Betting: United v Ajax

This column profited from the Reds’ first leg win over Ajax last week. We backed Draw/Man Utd in the half-time/full-time market as well as United to win to nil.

Had Ashley Young not scored, we would have landed our bet on 0-1 but loyal, magnanimous fellows that we are, we put the good of the team over our own winnings. We were delighted to see the Reds establish a comfortable lead ahead of Thursday’s second leg.

The result leaves United an unbackable 1.02 (1/50) to qualify for the last 16 of the Europa League. Sir Alex's side were briefly favourites to win the tournament, following the first leg win, but Manchester City have since been restored to the top of the market at 4.2 (16/5). With the manager saying his team will try to win the Europa League, United are the value at 4.9 (4/1).

We need to look beyond the match odds on Thursday night. United are 1.46 (40/85), Ajax 9.0 (8/1) and the draw 5.0 (4/1). If we had to take any of those, we’d dabble small stakes on the draw in the hope that the Reds would ease off and consolidate. However, when United