Champions League > September 18th

[sasik]

Re: Champions League > September 18th Milan should prevail,but as i wrote often,Milan is a joke that season.so 1,5 is low here probaly Milan will press to show something infront their supporters.Milan lost 2/2 at home against to normal teams like Atalanta and Sampdoria.so if Milan will win will be because Rsca isn't strong enough to stop them at S.S.iro usually belgium teams aren't strong away. if Anderlecht will attack Milan they can create many problems against a poor and unexperiece defence.

[McNasara]

Re: Champions League > September 18th some small details ;)

[Mustafa]

Re: Champions League > September 18th

Hi Mustafa' date=' not sure if it's gone down or not but saw the Arsenal + 0 @ 1.575 at bet365. It's usually the case compared to their separate draw no bet and "double chance" markets where you get a few more and sometimes many more cents on the price by comparison.[/quote'] Thanks, but I have got a bonus from them and since bets placed on Asian Handicap markets do not count towards roll over requirement I have decided to use DNB option.

[HastGill1]

Re: Champions League > September 18th

I've made a small play on Arsenal -0.25 @ 19/20 (Pinnacle) Price has shortened a little but still enough value for me to take, it's hard to ignore Arsenal here given the condition of the two teams. HastGill, the Bradford -1 public bet was all good in the end but you made me laugh reading this weekends league 2 thread, let's hope this game isn't the bandwagon sucker punch.

I hope it isn't too! :lol..The Bradford bet was based on first hand knowledge of how bad Barnet are, I'm caught between not leaving myself overexposed in this one (which I probably now am) and not wanting to miss out on what looks on paper like a great opportunity, the sensible thing would probably have been to have left it at the DNB I originally placed. The qualifiers were good to me so I can take the hit, but thats not really the point, Arsenal just look too big to me and its tempted me to be a bit more adventurous.

Plenty of Arsenal fans seem to be calling for rotation of the squad considering they have City at the weekend, that is somewhat arrogant imo and this is a CL game not a pre-season friendly. Failure to qualify can have major economic consequences and why would you start rotating the squad in the first qualifying game!? Look at Man Utd last season, I think they were 1.1 to qualify from their group but start off with a couple of draws and you can be struggling, City have R.Madrid away the same day so I can't see Wenger doing much rotation. Diaby could have played against Southampton according to Wenger so he might come in for Coquelin, they will certainly want Diaby back for the City game but other than that I can't see him changing much. Podolski is finding his feet and Gervinho seems to be making up for lost time, guess Walcott might come in for Chamberlain. I would expect him to try and keep a tight looking defence together though as I don't think any CL game is easy. If Atko (or any other French football follower) could give a brief analysis of Montpellier it would be useful, obviously Giroud was the main man for them last year but most of the rest of the team seems intact, why have they started the season so poorly?

[Fedar]

Re: Champions League > September 18th Real - Man City Real AH -1 @2.10 Though it is considered the derby of the round, I think it is one of the most certain outcomes. Here are my reasons: 1. Real Madrid's "must-bounce-back": Real just cannot afford to miss another victory. Mourinho has been surely furious and has given big stick to his men. Last time they lost in Primera and had a big game at home immediately afterwards, Real played outstanding against Barcelona. I expect similar attitude and motivation from them. 2. Real's CL priority: this year the Champions League must be objective number one for the royal team. Although they are undisputed favorites to win their group, it is one of the hardest in the whole tournament. Real has the example of Untied last year how a sloppy start might result in a debacle in the preliminary phase (and United's group was far easier). They know that they have to start with a win to bring back their confidence and to make claim for the first place in the group. 3. City's questionable away form: Man City's away form has been very mediocre for over an year now. The last time they were winning and showing good football away from home against strong teams was in early autumn of 2011. They have lots of trouble even against mediocre sides like Stoke and Sunderland. 4. City's European performance: they might have been crowned as kings of Premiership, but their lack of Eurofootball experience is evident in their under-performance last year in both CL and Europa League. They have lost two of their three away games in the group stage (defeated with ease by Bayern in Munich; and outplayed by Napoli), and only won against relegated Villareal. I go for the -1 AH because I think it is very likely that Real will win with a margin, and the price differential between clean victory and this handicap is worthy.

