UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

[ultravires]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August I'll say a few words regarding my thoughts on Udinese, but in truth quite a few people are probably familiar with them. I watched them a lot last season and they were a joy to watch. Everyone knows that they have lost 3 huge players Zapata, Inler and Sanchez - one in each phase of the pitch. They'll still play in the same style which is quick incisive counter-attacks. I'd expect them to line up as follows: (3-5-2): Handanovic; Domizzi*, Larangeira, Benatia; Isla, Pinzi, Asamoah, Abdi/Doubai, Armero; Di Natale, Barretto/Floro Flores *slight doubt. It's a good team and I'm not so sure that the gulf between the two sides on Tuesday is massive. Without RvP, Cesc and Nasri - all big time players - I have doubts over who will step up. The players in bold are most important in my mind to Udinese being able to build some threat in the match. Collectively the D will have to be on good form. Benatia is a good player while I haven't seen Larangeira play so can't comment. It's not as settled as last seasons back 3 and they'll live or die collectively. Isla and Armero are possibly the most important players on the night. They will probably spend more time in their own half than they are used to but when they do get the chance to break forward they'll have to take it. Armero is very fast while both are sick on the ball and dangerous. Asamoah is the big boy who'll try to boss CM as much as possible. A direct match against A. Song and one I'd back him to win - he's one of the only players who would improve the Arsenal team. He has tidy partners, both Pinzi and Abdi are capable passers and will look to the wings quickly. Di Natale is a club legend and will be the main goal threat. He has tended to flop on the big stage though. Techincally sound with a good shot. Zero aerial threat so if Arsenal can get to grips with his movement they'll take a huge step to controlling him. Barretto has returned from Bari and is a player I like. An all-round striker with a little of everything. Much of the same for Floro Flores. They are a dangerous pair but chances may be few and far between. It's a good side which plays with a clear vision. 5-3-2-ish quite a lot of the time as Arsenal will have a lot of the ball and breaking quickly when they can with Isla and Armero and I can see them getting some joy. Udinese are a great 'dog side and they'll hide behind that while quietly preparing for this match. My view of Arsenal is that their pace will be largely negated given Udinese will be deep. It's still a threat of course but they'll need creativity on the ball to unlock Udinese and I'm not sure they can be relied upon to deliver. Given Arsenal's missings I can see them struggling a bit and they shouldn't turn their noses up at a one goal win. My view on how Udinese will play is accurate but I'll allow some patriotic cloud in my betting judgement - ha. Plenty of you will back Arsenal to the hilt tonight but Udinese aren't punks and I'd be surprised to see them get trashed. 2-0 absolute max IMO. Udinese +1 (AH) - 2.050 - 3 points - Bet365 FORZAAAAA Udinese.

[ValueHunter]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August I would probably give a try to over 2.75 goals (AH) @2.00 in Arsenal game with bet365. I am slightly worried by the absence of Persie and no Fab and Nasri but as it was mentioned above this turns out to be one of the most important games of the season for Arsenal so they should score some. I would also like to see some preview from ultravires about Udinese but IMO it's a complete mistery what are Italians capable of now without Sanchez, Inler and Zapata and no official games yet, I just know they drew their friendly game against Sporting Lisbon (2;2). From what I have seen last season they are not a team which will just sit back and defend no matter the opponent. Udinese still have players like Armero, Pinzi and Di Natale which are capable to find gaps in opponents defence.

[ValueHunter]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

I would also like to see some preview from ultravires

Oh he already provided it by the time I was writting my last post.

Udinese +1 (AH) - 2.050 - 3 points - Bet365

I myself was considering this bet and might give it a try since I already backed 2 of the dogs in this round. Completely agree with your review. Great job once again.

[Mustafa]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August Another bet that interests me is OB Odense against Villarreal. The Danish team is doing well at the moment. They knocked Panathinaikos and already played 5 games in their league and are unbeaten in their 7 official games this season. Interesting thing is that Both to Score bet would have won in 6 out of these 7 games and there were 25 goals in these 7 games. So more than 3 goals per game. I don’t think the gap between these sides is as big as the odds. Last season Copenhagen held Barcelona 1-1 at home. I wouldn’t back OB Odense to win this one since they drew 3 out of their last 7 games including 1-1 draw at home against Panathinaikos and 2-2 away against Copenhagen. However, I can see them qualifying from this tie, most likely on away goals rule. @ 6.00 bokies give them only 17% chance of qualifying so there might be a value in backing them.

