Europa League Matchday 1 continues on September 17 with another nine games. Besiktas host Marseille in Istanbul, Juventus begin their campaign at home to NEC, while Bournemouth play the first major UEFA competition match in the club’s history away to Real Sociedad.
We picked out five games worth watching more closely and checked how the latest 888STARZ line sees them.
Odds are correct at the time of writing and may change before kick-off.
Besiktas vs Marseille
Probably the hottest atmosphere of the night.
Besiktas come into their Europa League opener after back-to-back league wins: 2-1 against Fenerbahce and 3-0 over Erzurumspor. Add the earlier 6-2 win against Corum and they have scored 11 goals across those three domestic games.
The market is interesting too.
888STARZ odds:
Besiktas — 1.78 | Draw — 4.16 | Marseille — 4.36
Besiktas are not just favourites at home — they are clear favourites. For a matchup against Marseille, that gap is notable in itself. On paper, this fixture looks much closer than the odds suggest.
Celtic vs Ferencvaros
These two already know each other.
Celtic beat Ferencvaros twice in the 2021 Europa League — 2-0 in Glasgow and 3-2 in Budapest. A year earlier, though, it was the Hungarian side who knocked Celtic out of Champions League qualifying with a 2-1 win in Scotland.
Ferencvaros also arrive in good form. They beat Trabzonspor 5-0 on aggregate in Europa League qualifying and followed that with a 7-0 domestic cup win before travelling to Glasgow. Celtic, meanwhile, lost their latest match 3-0 to Rangers.
888STARZ odds:
Celtic — 1.75 | Draw — 4.16 | Ferencvaros — 4.56
Despite those recent results, the market still strongly favours Celtic. The question is whether the Glasgow home advantage outweighs Ferencvaros’ current momentum.
Crystal Palace vs Lech Poznan
Palace start their league-phase campaign at home and are priced as strong favourites.
Their start to the season has been a little uneven: a 3-2 defeat to Ipswich, a 3-0 League Cup win over Middlesbrough before that, and a 3-2 victory against Fulham.
Lech have their own player to watch. Winger Patrik Walemark scored six goals in six qualifying matches, making him one of the visitors’ biggest threats heading into the opener.
888STARZ odds:
Crystal Palace — 1.42 | Draw — 5.02 | Lech Poznan — 7.80
The market is clear about what it expects from the Premier League side. At the same time, 7.80 on Lech shows just how big a story an away win would become.
Juventus vs NEC
The biggest gap in the odds among Thursday’s main games.
Juventus come into the Europa League after a surprising 3-2 defeat to Sassuolo, having drawn 1-1 with Milan before that. NEC are hardly arriving in great shape either: 0-3 against Cambuur, 2-2 with Excelsior and 1-3 against Feyenoord in their recent run.
The Dutch side also lost both legs against Bodo/Glimt in Champions League qualifying.
888STARZ odds:
Juventus — 1.23 | Draw — 7.10 | NEC — 12.70
There is not much ambiguity here. Juventus are one of the strongest favourites of the entire matchday, and anything other than a home win would immediately become one of the biggest stories of the opening round.
Real Sociedad vs Bournemouth
This may be the most interesting matchup of the day from an odds perspective.
For Bournemouth, this is the club’s first match in the main stage of a UEFA competition. After finishing sixth in the Premier League, their European journey begins with a difficult trip to San Sebastian.
What makes the matchup even more unusual is that Real Sociedad are not favourites at home.
The Basque side lost 3-0 to Atletico Madrid in their latest league game, while Bournemouth drew 2-2 with Brentford after beating Lincoln 4-0 in the League Cup.
888STARZ odds:
Real Sociedad — 2.92 | Draw — 3.63 | Bournemouth — 2.42
It is a rare position for a European debutant: Bournemouth head into the first major UEFA match in their history as away favourites.
Of all Thursday’s prices, this may be the one worth revisiting first after the final whistle.
All Europa League Matches on September 17
Alongside the five featured games, four more matches are scheduled for Thursday:
| Match | Home | Draw | Away |
| OFI vs Hoffenheim | 8.10 | 5.02 | 1.41 |
| Levski Sofia vs Salzburg | 3.07 | 3.59 | 2.35 |
| Viktoria Plzen vs Union Saint-Gilloise | 2.76 | 3.55 | 2.59 |
| Lillestrom vs Torreense | 1.56 | 4.62 | 5.73 |
Hoffenheim stand out most clearly at 1.41 despite playing away from home.
Viktoria Plzen vs Union Saint-Gilloise is at the other end of the scale. With 2.76 on the home side and 2.59 on the visitors, the market sees almost nothing between them.
Thursday offers a good mix: Marseille walking into the pressure of Istanbul, Ferencvaros facing another big European night in Glasgow, heavy favourites in London and Turin, and Bournemouth making history in San Sebastian.
After the matches, we’ll return to the same odds and see where the 888STARZ line read the games correctly — and where Matchday 1 produced another surprise.
UEFA Champions League