Champions League - Wednesday 19th

Barcelona are the 57/20 (You Win) favourites for the Champions League and they get their campaign underway on Wednesday night. The Catalan side are 1/9 (ladbrokes) to see off Spartak Moscow. It would be a huge shock if the Russians (who have not won any of their last four games) inflicted the first home Champions League defeat on Barcelona since October 2009. The other game in the group sees Celtic at home to Benfica. Bookmakers make the Portuguese side the 23/20 (william hill) favourites for the game while the draw is priced at 5/2 (Skybet) and Celtic are 23/8 (pinnacle) for victory. I like the 12/1 (sportingbet/william hill) are offering on Kris Commons to score first or the 5/1 (william hill) in the anytime market. Commons has netted four goals in seven games for Celtic this season.

Man Utd take on galatasary at Old Trafford and they are 3/10 (188 Bet/william hill/pinnacle) for victory. The Red Devils have not lost a home game in this tournament since November 2009 though that defeat also came against a Turkish side (Besiktas). Utd did not have a great time of it at home last season though as they drew two of their three group games. It is 49/10 (pinnacle) that the Turkish side gain a point here and 113/10 (Pinnacle) that they record a shock victory. Alexander Buttner was highly impressive for Man Utd against Wigan and grabbed a goal. The full-back is 28/1 (general) to score first and 17/2 (sportingbet) to score at anytime. Also in Group H Braga take on CFR Cluj. It is 4/7 (Coral) that the Portuguese side claim all three points. Those who think that the Romanians can get something out of the game can get 16/5 (Pinnacle) the draw or 89/13 (Pinnacle) the away win.

Chelsea begin their defence of the Champions League with a home game against Juventus. The English side dropped their first points of the campaign this weekend when being held by QPR. Chelsea will appeal to some at 6/5 (boylesports) as they have home advantage, a word of caution though as Juventus have not lost an away game since May 2011 and look worth siding with at 13/8 (ladbrokes) in the draw no bet market. The Old Lady have netted in each of their last 17 games and I like the look of the home team not to keep a clean sheet at 1/2 (bet365). Both these sides will also be keeping an eye on the other game in the group which pits Shakhtar Donetsk against FC Nordsjaelland. The Danish side might find themselves out of their depth against the ever improving Donetsk. The Ukranians are 3/10 (general) for victory though it makes more sense to take the 5/6 (paddy Power) are offering on them to be ahead at HT/FT.

To the neturals Group E might not appear the most interesting though it will be fascinating to see how Bayern come back from losing out in the final last year. The Germans have grabbed twelve goals and nine points from their three games in the league so far though they will find Valencia tougher opponents. I can not be backing Bayern at 6/13 (188Bet) though I have not seen enough from the Spaniards to make me want to back them at 36/5 (Pinnacle). The other game in that group features Lille up against Bate. Both sides have scored in three of the last four Lille games and this looks the way to play it with the 6/4 (BetVictor/William Hill) on both sides to score looking somewhat generous.

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16/09/2012     © Frixo 2024