[HastGill1]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

My view on how Udinese will play is accurate but I'll allow some patriotic cloud in my betting judgement - ha. Plenty of you will back Arsenal to the hilt tonight but Udinese aren't punks and I'd be surprised to see them get trashed. 2-0 absolute max IMO. Udinese +1 (AH) - 2.050 - 3 points - Bet365 FORZAAAAA Udinese.

Think that it's always a danger in these European games that we favour the sides that are involved in our favoured national leagues, you see it often on forums, I'm sure we all have, our Serbian and Croat friends seem to consider most of their sides as world beaters :lol.. To go into an Arsenal forum is a real walk in the wilderness, I gather most of the people posting there are from China and/or totally clueless but I have tried to shift through the durge and the line-up most seem to think will be.. ---------------- Szczesny----------------- - Sagna ----- Kos ------ Verms ----- Gibbs- ---------- Song -- Ramsey/Wilshere-------- - Walcott ------- Arshavin ------- Gervinho- ---------------- Chamakh------------------ It's certainly the weakest line-up they will have fielded for a top European game for the last 15 years I would imagine, RVP being suspended is a massive blow, the midfield is still strong, and could compete with most in the top leagues, would like to see Gervinho given a chance up top but they don't seem to think this will happen, Chamakh isn't a top level player that is for sure. I'm going to play this one out in my head until tomorrow, I don't think the Arsenal team is as weak as the supporters seem to think it is but Udinese seem to be pretty good away from home and an away goal would not be a shock as Arsenal will need to take an advantage to Italy. Goals might be the way to play this one, over 3 perhaps..

[Mustafa]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August OB Odense to Qualify @ 6.00 (1 unit) William Hill Reasoning few posts above

[Jase82]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

I'm going to play this one out in my head until tomorrow, I don't think the Arsenal team is as weak as the supporters seem to think it is but Udinese seem to be pretty good away from home and an away goal would not be a shock as Arsenal will need to take an advantage to Italy. Goals might be the way to play this one, over 3 perhaps..

For me personally it's not just the strength of the team though. The team you listed should be good enough to win really. But, there's the underlying issue of how the players will react to the very visible reduction in strength from last season. Losing their left back, best two midfielders, and without their best striker is unlikely to galvanise this Arsenal squad IMO. They already were lacking in real leadership throughout the squad, now they just look like a shadow. This really is the poorest Arsenal squad for a long time. I see tremendous value in backing Udinese @ 7.5 with BET365 / Skybet. We have to remember that Udinese are no pushovers and come from one of the top European leagues. This really is a tie Arsenal could have done without...... the signs were there on Saturday, and I would advise anyone to steer clear of backing Arsenal until they make some signings. It's too early and they haven't moved forward on last season, they've gone backwards which will have a detrimental effect on their already fragile mentality. Already the AH prices are drifting..... Udinese + 1.25 was in the 1.70s earlier today. Udinese + 1 appeals though as well.

[bobozg]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August about DINAMO ZAGREB vs MALMO First I think it was irresponsible from malmo to play againt FC MILAN 3 days before game in Zagreb. This showing some luck of respect and may put malmo on loosing side. For me Dinamo as guest is much dangerous and if you search arround you will get info about their greatest victory in europa league were as visitor. At home , 90% clubs who play in Zagreb play wery defensive and dinamo have allways hard time to broke them. ( under 90% of clubs I ment clubs croatian league and this clubs in early euro qualification rounds) If malmo underestimate dinamo, he will not play full defence and dinamo have chance to win. The coach of dinamo is guy I fear the most. He is no expert, I dont belive in his tactis preparation. He is just person with no personality who listen all what boss say and thats the reason why he is on place. and thats the reason why noone coach with strong personality cannot stay in dinamo for long couse sooner or later they came into ring with boss Mamic and resolt is well known.. coach flying out, new coach with less personality came in and ...thats the reason why BBB as a core of dinamo supporters said one year ago " its enoguh ..we wouldnt go to support dinamo as long as the boss mamic is in there." Most of people also think same way and all people just boycoting croatian league games.. but ... qualification for champion league is something else, and with price of less than 1 euro for watching live game, its easier for boss mamic to fullfille the stadium and for this games ordinary peoples, not core supporters BBB , will go to watch game. the difference... BBB are those who makes dinamo home ground a hot one.. for all 90 minutes. all the rest of public will make noise for some time but also in a second can turn into silent soap opera crowd :zzz with no atmosphere .. and players feel this :-( so... personaly even I am Dinamo supporter I just dont think its enough factors for or against ..and will stay away of this game. IF MALMO score he will score twice. If dinamo score first they will flying arround and malmo is in trouble to get more maybe ......firt half unsolved 0-0, 1-1 ,

