Thursday night oversee’s the return of Europe’s second most prestigious competition as the Europa League knockout stage begins. Representing the United Kingdom, Arsenal and Celtic are up against Ostersunds and Zenit respectively, while European giants AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Marseille and Borussia Dortmund are also in action.

As ever, we have weighed up all of the statistics and figures to locate the best value in our football tips for tonight.

Here are our selections for Thursday 15th February’s Accumulator Tips:

Back Napoli to beat RB Leipzig – 11/10 with 888sport

Maurizio Sarri’s unbelievable Napoli pulled off yet another outstanding victory on Saturday with a 4-1 annihilation of Lazio at Stadio San Paolo. That win took the Serie A league leaders points tally to 63 for the season, making their positive odds to beat RB Leipzig appear slightly baffling.

Leipzig may well have picked up consecutive wins in the Bundesliga, yet they are 25 points behind Napoli’s total regardless of playing two less games. Before their late 1-0 success at Borussia Monchengladbach, Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men had taken just two points from a possible 15 on their travels and hadn’t been victorious since their win at Borussia Dortmund in October.

Their Champions League campaign may have ended miserably, but Napoli took six points from nine at Stadio San Paolo, while carrying a home record of W9, D2, L1 in Serie A. In contrast, Leipzig took three from nine in their European road matches and are 18 points behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga due to their hideous away record of W4, D2, L5.

Napoli’s attacking prowess is wiping the floor with the majority of competitors in Serie A. The Naples outfit have scored 54 goals in 24 as it stands and 29 of those have came in home comforts. While much is being made of Juventus’s flawless defensive ability, Napoli are still matching their rivals with just 15 goals conceded. Leipzig have struggled severely to find the net away from the Red Bull Arena, scoring just 12 in 11 games and allowing 17 past them.

While it’s possible that Marek Hamsik misses out, Jorginho and Allan are more than capable of limiting dangerman Naby Keita, while the deadly attack of Jose Callejon, Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens have been relentless persistently. I just can’t get over the odds available here.

Back Napoli to seize the home advantage at odds of 11/10 with 888sport.

Back Atletico Madrid to beat FC Copenhagen – 4/7 with Betfair

Diego Simeone’s resilient Atletico Madrid are set to begin their first Europa League campaign since 2012/13 on Thursday evening as they gear up for the trip to Copenhagen. Needless to say, a whole lot has changed about the 2012 Europa League winners since that era.

While los Colchoneros were by no means a bad side at that point, their Argentinian coach had only just begun to drill his tough methods into the club, with La Liga glory and Champions League final disappointment to come only one year on.

Diego Costa had began to earn starting opportunities next to star man Radamel Falcao at that point, but he was the focal point of an aggressive attacking force just one year on. Costa returned to his beloved home from Chelsea this January and his unique warrior-like playing style has already influenced results and performances.

His return to the ranks has coincided with an exceptional league unbeaten run of five wins from six contests, conceding just one goal in 540 minutes of action. Following Barcelona’s Camp Nou slip-up at weekend, Atleti are now just seven points behind the La Liga leaders and in with a chance of lifting that famous trophy once more with consistency.

By their usual standards, Danish Superliga champions FC Copenhagen are underachieving. As it stands, the Lions are 18 points from top spot down in fourth place domestically and a rather fortunate second place finish in their Europa League group hasn’t distracted from that. FCK picked up underwhelming Mainz and former Middlesbrough winger Viktor Fischer to boost their ranks in the winter transfer window, but realistically it’s hard to see them holding out, let alone doing damage, against Atletico.

Atleti have won 10 of their 15 away matches in all competitions this season and they’re more than capable of defeating a struggling side from a division 16 places below them in the UEFA coefficient.

Back Atletico Madrid at a generous 4/7 with Betfair.

Our Thursday night double of Napoli and Atletico Madrid currently offers odds of 23/10 with Betfair at the time of writing. A £50 stake could net you a total of £165 if successful! Follow the link below to get involved.

Thursday’s Accumulator Tips Double – 23/10 with Betfair