A good night last night with wins for Chelsea, Zilina on the 2 goal start, Madrid and Ajax, with Roma and Bayern, who have both suffered a slow start to the season, letting the side down (not for the first time). Another big night awaits.
LYON have been shocking at home (14th in the Domestic table) and are the weakest of the top seeds by far despite being semi-finalists last season, but have won 2 out of 2 in the Champions League and aren’t stupidly priced to beat Benfica at the Stade Gerland, where they have a very strong record (were only beaten by Bayern last season in the competition). 11/10 is a fair price about them grinding out a win, even allowing for the fact that Benfica are at times criminally underrated.
I strongly fancy Schalke to beat Haopel Tel Aviv, even after a shocking start to the season (are third from bottom in the German Bundesliga, having picked up just five points from eight matches). Defeat to Olympique Lyonnais in France on Matchday One was expected given their abysmal run of form in the league and was to a reasonable extent acceptable too as they were playing away from home; And they beat Benfica 2-0 at home on Matchday 2. Hapoel aren’t on the same level as Benfica to me and have looked out of their depth during defeats away to Benfica (2-0) and at home to Lyon (3-1). 4/9 and 1-2 to win are just too short, while I’ve already been stung on the handicap this week and don’t fancy the -1 goal start at 6/5, so back KLAAS JAN-HUNTELLAR to net anytime at a range of prices seeing as he’s scored 5 in 6 games for the club, including against Befnica.
Barcelona have put their domestic wobble firmly behind them and all things going to plan, they should get a comfortable home victory over surprise Group D leaders FC Copenhagen. The Danes are not to be underestimated, as they have already beaten Rubin at home, followed up by a highly impressive 2-0 success away to Panathinaikos, setting the Danes up nicely for qualification. They also come here off a trashing of Odense 5-0, partly on the back of a hat-trick from Cesar Santin.
That said, Barcelona were imperious after a first half wobble against Valencia on Saturday and a performance of similar magnitude should see them win with something to spare. Copenhagen are too good a side to be giving a 2 goal start, so maybe the route to go down is backing over 2.5 and over 3.5 goals at 4/9 and 4/6 respectively.
In the other group D game, it’s a crucial night for both Panathinakos and RUBIN KAZAN, both of whom need to gain ground fast on Copenhagen, who won’t be expecting a big haul from 2 ties with Barcelona.
Rubin arguably threw away a point when they lost to Copenhagen at home but showed the form they are capable of when holding Barcelona to a 1-1 draw on Matchday 2. The Russian champions will be expecting to progress, having been given a kinder draw then when placed against Kiev, Inter and Barcelona last season and it’s now or never for the Russians, who should have enough about them to snatch a win with their defensive stoutness on the break. With the 2 teams having scored only twice between them so far, back under 2.5 goals at 4/7 and also cover Rubin with the draw no bet option.
Things are getting tight in Group C, with Man United apparently suffering a crisis at home (with Wayne Rooney wanting to leave, and a defence that’s leaking badly) and Bursapor looking like the worst team to play in the CL for Turkey.
Both VALENCIA and Rangers will be delighted with their respective start to the campaign, Rangers having yet to concede a goal in this season’s Champions League and leading the SPL with a perfect 8-8 record, and Valencia sitting pretty in third at home, having beaten Bursaspor 4-0 on the road.
Los Che were unlucky to lose to Man Utd, wasting a criminal amount of chances before being undone by a breakway Hernández goal. The Spanish side make their way to Scotland after a 2-1 defeat away to Barcelona at the Nou Camp, which was Valencia’s first defeat in the Primera Division since May. They showed their ability by actually leading at half time against the Spanish Champions, an impressive feat for any side.
Valencia are now sitting in third place in the league after some fantastic performances with what is a different team compared to last season, with the loss of star players such as David Silva and David Villa, while Rangers are coming off of a second half comeback against Motherwell in the Scottish Premier League, where the champions came from a goal down to score four without reply to remain at the top of the table.
This will be a tough test for Valencia but they are a classy team and must have enough in them to come away with all 3 points here if they can perform like they did at the Nou Camp, and if they can start like they did on Saturday and against Buraspor then maybe they are worth backing in the Half Time / Full Time market, and to be winning at Half Time.
This is the crunch game for Twente and Werder, with slight preference for the home team as they managed to come from behind to draw with Inter, while Werder came from behind to get the same result against Tottenham in their only home games so far.
Twente only just started to replicate their title winning form from last year, and should be boosted by a 1-0 win at Feynooord but this game is too tight to predict to I would go with over 2.5 goals at 4/6 in general, as Bremen love to attack and Twente rarely fail to score at home.
Manchester United v Bursaspor is likely to be a home win but there’s no really value in the match as it’s been over shadowed by Rooney’s turmoil.
INTER MILAN v Tottenham is a fascinating game, with the Italian and European Champions facing off against the Premier League’s fastest rising club. Inter have had a fairly successful start to this season, lying in third place after 7 games. That sound comfortable for the club, but they have a long injury list to deal and that won’t help them against a team with as much speed and pace at Tottenham Hotspur, an area where Zanetti and Lucio will suffer tonight, and possibley Macicon against Bale.
Spurs also come here off a hard fought 2-1 win with Fulham, no mean feat considering that they were unbeaten at home beforehand. However, there are positives for Inter tonight.
Firstly, despite missing Diego Milito due to a groin problem, Goran Pandev, Esteban Cambiasso and Ivan Cordoba could play, a he boost for a squad growing thin. And Wesley Sneijder and on – fire Striker Samuel Eto’o will play, while Inter’s experienced. For back four (Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Chivu) looks strong and solid, if not a little slow. Forward Francis Countiniho will be a crucial part of the attack.
Tottenham will be without suspended forward Rafael van der Vaart, who was becoming a crucial point of their team, and Ledley King is also out with a groin injury, so Sebastien Bassong could partner William Gallas at the back. That back four might not be well adjusted to each other, so this game could be very open.
It’s a toughie to deicide, but the call has to be for Inter with home advantage and experience.
Recommendations
Lyon to beat Benfica (11/10 BlueSq, Boylesports, Paddy Power)
Klaas Jan – Huntellar to score at anytime against Benfica (evens Coral, Stan James, Boylesports)
Over 2.5 goals in Barcelona v Copenhagen (4/9 general)
Over 3.5 goals in Barcelona v Copenhagen (4/9 general)
Rubin Kazan to beat Panathinkos (2/1 VC Bet, 13/8 elsewhere)
Rubin Kazan to beat Pananthinkos with draw no bet (10/11 Skybet and Betfred)
Under 2.5 goals in Panathinkos v Rubin (4/7 Betfred, Skybet, Totesport, Eurosport)
Valencia to beat Rangers (10/11 Boylesports)
Valencia to be leading at Half Time (15/8 Betfred)
Valencia Half Time / Full Time (11/4 Blue Sq, Stan James, 888 Sport)
Over 2.5 goals in Twente v Werder Bremen (4/6 general)
Inter to beat Tottenham (4/6 general)
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