[pg_yid]

Re: Champions League > September 18th

Dinamo - Porto Dinamo Zagreb were the worst team last year in CL. This season, I had the chances to watch 5 out of their 6 qualifying games in CL because I had bets on them, and I don't think that Dinamo has improved much and that they meet Champions League football standards. They were lucky to play relatively weak and inexperienced sides, but they still were just about to get kicked out by Ludogorets in the first round, when they have been kissed and hugged by fortune. Porto lost Hulk, but they are still a very classy side and a number one favorite to win the title in Portugal. They have very capable midfield, directed by Joao Moutino. They play possession football and have vastly rich European experience. They are pretty much aware that their contenders will be PSG and Kyiv, so they must get 6 points against the group outsider Dinamo Zagreb. Porto 1.92

I remember backing against Dinamo Zagreb a few times in the CL last year; they looked completely out of their depth. I think part of the problem is their domestic league is too easy for them and they're not used to playing games of this calibre. They may have improved for all I know, but I will have a small bet on Porto here. You're right in that Porto should go for the win as 6 points from the two games against Dinamo Zagreb are crucial.

[Atko]

Re: Champions League > September 18th

I hope it isn't too! :lol..The Bradford bet was based on first hand knowledge of how bad Barnet are, I'm caught between not leaving myself overexposed in this one (which I probably now am) and not wanting to miss out on what looks on paper like a great opportunity, the sensible thing would probably have been to have left it at the DNB I originally placed. The qualifiers were good to me so I can take the hit, but thats not really the point, Arsenal just look too big to me and its tempted me to be a bit more adventurous.

Plenty of Arsenal fans seem to be calling for rotation of the squad considering they have City at the weekend, that is somewhat arrogant imo and this is a CL game not a pre-season friendly. Failure to qualify can have major economic consequences and why would you start rotating the squad in the first qualifying game!? Look at Man Utd last season, I think they were 1.1 to qualify from their group but start off with a couple of draws and you can be struggling, City have R.Madrid away the same day so I can't see Wenger doing much rotation. Diaby could have played against Southampton according to Wenger so he might come in for Coquelin, they will certainly want Diaby back for the City game but other than that I can't see him changing much. Podolski is finding his feet and Gervinho seems to be making up for lost time, guess Walcott might come in for Chamberlain. I would expect him to try and keep a tight looking defence together though as I don't think any CL game is easy. If Atko (or any other French football follower) could give a brief analysis of Montpellier it would be useful, obviously Giroud was the main man for them last year but most of the rest of the team seems intact, why have they started the season so poorly?