[bobozg]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August as for ARSENAL - UDINESE yep arsenal have some troubles but than again I dont remember when arsenal didnt have some troubles with injured or absence players :-) In this part of the season, this is most important arsenal game and wenger would rather see them loosing next premiership game than to not come into champion league main phase so they will give their best for sure as udinese too. but at arsenal home ground , I WILL gor for arsenal win together with bajern, psg, celtic and lazio wins with small covering for draw at arsenal and celtic

[Mustafa]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

as for ARSENAL - UDINESE yep arsenal have some troubles but than again I dont remember when arsenal didnt have some troubles with injured or absence players :-) In this part of the season, this is most important arsenal game and wenger would rather see them loosing next premiership game than to not come into champion league main phase so they will give their best for sure as udinese too. but at arsenal home ground , I WILL gor for arsenal win together with bajern, psg, celtic and lazio wins with small covering for draw at arsenal and celtic

All teams in the Champions League give their best and it is not like Emirates stadium is hard place to get points, like Old Trafford for instance.

[bobozg]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

All teams in the Champions League give their best and it is not like Emirates stadium is hard place to get points' date=' like Old Trafford for instance.[/quote'] I ment.. when two teams give their best.. and one team have better players and home ground and other team still watching with one eye on second game.. than home ground become vital to choose winner side

[slizorn]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

Sport	Football (Champions League)
Event	Arsenal vs Udinese
Selection	Udinese +1.0 (Asian-handicap)
Strength	10/10
Date	16/08/2011
Bookmaker/Price	Bet365 @ 2.00
Reasoning	I cannot add more than what Ultravires has summarized above. The main thing that ticks all the boxes for me is the fact that the squad will be missing Robin van Persie, Fabregas and Nasri. I expect Udinese to put up a fight and to cause Arsenal several problems.

[Mustafa]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

I ment.. when two teams give their best.. and one team have better players and home ground and other team still watching with one eye on second game.. than home ground become vital to choose winner side

Right now Arsenal and Udinese are almost level. Udinese sold their 3 key players, while Arsenal will also be without Fabregas, Nasri and Van Persie. So basically no creativity and not their best attack. But I don't want to change your mind and if you feel that Arsenal will win then go for it.

[Mustafa]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August Arsenal - Udinese As it often happens in two legged ties the away team in the first leg focuses on defending and trying to score from the counter attack. Udinese as almost every Italian team will be no exception and will start the game in defense. Arsenal is a team that plays cautions football in the beginning and as a result there were plenty of draws, mostly 0-0 after the first half at the Emirates and most of the goals were scored in the second half. Highest Scoring Half: 2nd @ 2.00 (2 units) Ladbrokes

[Symon Sez]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August why you guys stick to unpredictable matches i just don't get you screw arsenal/udinese as this would be one of the most unpredictable games in any respect i don't even see over 2,5 here as arsenal are really lame (at least on the paper) and udinese were one of the every year's upstarts in top-6 championships who quickly sold 3 of 6 their best players including biggest stars moreover arsenal played once udinese didn't play at all so we can see totally different teams tomorrow from what we saw last year let's dig kobenhavn/plzen instead, looks like they have a big distance btwn them and good odds for kobenhavn at the same time

