[kompressaur]

Cheers chaps. I always like a thurday night uefa cup night. It used to coincide with the pub pool league and i'd be shouting on the teletext. I cant offer much but i was just reading htis on Bettingzone.co.uk

There's a strong British representation in Thursday night's UEFA Cup last 16 clashes - but none of the quartet involved are likely to have it easy.

Everton travel to Fiorentina, who sit fourth in Serie A and come into the game fresh from a weekend triumph away to Juventus, Tottenham welcome Dutch leaders PSV to White Hart Lane and Rangers face second-placed Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen.

Only Bolton can count themselves relatively fortunate after drawing Sporting Lisbon who are way off the pace in Portugal.

It all means it's a trappy betting night and we'll start with what we feel is the only worthwhile wager of the night - under three goals in the Rangers v Bremen clash.

At first glance that may seem a slightly surprising suggestion - no side has come close to Rangers' 43 goals in 15 SPL matches at home this season while Werder Bremen are comfortably the most free-scoring side in Germany.

But a closer examination of both sides' results suggest anything but an open game.

For Rangers have scored more goals away from Ibrox in Europe this season and go into this game having drawn a blank in their last three European games at home, against Barcelona, Lyon and Panathinaikos.

And that pattern probably shouldn't come as a huge surprise judging by the comments of Gers striker Kris Boyd this week.

He said: "Obviously, you don't want to lose goals at home in Europe, because sometimes it counts double, so if you can keep a clean sheet it is always a bonus.

"The results on the road this season have been pretty good so if we can get a good result at Ibrox it will stand us in good stead for going to Germany.

"It's harder at home when teams come because they don't want to lose any goals.

"They make it tough for us and we have found it a bit tougher to break teams down at Ibrox than we have on the road this season."

And there's also a stark difference between Bremen's own displays away from home - in the Bundesliga they average nearly three goals per game in front of their own fans but on their travels that figure dips to 1.4.

It's been a similar story in Europe for them too - just two goals away from home in the group stages of the Champions League and a narrow 1-0 victory over Braga in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup.

In fact just one of their last six matches in all competitions has reached the three-goal mark so the appeal in going low at 4/5 should be obvious.

Elsewhere it should be a cracker between Fiorentina and Everton because both clubs are going well both in Europe and domestically.

The Italians are unbeaten in eight UEFA Cup games and throwing down a real challenge for a top-three spot in Serie A.

A stoppage-time goal from Pablo Osvaldo stunned Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico over the weekend but they meet an Everton side who also consolidated their fourth position in the Premier League with a 3-1 victory over Portsmouth.

And the Toffees are improving all the time in Europe too as it's now seven straight wins in the UEFA Cup following their thrashing of Brann last time out.

David Moyes has options all over the pitch at the moment and the goals are also being shared around which is another good sign.

There's some 5/2 on offer about another Everton success but this represents their stiffest test in the competition to date and a watching brief has to be the advice.

They'll surely go with just one up front - the in-form Yakubu - so another low-scoring encounter could be in the offing but we'll sit this one out.

Moving on and there's a strong temptation to oppose Spurs, with PSV on offer at 5/1 to grab some sort of a lead at White Hart Lane.

Tottenham came back down to earth with a bump at the weekend following their Carling Cup final triumph, being thumped 4-1 at Birmingham.

In truth anyone who saw that match will know the scoreline flattered the Blues but all the same it's a real worry that Spurs continue to remain vulnerable at the back.

Question marks remain about whoever is in goal and, judging by their respective injury records, it's not going to be often enough that skipper Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate line up alongside each other at the heart of the defence.

And for all their improvement it's still just one clean sheet in their last six - and that was against whipping boys Derby.

For their part PSV are six points clear at the top in Holland but there's also a question mark against them as they were stunned 3-1 by FC Utrecht at the weekend.

And there's also the small matter of Juande Ramos' UEFA Cup record as he's going for a third successive triumph after guiding Seville to glory in 2006 and 2007.

That underlines that Spurs shouldn't be opposed lightly so we'll resist that 5/1 about PSV.

It's an easier decision altogether to sit out Bolton's match with Sporting Lisbon.

The signals from the Reebok are very much mixed as far as the UEFA Cup is concerned - the fans seem up for it and have been rewarded by some great displays from the players, but the nagging feeling is that it's an unwanted distraction in their battle for Premier League survival.

Sporting though have been hit and miss themselves and a dreadful away record - just two wins out of 11 - means they make virtually no appeal.