Interesting reading everyone's thoughts on the Montpellier match. I never place extensive bets on non-domestic matches, mainly because of time it takes to research them all, but here's a snapshot on Montpellier. What to make of MHSC? In all honesty, I think you'll see one of the weakest CL teams for some time. If ever one team was spearheaded by a one player, then this is it. Olivier Giroud was the focal point for all things good about MHSC last season. It wasn't just his goals, it was the way he held the ball up, dragged defenders out of position and even the way he defended, from the front or from set-pieces. He was their talisman and it's been a huge blow to Rene Girard's side to have him absent. Emmanuel Herrera, who was a free-scoring striker in Chile last season, is Giroud's replacement. Now, it's too early to make concrete judgements on Herrera, but from what I've seen, he's no Giroud. Rather than a complete forward, he's more of a poacher. He likes to play on the shoulder of the defender and is a good finisher, composed and accurate. But he has yet to link up play with Younes Belhanda or Remi Cabella, the two boys that normally play in the hole (MHSC play 4-2-3-1). That's made them a lot more disjointed and less potent. Unsurprisingly, they have yet to find an adequate replacement for Giroud. I wouldn't read too much into Friday's defeat at Reims. They rested Mapou Yanga Mbiwa and they sorely missed him. He's a good defender. Positionally sound and very athletic. Damien Congre will move back to full-back to accommodate Yanga-Mbiwa in the centre. They are still vulnerable, but not as much as they were on Friday. MHSC very rarely sell out the Mosson but I imagine it'll be a hot atmosphere come Tuesday night. Montpellier's players aren't used to the big stage and I do feel they are already cracking under the weight of expectation this season, so there could be some CL nerves. Their midfield is the strongest part of the team - Belhanda's very skillful in the hole, Anthony Mounier is a quick winger and Marco Estrada pull the strings from deep - but I reckon they are far from fit to make a tangible impact on this competition. As I said before, I only seriously bet on the domestic matches, but it would be a surprise to me if Arsenal don't leave the Mosson with some sort of result. Whether that's one point or three, I'm not totally sure, but I'd be surprised if Montpellier win this. I just don't think they're (a) good enough and (b) in decent enough form to do so. PS: It's worth pointing this out - Montpellier have only won one match this season, and that was away at Sochaux, one of the poorer teams in the league. They drew with Toulouse 1-1 at home and lost 1-0 at home to Marseille, and on the road have defeated Sochaux 3-1 but they also lost 3-1 at Reims and 2-1 at Lorient.

[Fedar]

Re: Champions League > September 18th

I remember backing against Dinamo Zagreb a few times in the CL last year; they looked completely out of their depth. I think part of the problem is their domestic league is too easy for them and they're not used to playing games of this calibre. They may have improved for all I know' date=' but I will have a small bet on Porto here. You're right in that Porto should go for the win as 6 points from the two games against Dinamo Zagreb are crucial.[/quote'] Also another thing - as I bet on the Portuguese league, I noticed that Porto would have difficulties against teams who "park the bus", but not against teams who play open football, even if the latter are stronger than the former. Dinamo concedes goals in nearly every game. They generally don't defend and look for goals. I would be more reserved about such bet if Porto were playing, say, AEL Limassol with their good defending, rather than Dinamo, who will give them lots of space.

[Mustafa]

Re: Champions League > September 18th Olympiacos - Schalke Both sides play open football and recent results in their respective domestic leagues prove that. Olympiacos played 3 games so far with which produced 10 goals. Schalke played 4 games (including 1 cup game) which produced 15 goals. Another interesting fact is that in 6 of Olympiacos home competitive fixtures against German sides there were 29 goals. Almost 5 goals per game on average. So, I will follow the stats and history here and go for goals. Over 3.5 Goals @ 4.00 (1 unit) William Hill

[McNasara]

Re: Champions League > September 18th

Personally from experience when looking at the champions league I always say to stay away from short prices favourites, and I tend to work on the basis that league form is often not very relevant. The CL and an individual league are often two very different kettles of fish. I won't profess to know too much about any other league than the English league's, but initially I'd have said anderlecht and Ajax are overpriced. I think both have goals in them, so I don't see much to warrant 7s for either. I agree as well that arsenal may represent some value. Montpellier are new to this level, while arsenal are seemingly playing well now and are huge veterans at CL level.

Absolutely agree with the first part. Odds should be higher for home win in Paris, Milan and Madrid IMO. On the other hand, Ajax is much weaker defensively than last year and Borussia have a great offensive especially in front of their fans. Anyway, it will be one of the most interesting games tomorrow night. Tbh I very rare bet on the CL matches (prefers live betting), but if I find some value, I'm here tomorrow.

[BigJoro]

Re: Champions League > September 18th Certainly there will be a big surprise this year too. I`m still not sure which team will make the big surprise, but Shakhtar Donetsk are really ambitious this year.

