Last Updated on 30/04/2026 by Andy Clark
New BoyleSports customers can claim £40 in Free Bets in time for tonight’s Europa League semi-final first leg between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa at the City Ground.
Stake just £10 on the match, get £40 in Free Bets to use across the rest of the European action or this weekend’s Premier League fixtures. No promo code needed.
Boylesports
Sign-up Offer Bet £10 get £40 in Free Bets
18+. New UK customers (Excluding NI) only. Min Deposit £10. Min stake £10. Min odds Evs. Free bet applied on 1st settlement of any qualifying bet. 30 days to qualify. Free bets expire in 7 days. Cashed out/Free Bets won’t apply. Account & Payment method restrictions apply. 1 Free Bet offer per customer, household & IP Address only. 18+. T&Cs apply.
How to Claim £40 in BoyleSports Free Bets Before Kick-Off Tonight
The whole sign-up takes around three minutes. Plenty of time before tonight’s 8pm kick-off.
- Open a BoyleSports account — takes 2-3 minutes
- Deposit £10 or more with a debit card
- Place a £10 bet on Forest vs Aston Villa (or any other sport) at minimum odds of Evens (2.0)
- Receive £40 in Free Bets when your qualifying bet settles — split the £40 however you want
- Use them across this week’s European or Premier League action including Forest vs Villa second leg next Thursday at Villa Park
No promo code is required. The offer applies automatically when you register through the link.
Forest vs Aston Villa — Tonight’s Europa League Semi-Final First Leg
Kick-off: 8pm BST, City Ground, Nottingham Competition: UEFA Europa League semi-final, first leg Second leg: Thursday 7 May, Villa Park
This is the first major European semi-final between two English sides since 2008/09. It’s also Nottingham Forest’s first European semi-final in 42 years — the City Ground will be electric. The winner books a place in the Europa League final in Istanbul next month.
How they got here
Nottingham Forest beat Portuguese giants Porto in the quarter-finals (1-1 away, 1-0 at the City Ground), having battled past Sporting CP in the previous round. Vítor Pereira’s side have been playing genuinely impressive European football — disciplined, organised, dangerous on the counter.
Aston Villa thumped Bologna 7-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals (3-1 away, 4-0 at home), looking like one of the tournament favourites in the process. Unai Emery is a four-time Europa League winner — nobody in football understands this competition better.
Recent form
Forest go into this game on the back of a stunning 5-0 away win at Sunderland on Friday — Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus among the scorers as five different players found the net. They’re now unbeaten in eight across all competitions.
Aston Villa’s seven-game unbeaten run came to an end on Saturday with a 1-0 defeat away at Fulham. Not the ideal preparation for a European semi-final, but Emery’s record in this competition speaks for itself.
The two have already met twice this season
Villa won 3-1 at Villa Park back in January. The two played out a 1-1 draw at the City Ground earlier this month. Forest have lost none of their four meetings with Villa at home since returning to the top flight (W2, D2). Each of the last four City Ground meetings between these sides has produced exactly two goals.
Predicted line-ups
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1): Ortega; Aina, Milenković, Morato, Williams; Anderson, Sangaré; Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Ndoye; Igor Jesus
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martínez; Cash, Konsa, Pau Torres, Digne; Bogarde, Tielemans; McGinn, Rogers, Buendia; Watkins
Igor Jesus is Forest’s danger man — 15 goals this season, seven of those in Europe, joint-leading scorer in this year’s Europa League. Ollie Watkins leads the Villa line in his usual fox-in-the-box role.
The market view
BoyleSports have Forest as narrow 6/4 favourites, Villa at 9/5, and the draw at 11/5. In the “to qualify” market, Villa are clear 4/7 favourites with Forest at 11/8.
Opta’s supercomputer makes it almost a coin flip — Forest 35%, Villa 39%, draw 26%. Closer than the league table (Villa are 19 points clear in the Premier League) suggests.
Why BoyleSports for Tonight’s Match
A few specific reasons BoyleSports is a strong account to have for this Europa League semi-final.
The biggest welcome offer at the £10 stake tier without a promo code. £40 in Free Bets for a £10 qualifying stake is a 4:1 return ratio. Only Betfred (£10 Get £50 with promo code BETFRED50) beats it at this stake level — and Betfred requires you to remember the code.
