matches in Germany - and have lost 11 of them.