[Plavi24]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

about DINAMO ZAGREB vs MALMO First I think it was irresponsible from malmo to play againt FC MILAN 3 days before game in Zagreb. This showing some luck of respect and may put malmo on loosing side. For me Dinamo as guest is much dangerous and if you search arround you will get info about their greatest victory in europa league were as visitor. At home , 90% clubs who play in Zagreb play wery defensive and dinamo have allways hard time to broke them. ( under 90% of clubs I ment clubs croatian league and this clubs in early euro qualification rounds) If malmo underestimate dinamo, he will not play full defence and dinamo have chance to win. The coach of dinamo is guy I fear the most. He is no expert, I dont belive in his tactis preparation. He is just person with no personality who listen all what boss say and thats the reason why he is on place. and thats the reason why noone coach with strong personality cannot stay in dinamo for long couse sooner or later they came into ring with boss Mamic and resolt is well known.. coach flying out, new coach with less personality came in and ...thats the reason why BBB as a core of dinamo supporters said one year ago " its enoguh ..we wouldnt go to support dinamo as long as the boss mamic is in there." Most of people also think same way and all people just boycoting croatian league games.. but ... qualification for champion league is something else, and with price of less than 1 euro for watching live game, its easier for boss mamic to fullfille the stadium and for this games ordinary peoples, not core supporters BBB , will go to watch game. the difference... BBB are those who makes dinamo home ground a hot one.. for all 90 minutes. all the rest of public will make noise for some time but also in a second can turn into silent soap opera crowd :zzz with no atmosphere .. and players feel this :-( so... personaly even I am Dinamo supporter I just dont think its enough factors for or against ..and will stay away of this game. IF MALMO score he will score twice. If dinamo score first they will flying arround and malmo is in trouble to get more maybe ......firt half unsolved 0-0, 1-1 ,

I know this is not a fan thread,but this is just plain wrong what you wrote here.No one is boycotting except BBB,most of them,at least officialy.Be sure there will be plenty of BBB's at this game as well.Just not organized as a group.There's been more than few reports about them going to games this way,which I have also witnessed,at home and some nearby away games,in the league,and not once.Dinamo will have good support I hope,but we better score in the first half :lol Anyway,this is not the thread to discuss about that,but then again I didnt start the subject.;).About the game,I wrote a post on page 1 but just to add,I dont think Malmo will go entirely defensive or offensive.They respect us and they are playing away,but on the other side they are a team who likes to play and they are not capable to play total defense,it's not their way and they don't have good enough defense for that. About Arsenal,it would really be a huge shock if they don't qualify.Don't see a team of their class missing out CL.They have been ruthless at home at a regular basis in Europe,they should win this by at least 1 goal margin.

[dak]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August The Arsenal - Udinese match appears to be generating a lot of debate and probably for good reason. Arsenal has lost a few important players for this match-up and they offered a lackluster performance against a poor Newcastle team on Saturday. Arguably, one of the reasons they may have been ineffective was that their minds was on THIS match. In spite of the missing players, Arsenal has a competitive squad, a good coach in Wenger, and the home field advantage. Udinese had a good season last year and finished fourth. But it has been a while since Udinese did anything remarkable. Furthermore, Udinese will also play this match with a weakened roster and without any official matches yet. Udinese will probably try and frustrate Arsenal and avoid conceding first and foremost with a goal/s or draw/win being a bonus. They may get a goal, but I don't think they will shut out Arsenal and the draw or away win are unlikely results. The stakes are really high at the CL and Arsenal knows that a win, if not a good win, is absolutely essential especially since the reverse fixture is in Italy. Failing to qualify for the CL means the team will not collect all the money that goes with CL participation (millions!) and the players will fail to show case themselves for transfer purposes. Yes, Udinese is thinking the same thing, but Arsenal and Wenger are the more experienced side (Most consecutive appearances in CL knock out stage (11) joint record with Real Madrid) and with all else being equal (let's just say....) this can make the difference. Sure, we have the example of Rangers, but Arsenal is better than Rangers and Udinese doesn't have the match readiness that Malmo had. Arsenal have the ability to win this match. At Pinnacle you can get 1.62 for Arsenal's win. Given that the market is slightly in doubt about Arsenal the odds may rise some as the day goes on. Even at these odds Arsenal are backable in such a high stakes contest. I will wait to see what happens to the odds, but I'm leaning heavily towards Arsenal's win.