[sajtion]

Re: Champions League > September 18th one thing about dinamo zagreb is they can be really fierce and in your face type of opponents. they always fancy their chances when they play at home and very often with intent to score but the quality never shines through as they waste good created chances to score. they lack quality finisher in these types of games and it lets them down. one of their strong points is their team spirit which can hold out most teams better then them for majority of the match but once they concede they become demoralized and other teams can crash them in few minutes on counter attacks. i don't know if porto can do that but since its first game i'm predicting... dinamo zagre v porto draw

[Kiddo112]

Re: Champions League > September 18th As far as I know our friend Cuneyt Cakir isn't in action in the CL this week. Was hoping he would get the Real Madrid v Man City game. But may have an interest in bookings in the game anyway. The man in the middle is Damir Skomina from Slovenia. His record in CL & EL games is 26 matches 123 yellow cards 10 red cards, That's an average make-up of 56.92 points per match. Last season, he took charge of 7 matches, and showed 36 yellows and 2 reds - an average make-up of 58.57 points. Another interesting fact is that he does seem to get his cards out early. The following are his stats for last season in Europe: [TABLE=width: 251]

[TR] [TD]Valencia v A Madrid 4Y 1R (38") 1/4[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Chelsea v Benfica 8Y 1R (19") 8/1[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Arsenal v Milan 6Y 0R (5") 3/3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Man Utd v Ajax 3Y 0R (29") 1/2[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Napoli v Man City 4Y 0R (54") 0/4[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Marseille v Arsenal 6Y 0R (4") 3/3[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Benfica v Man Utd 5Y 0R (27") 2/3 In brackets is the time of the first card. And the last numbers are the break-down of cards in the first half v cards in the second half. Man City picked up 4 yellows away at Bayern & Napoli last seaon. And with what is sure to be a keenly fought battle, they should be good for a few again. I expect a wounded Real Madrid to be chomping at the bit tomorrow night, and so an early card is distinctly possible. Bet365 have the cards at over/under 4.5. And so the 2.2 with Stan James on over 45 booking points is tempting me. Also the 1.83 on a card before 29:00 with Bet365 has my attention. Will sleep on it.[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

[sambo1983]

Re: Champions League > September 18th

I don't think Milan has a chance against Anderlecht. I mean' date=' they have been very bad lately and yesterday they lost against Atalanta. I will wait for more news, but I am considering Anderlecht in this game. But still, under consideration.[/quote'] Are you on drugs? Anderlecht's last outing in the CL saw them lose 2-1 to the mighty AEL of Cyprus. If you're confident mate, go for 6/1 at William Hill.

[sambo1983]

Re: Champions League > September 18th

After PSG's bad start of the season they have started to score some goals and with Ibra' date='Pastore and Menez this looks guaranted.I have watched some of their games against Lorient and Toulouse yesterday and i can say that they play much like Barca-passing the ball around using all width of the pitch.Possesion of the ball was about 65\35.Their main problem was scoring goals.PSH managed to create some good chances but couldn't score.That problem look already gone.Dinamo won against Borussia in Germany but in Kiev they were defeated.Ideye was the man of the match who scored in 88th minute which helped Kiev to be in the CL group stage.Dinamo lost their away game at Shakhtar which is the best team Dinamo have faced this season.PSG cannot afford not to win becase of the high expectation from the board as well as from the fans.There were some real cash spent this summer for transfers to guarantee 1 thing-goals.Kiev cannot make it in Paris.Double with Real Madrid.gl[/quote'] I like the look of PSG here. A strong squad, with some serious big game players and European experience in there (Ibrahimovic, Menez, Thiago Motta, Pastore et al) coming off the back of a good 2-0 win against Toulouse on friday. Kiev are a shadow of their old selves with Shevchenko and co, and lost their last away game 3-1 at Shakhtar....they're also prone to be over-awed by this kind of occasion. I'm gonna take a punt with William Hill at 7/10 on the Parisians.

[sasik]

Re: Champions League > September 18th Malaga - Zenit BTTS Defence of Zenit don't look so powerful as attack/middlefield and i believe Malaga will have chances to score. Zenit must score with so much options in attack and after not scoring at home in last RPL game... i think this is the best option. Anyone else has better pick?