Strong European competition coverage. Markets per Premier League fixture run deep at BoyleSports, and that depth carries through to Europa League ties. Match result, both teams to score, total goals, anytime goalscorer, first goalscorer, half-time/full-time, cards, corners, shots — all available on tonight’s match.
Bet builder available on the Europa League semi-final. Combine match result, both teams to score, anytime goalscorer (Igor Jesus, Watkins) and cards into a single same-game multi for tonight.
Cash out is available on most pre-match and in-play markets if you want the option to settle bets early during the match.
Best Odds Guaranteed doesn’t apply to football, but the BoyleSports football pricing on Premier League and European competition is generally competitive with bet365 and Betfred.
For a full breakdown of the BoyleSports product, see our BoyleSports review.
How to Use Your £40 in Free Bets
The BoyleSports £40 lands as a single £40 Free Bet credit you can use however you like. Unlike bet365, Virgin Bet or LiveScore Bet — which split their free bets into fixed tokens — BoyleSports lets you stake the £40 in whatever combination suits you.
That means you can:
- Place one £40 bet at higher odds for a meaningful single-bet return
- Split it into four £10 bets across different markets and matches
- Stake ten £4 bets for low-risk exploration of multiple selections
- Mix and match — say, one £20 bet on tonight’s match and two £10 bets on the weekend
This flexibility is one of the genuine reasons to pick BoyleSports over competitors at the £10 stake tier.
Suggested usage:
- A £20 stake on Forest vs Villa second leg next Thursday — by then we’ll have seen the first leg result and the markets will have shifted. Build a bet with the new context
- A £10 stake on the other Europa League semi-final — Braga vs Freiburg
- A £10 stake on a weekend Premier League fixture — see our bet builder tips, accumulator tips, or bet of the day for selections
Or stake all £40 on one bet — your call.
The Free Bets are valid for 7 days from credit, so you have plenty of time to use them across the next round of fixtures. The qualifying bet has to settle before the Free Bet is credited — placing your £10 stake on tonight’s Forest vs Villa match means the £40 lands in your account by tomorrow morning.
Sign-Up Offer Terms
The BoyleSports welcome offer summary:
- New UK and Irish customers only, aged 18+
- Minimum £10 deposit using a debit card
- Place a £10 qualifying single bet at minimum odds of Evens (2.0)
- £40 in Free Bets credited as 4 x £10 tokens once the qualifying bet settles
- Free Bets valid for 7 days from credit
- Stake is not returned with Free Bet winnings
- Each Free Bet token must be used as a single bet at full value
- One offer per customer, household, IP address and payment method
Full T&Cs available on the BoyleSports website. Always read the terms before claiming any free bet offer.
Other Welcome Offers Worth Considering
If BoyleSports doesn’t suit, the alternatives at similar stake tiers:
| Bookmaker | Welcome Offer | Promo Code |
|---|---|---|
| Betfred | Bet £10 Get £50 | BETFRED50 |
| BoyleSports | Bet £10 Get £40 | None |
| bet365 | Bet £10 Get £30 | None |
| Coral | Bet £5 Get £30 | None |
| Midnite | Bet £10 Get £30 | BETGET30 |
| SBK | Bet £20 Get £40 | None |
For a full directory, see our Free Bets hub and Bet £10 Get £40 Sign-up Offers hub.
More Forest vs Villa Coverage and Europa League Tips
- BoyleSports Review — full product breakdown
- Europa League Predictions
- Premier League Predictions
- Bet Builder Tips
- Anytime Goalscorer Tips
- Both Teams to Score Tips
- Bet of the Day
- Best Champions League Betting Sites
- Cash Out Betting Sites
Andy Clark is the founder, owner and editor of thatsagoal.com, with over 20 years of experience in betting on sports. He has tested every major UK bookmaker and writes all bookmaker reviews and offer guides on the site.
Andy is the founder, owner and editor of thatsagoal.com, with over 20 years of experience in betting on sports. He has a keen eye for stats, particularly when looking at players to be carded, and these form a large part of the bet builder tips you see on the site. As well as creating daily football tips, Andy also keeps thatsagoal updated with all the best bookmaker promotions and offers for our readers.