[dak]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August Twente - Benfica: Draw @ 3.40 (SkyBet) 10/10 The draw result has good chances here, I think. Twente started the season in a positve way. The hosts won the Dutch Super Cup against Ajax and in the league they have defeated Breda and Alkmaar. Twente is good at home generally and specifically in European competitions where in 8 matches they have only 1 defeat (4 draws; 3 wins) but with a propensity for the draw. Benfica has made some quality additions to its roster so they may be at least half a click better than last year. Benfica stumbled in its first league match at Gil Vicente (2-2) but the impending CL match could have been a distraction. The guests have a 7-7-5 record against Dutch teams and a 1-6-2 away record. In its last 4 matches against Dutch teams Benfica has played to a draw. The teams are pretty even in terms of quality and readiness. I think both will be careful knowing that the other has scoring potential. I think we could get a 1-1 or even 2-2 draw here. The draw is a good percentage bet in this match. BATE Borisov - Sturm Gratz: Draw @ 3.56 (Pinnacle) 10/10 There isn't much difference between these teams in terms of roster quality. Borisov is in 1st place in its league with a comfortable 8 point lead. Gratz hasn't started well in Austria (record: 1-2-1) but did manage to get a win this weekend against Rapid Wien (1-0) so confidence will be okay going into this match. Borisov is undefeated in its last 6 European matches but with a propensity towards the draw (2-4-0). Gratz hasn't won in its last 7 away European matches, but does get a good amount of draws (0-3-4). I can't see Gratz winning but I am not confident that Borisov will do its job and win either. This is likely to be a very tight match which increases the chances of the draw result and it offers value, I think. Good Luck...:hope

[parabolam]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August in my opinion twente represent value here at 7/5 for a home win considering a number of reasons. they were beaten well 3 times away from home in last years champions league Hapoel Tel Aviv 3-0 Benfica Schalke 04 2-0 Benfica Lyon 2-0 Benfica twentes preformances in europe last year.. showed they can score goals at home against good opposition: Twente Enschede 2-2 Internazionale Twente Enschede 1-1 Werder Bremen Twente Enschede 3-3 Tottenham Hotspur twente have a full strength team where as benficas creative star man Aimar is doubtful. twente 7/5 with paddypower. goodluck

[Kizo321]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August putting fan business aside, dinamo is a favourite against malmo, and i would go even to a -1 asian spread here. malmo played a friendly with milan just three days before the game and it shows that they didn't count on reaching this far also. positive atmosphere in zagreb, no major injuries or suspensions, deep squad, good form. would like to see malmo-milan match ro to hear more opinions from sweden colleagues.

[Bizar01]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

in my opinion twente represent value here at 7/5 for a home win considering a number of reasons. they were beaten well 3 times away from home in last years champions league Hapoel Tel Aviv 3-0 Benfica Schalke 04 2-0 Benfica Lyon 2-0 Benfica twentes preformances in europe last year.. showed they can score goals at home against good opposition: Twente Enschede 2-2 Internazionale Twente Enschede 1-1 Werder Bremen Twente Enschede 3-3 Tottenham Hotspur twente have a full strength team where as benficas creative star man Aimar is doubtful. twente 7/5 with paddypower. goodluck

Well not exactly. Nacer Chadli is injured and he was important the last year. But I've saw Berghuis playing and he is also doing very good. However the most important thing is that Brian Ruiz is playing tonight for Twente, the best player of the Holland eredivisie. He could make the difference and let his team win like he did against Ajax and AZ those last matches.

[Mustafa]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

putting fan business aside' date=' dinamo is a favourite against malmo, and i would go even to a -1 asian spread here. malmo played a friendly with milan just three days before the game and it shows that they didn't count on reaching this far also. positive atmosphere in zagreb, no major injuries or suspensions, deep squad, good form. would like to see malmo-milan match ro to hear more opinions from sweden colleagues.[/quote'] Why would you say that? It was a friendly game and they could have easily cancelled it. By playing against Milan they kept their good form and it was an important test before the match against Dinamo. As I said earlier Malmo is underrated here since they did not do much in the past years.

[LordHumungus]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

Why would you say that? It was a friendly game and they could have easily cancelled it. By playing against Milan they kept their good form and it was an important test before the match against Dinamo. As I said earlier Malmo is underrated here since they did not do much in the past years.