[fauxy100]

Re: Champions League > September 18th Fancy Arsenal tonight - seems that the odds have come in quite a bit already. I got 2.2 on Betfair last night, and they're almost down to 2.1 this morning. I see them strating the game at about evens. Montpellier currently sitting in 15th - one win and one draw from 5 games. They have only kept one clean sheet so far. Compare this to the Gunners one goal conceeded, they seem one of the stand out bets of the round at odds against. With Arsenals seemingly solid foundation and quick front men to counter, I think this game will finish 2-0 or 2-1 to the Gunners. I'm staying away from the City game, but if anyone fancies a double tonight I heard on Talksport this morning that Betfred are offering 12-1 on the Arsenal City double.

[McNasara]

Re: Champions League > September 18th

Can anyone offer some analysis on Anderlecht please? I know nothing about them, but my gut says that there may be something there on the +1 (AH) line. I'll offer my opinion on Milan going into this match. They are in a very dark place right now. League form and CL results are perhaps not always related, but I think it is relevant to the state Milan are in at the moment. They have issues right through the club, but the focus point right now, is what we are seeing on the pitch. Milan are slow, lethargic and one-dimensional. The full-backs cannot offer enough to compensate the dull three man midfield and Boateng is not good enough to shoulder the creative burden. They have been seeing a lot of possession in their matches, but struggle to use it effectively. They also have a fairly average defence that is vulnerable to counter-attacks. There are a couple of personnel questions to be answered, mainly around Montolivo. He is a creative player who would help in the midfield. If Anderlecht have the capacity to counter-attack effectively then I will play them on the positive line. If their threat is going to be limited, then I would be more interested in the under 2.5 line. I would probably have a strong enough lack of faith in Milan to fade them anyway, but I would appreciate some insight into Anderlecht.

They hardly eliminated Cyprus AEL and have three consecutive draws in domestic league. The best player Suarez (fw) is long term injured and another regular striker Jovanovic is suspended. Their new coach van den Brom came from Vitesse this summer and he has no international experience. Otherwise Anderlecht have appeared 14 times in Italy and didn't win any of them. Full back Odoi is still injured, but key striker and topscorer Mbokani is back, as well as Kouyate (reg df). I don't expect a bunker from them, but rather often counter attacks. On the other hand, everyone knows that Milan lost most experienced and best players (Seedorf, Van Bommel, Inzaghi, Gattuso, Nesta, Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic), while Montolivo, Pato, Robinho, Strasser and Muntari are injured, so it is not surprising their poor start of the season. More important match for Milan, but their odds are unacceptable to me. I can see that guests score one goal from a counter attack so I took a small bet this morning. BTS @2.25 Boylesports low stake

[Roc-Jarr]

Re: Champions League > September 18th Anytime goalscorers: Blaszcykowski @ 3.0 Paddypower Scored in 3 of 4 games for Dortmund (League & Cup), including the last two league matches; and in both qualifying games for Poland (penalties). = scored in 5 of 6 official matches this season Hulk @ 3.0 Bet365 He played only 45 minutes against Grozny, but he is expected to start today. It's a new team but his individual qualtiy is too high for odds around 3.0, should be around 2.7/2.8 in my eyes. He scored in his last two games for Porto and in his last two games for Brazil. Huntelaar @ 2.6 Paddypower Scored in 2 of 3 games for Schalke (only league), didn't score in the last match. Scored in the qualifying match vs Hungary for Oranje. = scored in 3 of 4 official matches this season (and in the friendly vs Belgium) First to score for their team: Ibrahimovic @ 3.25 Paddypower Paris rely heavily on Ibra, he scored 5 of their 6 season goals. In 2 of the 3 games, in which they scored, he was the first to score for them.

