Champions League - 7th November 2012

Bayern Munich (2/9) v Lille (16)

Barring unlucky defeats to BATE and Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern have been one of Europe’s form teams and they should be far too good for Lille at the Allianz Arena. Jupp Henckyes’s side snuck past Lille in France but have always been more impressive at home and should be able to win convcingly.

Advice: 2 pts Bayern to score 3 or more goals (5/6 general)

Benfica (6/10) v Spartak Moscow (5)

Benfica were unlucky losers in Moscow on the last Matchday but with home adnvtage they can reverse that defeat on home soil. Benfica were beaten by Zenit in the last 16 last year but won the reverse fixture 2-0 and something similar isn’t out of the question here.

Advice: 2 pts Benfica (6/10 Blue Sq)

Braga (13/5) v Manchester United (6/5)

Manchester United have always been famous for winning ugly but that’s never been more true than this season and an away trip to Braga, who embarrassed United for 30 minutes at Old Trafford before United’s superior attacking strength came through, and a similar kind of result maybe on the cards again. United have won 9 of their 12 games this season, including all three in the Champions League, by one goal, and that looks to be the best value.

Advice: 1 pt Manchester United to win by 1 goal (10/3 Ladbrokes)

Valencia (1/4) v BATE (12)

Valencia aren’t the team of previous seasons but they’ve had a recent resurgence which includes home wins over Athletic Bilbao and most notably, previously unbeaten Atletico Madrid, along with a 3-0 win over BATE in the reverse fixture, a result they’ll feel confident of repeating on home soil.

Advice: 1 pt Valencia to score 3 or more goals (11/8 Stan James)

Culj (31/20) v Galatasaray (9/5)

Not a match with an obvious amount of appeal. The Turks go in search of their first European away win in almost a decade, and the hosts have lost six of their last 10 Champions League group games. Under 2.5 goals might be the call.

Advice: 1 pt Under 2.5 goals (4/5 general)

Celtic (3/10) v Barcelona (10)

This is one of Barcelona’s best ever starts to a season so it’s testament to the fighting spririt of Neil Lennon’s men that they’ve come closest of any side to denying Tito Villanova’s men a win so far barring Real Madrid. In eight of their games so far the Catalans have scored 3 or more, including in two recent meetings at Parkhead, so that’s the vote in what should be quite a decent affair.

Advice: 1 pt Barcelona to score 3 or more goals (6/5 Stan James)

Chelsea (21/20) v Shakhtar (3)

Shakhtar’s impressive display against Chelsea is the kind that should make Europe sit up and take notice and anyone who saw them against Juve will know their poor travelling form is a thing of the past. Chelsea didn’t play to their best against Shaktar in Donetsk and will be a much tougher proposition at home, but their defence has been opened with apparent ease and Shaktar present one of the toughest challenges they’ve had so far this season. Both teams to score (happened in Chelsea’s last 6) and over 2.5 (happened in all over Chelsea’s big matches) look like locks.

Advice: 3 pts Over 2.5 goals (8/11 general)

Juventus (1/6) v Nordsjelland (25)

It was a display of real quality that saw Juventus lose their unbeaten record at the weekend but since their 2-2 draw at Chelsea they’ve struggled to reach their best and there’s no value in backing them. Ladbrokes offer a tempting 4/1 for the hosts to win by a single goal, but considering the fact that the last 9 games involving Juventus in Europe have been draws, Nordsjelland +2 on the Asian handicap makes appeal.

Advice: 1 pt Nordsjelland +2 on Asian H’Cap (5/4 32Red)