Well, it was an homecoming game for Zlatan Ibrahimovic which had been more or less sold out for months so cancelling it would have been anything but easy. But as it played out I think the Milan game was nothing but positive for Malmö. No Malmö player played more than 45 minutes (they used 26 players) and to get a good result against a fairly strong Milan side with the very weakend side Malmö put out will only boost the Malmö players confidence. It should be noted that Malmö has experinced left back Richardinho suspended for the Zagreb game. That should be a big blow for them as their defence is their weak point even with the strongest line up. On the other side Richardinho was also suspended in the away game against Rangers and Malmö did more than ok in that game. IMO if there is any value in this game it probably lies with Malmö since Dinamos price is so short but I won't touch this game. Malmö has been unconvincing in the Swedish league all season and struggled against HB Torshavn in the first CL qualification round. But then again their win against Rangers was deserved and they will be going to Zagreb full of confidence.

[Ricardinho]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

putting fan business aside' date=' dinamo is a favourite against malmo, and i would go even to a -1 asian spread here. malmo played a friendly with milan just three days before the game and it shows that they didn't count on reaching this far also. positive atmosphere in zagreb, no major injuries or suspensions, deep squad, good form. would like to see malmo-milan match ro to hear more opinions from sweden colleagues.[/quote'] Dont know if you joked or what you just did? Malmö played with the best players they could get (who wasnt injured or had to rest before Dinamo) 30 minutes then they did subs. In 2nd half they played with u17 team and some b-players. It was a good test before the match since some of the players really impressed against this respected Serie A players (i know it was a friendly but stil) If they didnt played this friendly they had to play an away game vs Gefle who is like 8 hours trip away from Malmö and on articifiel pitch. So playing this friendly was much better for the players than playing away against Gefle. Ricardinho is suspended but they bought new player who can replace him in this match. I saw Dinamos latest matches (highlights) and the opponents remind me of Swedish Div 1, the tempo in the matches was so low and the defence in the opponent teams was so poor. Still i know that Dinamo will play 3 step faster and better since its the CL qualify, but at same time Malmö will do that too. May the best team win. Against Torshavn away they couldnt give a shit just played the match out since they alreayd was qualified. In the leauge its strange they dont seem to have motivation, dunno why but against Rangers they showed they can be as good as last year which make me think they will step up against Dinamo.

[Mustafa]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

Well, it was an homecoming game for Zlatan Ibrahimovic which had been more or less sold out for months so cancelling it would have been anything but easy. But as it played out I think the Milan game was nothing but positive for Malmö. No Malmö player played more than 45 minutes (they used 26 players) and to get a good result against a fairly strong Milan side with the very weakend side Malmö put out will only boost the Malmö players confidence. It should be noted that Malmö has experinced left back Richardinho suspended for the Zagreb game. That should be a big blow for them as their defence is their weak point even with the strongest line up. On the other side Richardinho was also suspended in the away game against Rangers and Malmö did more than ok in that game. IMO if there is any value in this game it probably lies with Malmö since Dinamos price is so short but I won't touch this game. Malmö has been unconvincing in the Swedish league all season and struggled against HB Torshavn in the first CL qualification round. But then again their win against Rangers was deserved and they will be going to Zagreb full of confidence.

Nice post and :welcome

[ValueHunter]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

Another bet that interests me is OB Odense against Villarreal. The Danish team is doing well at the moment. They knocked Panathinaikos and already played 5 games in their league and are unbeaten in their 7 official games this season. Interesting thing is that Both to Score bet would have won in 6 out of these 7 games and there were 25 goals in these 7 games. So more than 3 goals per game. I don’t think the gap between these sides is as big as the odds. Last season Copenhagen held Barcelona 1-1 at home. I wouldn’t back OB Odense to win this one since they drew 3 out of their last 7 games including 1-1 draw at home against Panathinaikos and 2-2 away against Copenhagen. However, I can see them qualifying from this tie, most likely on away goals rule. @ 6.00 bokies give them only 17% chance of qualifying so there might be a value in backing them.