[RedDevil92]

Re: Champions League > September 18th Dortmund should do less mistakes than last year knowing they are in the toughest grou of them all. THey look to be in good shape, they outplayed Leverkusen and won fully deserved with 3-0 against them. Finally Lewandowski scored in that match and should be in a better mood now. Ajax on the other hand lost 3 important players with Anita, Vertonghen and van der Wiel leaving the club in the summer. Furthermore they have a big absentee list. Squad wise they haven't done any improvement and I definitely see Dortmund winning this one. THe question is just with how many goals they will win it. I can see a 2-0 happening here. GL

[ohpleasemrli]

Re: Champions League > September 18th Hey guys, has anyone considered whetherMontpellier could sit back and defend for a draw? Away games could always be very cagey and if Arsenal does not grab the early goal, it would be hard to break them down if they park the bus in front of goal.

[RedDevil92]

Re: Champions League > September 18th Paris didn't play that well having in mind they have bought so many good players. Up front, they heavily rely on Ibrahimovic's goals. But Kiew is bad at all to me (compared to the team a few years ago). I saw both matches against M'gladbach in the qualifiers and they were really lucky as Gladbach was too inexperienced and had a unlucky half an hour where they lost the chance to go through. I see a victory from PSG if they don't do too many mistakes and as long Ibra scores.

[Mustafa]

Re: Champions League > September 18th B.Dortmund - Ajax I don't know much about either team since I don't follow German Bundesliga or Dutch Eredivisie, so won't place any regular bets here and will focus on the cards market instead. The referee for this game is Italian Paolo Tagliavento who is known for showing cards. In the last 5 games he was in charge of he showed at least 4 cards in each game. However, in the games where he showed less than 5 cards he showed at least 1 red card. Over 3.5 Cards @ 1.66 (5 units) Bet365

[RafasBallBag]

Re: Champions League > September 18th Think there is some good money to be made this evening, I'm instantly drawn to PSG, at home and back in the Champions League, littered with attacking quality in Ibra, Levezzi, Pastore to name a few, home win. Second in my treble will be Real Madrid to beat Man City, Real know that this will be a must win game, they will not want to be chasing points in this group in the latter stages so will be hell bent on making a statement tonight Alonso and Khedria to control the pace of the match and let the vast array of attacking talent win the game in Ronaldo, Ozil, Di Maria, Benzema, Higuain, Marcelo. Can see a really uncomfortable evening for City tonight who have leaked goals all season. Lastly I'm going for over 2.5 goals in the Dortmund vs Ajax game, both teams score goals on a regular occasion and I think personally that they'll both see this one as a chance to get a win on the board, meaning goals. Sure fire treble for me PSG 4/6 Real Madrid 4/6 Dortmund vs Ajax over 2.5 goals 4/7 Treble: £40 returns £174.60 on Paddypower

[AaronFern]

Re: Champions League > September 18th

Think there is some good money to be made this evening, I'm instantly drawn to PSG, at home and back in the Champions League, littered with attacking quality in Ibra, Levezzi, Pastore to name a few, home win. Second in my treble will be Real Madrid to beat Man City, Real know that this will be a must win game, they will not want to be chasing points in this group in the latter stages so will be hell bent on making a statement tonight Alonso and Khedria to control the pace of the match and let the vast array of attacking talent win the game in Ronaldo, Ozil, Di Maria, Benzema, Higuain, Marcelo. Can see a really uncomfortable evening for City tonight who have leaked goals all season. Lastly I'm going for over 2.5 goals in the Dortmund vs Ajax game, both teams score goals on a regular occasion and I think personally that they'll both see this one as a chance to get a win on the board, meaning goals. Sure fire treble for me PSG 4/6 Real Madrid 4/6 Dortmund vs Ajax over 2.5 goals 4/7 Treble: £40 returns £174.60 on Paddypower

Really like that one! I went for a similar one due to your post. Instead both teams to score rather than over 2.5. Good shout

[RedDevil92]

Re: Champions League > September 18th

B.Dortmund - Ajax I don't know much about either team since I don't follow German Bundesliga or Dutch Eredivisie, so won't place any regular bets here and will focus on the cards market instead. The referee for this game is Italian Paolo Tagliavento who is known for showing cards. In the last 5 games he was in charge of he showed at least 4 cards in each game. However, in the games where he showed less than 5 cards he showed at least 1 red card. Over 3.5 Cards @ 1.66 (5 units) Bet365

Dortmund is a fair team, so I would be carefully with this bet. I cannot say much about Ajax but Dortmund normally gets less cards at all.