I also think that Odense are capable to take at least a point out of the first leg but to be honest I can't see them qualifying. It's true that Villareal sold one of their best players in the likes of Cassorla, Capdevilla was sold as well and now Nilmar is set to move to Roma but Spaniards still have plenty of quality on their side. Villareal kept their best player Rossi and he with Cani and Borja behind him providing their clinical passes will be tremendous threat for the Danish defense. Wakasso Mubarak, who came from Villareal B and recorded few matches in the end of the last season, performs really well on the left wing. Yellow submarine are at least a class if not more above Odense in my opinion. Add to this their impressive home form. El Madrigal is not really a nice place to go. Villareal won all the 7 home games in Europa League they had last year. La Liga record was also impressive - 13-3-3, losing only to Barca, Real and surprisingly to Levante but all the three losses came in the 2nd part of the season when Villareal were exhausted due to their EL and Copa Del Ray participation, I remember a period when they had like 10 offical games in 30 days. My point is they may allow some slip-up in Denmark but I think Odense will be trashed in Spain, so if there is a room for laying Villareal, it should be done in the first game in my opinion. Considering Villareal's performance from the last season I think the odds are set correctly and will leave that game alone. Anyway it's nice to see you going with the underdogs. GL with your bet.

[Mustafa]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

I also think that Odense are capable to take at least a point out of the first leg but to be honest I can't see them qualifying. It's true that Villareal sold one of their best players in the likes of Cassorla, Capdevilla was sold as well and now Nilmar is set to move to Roma but Spaniards still have plenty of quality on their side. Villareal kept their best player Rossi and he along with Cani and Borja will be tremendous threat for the Danish defense. Wakasso Mubarak, who came from Villareal B and recorded few matches in the end of the last season, performs really well. Yellow submarine are at least a class if not more above Odense in my opinion. Add to this their impressive home form. El Madrigal is not really a nice place to go. Villareal won all the 7 home games in League Europa they had last year. La Liga record was also impressive - 13-3-3, losing only to Barca, Real and surprisingly to Levante but all the three losses came in the 2nd part of the season when Villareal were exhausted due to their EL and Copa Del Ray participation, I remember a period when they had like 10 offical games in 30 days. My point is they may allow some slip-up in Denmark but I think Odense will be trashed in Spain, so if there is a room for laying Villareal, it should be done in the first game in my opinion. Considering Villareal's performance from the last season I think the odds are set correctly and will leave that game alone. Anyway it's nice to see you going with the underdogs. GL with your bet.

Even odds on OB Odense tomorrow are good. Straight win is @ 4.00, DNB @ 2.70 and Double Chance @ 1.70

[ValueHunter]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

Even odds on OB Odense tomorrow are good. Straight win is @ 4.00' date=' DNB @ 2.70 and Double Chance @ 1.70[/quote'] Well ... price on Odense drifted down a bit since yesterday. You can still find Odense +0.5 @1.875 in Bet365. Considering that last year Villareal lost to teams like Dinamo Zagreb and PAOK on the road laying them against Odense is not such a bad idea. It's well known that Villareal are not world beaters in their visits but yet they managed to win in Germany against Bayer Leverkusen. Quite unpredictable team they are when it comes to away games, still laying them at price bellow 2.00 ain't worth it IMO.

[Mustafa]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August

Well ... price on Odense drifted down a bit since yesterday. You can still find Odense +0.5 @1.875 in Bet365. Considering that last year Villareal lost to teams like Dinamo Zagreb and PAOK on the road laying them against Odense is not such a bad idea. It's well known that Villareal are not world beaters in their visits but yet they managed to win in Germany against Bayer Leverkusen. Quite unpredictable team they are when it comes to away games' date=' still laying them at price bellow 2.00 ain't worth it IMO.[/quote'] I think that @ 1.80-1.90 it will be a better option to back goals in this game since as I mentioned in my earlier posts Odense games produced many goals. Over 2.5 is @ 1.90-2.00, while Over 3.5 @ 3.5 is another good option.

[ultravires]

Re: UEFA Champions League > 16-17 August It seems that quite a few sources are expecting a back four from Udinese tonight. Seems kind of odd to me as the pre-season games I have seen still contained a back 3. With a back four I'd expect to drop a striker and play a 4-5-1 or 4-1-4-1. It could just be that they are taking an even tighter approach to this away leg. The approach to play should still be the same - looking to exploit the wings.