[NumZie]

Re: Champions League > September 18th I don't fancy Real at these odds. Yes, they normally do well in CL @ home. Yes, City hasn't shown much away from home in Europe. But still - City has a class team - and around 1,67 on Real looks way to low to me. If any value, I would prefer City AH -1 @ 2,00 with bet365. I'm tempted at Dortmund -1,5 @ 2,12 Scandic Bookmakers. They look rock solid and with a very enthusiastic crowd in the back. Ajax normally an average CL team would have a hard time with the pressure from the Germans. Dortmund had a terrible CL season last season - but this should help them off to a better start this season. However I'm not yet convinced that the odds is high enough.

[ThusPrider]

Re: Champions League > September 18th The only match I dare to comment something about is probably Real Madrid vs Man City. What a fixture to relish for everyone. I'll be watching the whole match tonight as the main match, so will probably stick a bigger bet on and do a little more research. Also I feel I know more about these two big teams to feel more confident to give out some opinions. The only full matches I saw Real Madrid play this season were the El Clasicos. I remember thinking along with a lot of football fans, this match is on a different level altogether and cannot be compared. So many incidents, drama, quality goals and an open and entertaining match, especially in the second leg. I still have to stick in a minor rant on how it finished under 3.5 goals/4.5 goals respectively in that game, but I'll restrict it to one sentence. Neither team made a great start to their respective domestic seasons, especially Real Madrid. Though domestic form and results may feel less relevant in the Champions League, it has to have a degree of significance. This is a fixture to relish as well for both teams, especially Manchester City. They will want to prove that they are amongst the Europe's elite in this competition. I remember Manchester City being eliminated from this competition at this stage last season, after being put in a similar tough group. Ultimately I feel Manchester City have what it takes to cause an upset. I think Real Madrid's price is fair enough, though I'd never back it at those odds or take the handicap. Backing the Man City side will give much better odds and I feel will give a good evenings entertainment.

[BetMan.UA]

Re: Champions League > September 18th Dinamo Zagreb v Porto Dynamo is very weak in attack. Looked some matches, the good forward isn't present, defend is simply absent as the fact. Porto will score first and will standing in defense. Class of teams is strongly different. Portuguese well know as to play against such opponents. Dinamo Zagreb v Porto - Porto @ 1.95 Risky bet - Porto Win and Under 2.5 Goals @ 3.75 (0-1) Montpellier v Arsenal I do not see any chance for Montpellier in this match. I don`t believe that they can score a goal at least. BIG stake - Draw No Bet Arsenal @ 1.53 Risky bet - Arsenal Win and Under 2.5 Goals @ 4.00 (0-2) Malaga v Zenit Zenith lost to Terek last match – a good sign of a victory in this match. 4 players don't go to Spain, but in any case guests is much stronger. In RPL there is no equal team to them, they will be first, and that’s why they will give all forces to League. Zenit Or Draw @ 1.61 (1-1 or 1-2) Real Madrid v Man City - Man City +1 goal @ 2.30

[pinko_rp]

Re: Champions League > September 18th

Agree with the Arsenal bet, they have started surprisingly well this season, look solid at the back and will always create chances. I know little to nothing about Montpellier, and can only go off stats but as you say they haven't started the season well. Arsenal will likely dominate possession, and they have plenty of pace and creative players. I have been burnt before with big early round bets on seemingly certain winners in the CL and EL and this is far from that, to be honest I need draw cover to back this with confidence but at 1.67 I think its a solid price and one thats likely to drop in the next few days. Arsenal DNB - 1.67 - coral - 10 Points

Other interesting bet for this match that I made at skybet is Arsenal to win Either half. Odds are almost the same - 1.61. For the first time in many years Gunners show good game in defence - conceding just once in 4 matches. On other hand Montpellier started awful, and not only their results, but the game they play sucks.