Champions League » Sep 29

[akcaig]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

Anyone got any info on Olympiakos?

Smooth Jimmy, Olympiakos have played three games in the last week using a total of 13 players. Their best player is Argentinian playmaker Luciano Galletti - he is injured and is doubtful for this match. The main striker Diogo has been inconsistent and off-colour this season, and the team is struggling to create chances and generally fades after the first half, allowing fitter teams to punish them. In their win against Panionios in the Greek league, they took the league and then took a battering from Panionios in the second half who should have really equalised. The real threat will be from Torisidis the attacking wing back - he is of great quality with dribbling and heading on corners so Arsenal needs to pay attention. Summary: Arsenal - fast, technically gifted and relentless, but prone to errors under pressure in the midfield (Diaby, lol) Olympiakos - exhausted, poorly conditioned, inability to press forward - this time likes to score one goal and kill it off - but its not going to work against Arsenal, who loves this kind of team exactly - it allows Arsenal to just sit in their half and pepper their goal. Don't underestimate Olympiakos of course - they still have some great players, but I think a confident and on-form Arsenal, who have finally kept a clean sheet in the last match, can take something great from this match.

[HERO]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

Lets keep things in perspective. The five teams that Liverpool have beaten all languish in the bottom half of the Premier table and two of them are firmly in the relegation zone.

In seria A Fiorentina played teams like livorno,cagliari,bologna,palermo etc. They won over sampdoria though, but lyon and roma were losses. Their last match was against Livorno, Jovetic managed to score a goal for Fiorentina in the 76 minute, basicly not a great performance on fiorentina's side against the bottom team on the list. (have to be honest have not seen the match, this result could be due to the shitty italian football style) Fiorentina played Sporting Lisbon in Florence on 26-08-2009 (champions league) , score 1-1. Liverpool has won their last 6 matches, Fiorentina won 4 out of their last 6 and lost 2. The last time liverpool played in italy (2008), was against Inter Milan. Match ended in 0-1, (fernando torres). Torres is in form and hopefully eager to score in this one. Fiorentina will be without gilardino, important players; mutu and jovetic Liverpool will be without mascherano/benayoun, important players; torres, gerrard , (kuyt?). Could end in a draw, but i am leaning towards a win for liverpool.

[willemedkniven]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 Now that you´re mentioning Liverpool and Fernando Torres... 2,5 times the money on Torres to score (Betfair). I put some money on it!

[ReasonableGuy]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

Event	Alkmaar - Standard Liege
Selection	St. Liege
Strength	10/10
Date	29/09/2009
Bookmaker/Price	William Hill @ 4.80 (Back)
Reasoning	Standard Liege looks to me like a much more experienced team in such matches. They were solid last year and they had a good display for a short period of time in the first match of the group against Arsenal. Alkmaar lost to Olympiacos and they aren't playing very good in domestic matches either. I think St Liege must take the points here. They should have got more from the home match against Arsenal. They were stupid at that point but won't repeat it again.

[ReasonableGuy]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

Event	Unirea Urziceni - Stuttgart
Selection	Unirea (0) (Asian Handicap)
Strength	10/10
Date	29/09/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Nordicbet @ 2.95 (Back)
Reasoning	Unirea Urziceni is strong this season. They kept the coach the player and much of the staff generally. They were strong to Sevilla too and I think Sevilla is much stronger than Stuttgart. Sevilla won a bit luckily and due to individual very good performance of Renato. Stuttgart has no strong individualities and as a team Unirea is better than them. I think Unirea plans to get at least a point here and that wouldn't be much of a challenge. Stuttgart will probably underestimate them as always. And they need to get points from Glasgow and Stuttgart. Maybe they will try more to eliminate Glasgow and get for Uefa but still they can use a draw at home against Stuttgart.

[Simon]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 Rubin Kazan 6 SIBAYA Macbeth M ** 15.9 SUSPENDED - / 1 Rubin Kazan 5 BYSTROV Petr M * 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Inter Milan 10 SNEIJDER Wesley M *** 28.9 INJURED 1 / 1 Inter Milan 8 MOTTA Thiago M ** 28.9 INJURED 1 / 1 Inter Milan 18 SUAZO David F * 28.9 INJURED - / 1 Inter Milan 23 MATERAZZI Marco D * 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Arsenal 8 NASRI Samir M *** 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Arsenal 1 ALMUNIA Manuel GK ** 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Arsenal 14 WALCOTT Theo F ** 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Arsenal 15 DENILSON M ** 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Arsenal 20 DJOUROU Johan D * 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Arsenal 21 FABIAŃSKI Łukasz GK * 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Arsenal 52 BENDTNER Nicklas F * 28.9 INJURED 1 / 1 Olympiacos 7 GALLETTI Luciano F *** 28.9 INJURED - / 1 Olympiacos 25 MARESCA Enzo M ** 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Olympiacos 9 DERBYSHIRE Matt F * 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Olympiacos 31 SOILEDIS Aristidis F - 15.9 INJURED - / 1 AZ Alkmaar - Standard Liege 8 DEFOUR Steven (cpt) M *** 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Standard Liege 9 MBOKANI Dieudonné F *** 28.9 QUESTIONABLE 1 / 1 Standard Liege 6 COLLET Cédric M ** 28.9 INJURED - / 1 Standard Liege 3 RAMOS Victor D * 28.9 INJURED - / 1 Barcelona 14 HENRY Thierry F ** 28.9 INJURED 1 / 1 Barcelona 11 KRKIĆ Bojan F * 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Barcelona 18 MILITO Gabriel D * 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Dynamo Kyiv 17 MIKHALIK Taras M *** 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Dynamo Kyiv 26 NESMACHNIY Andriy D ** 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Dynamo Kyiv 30 EL KADDOURI Badr M ** 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Dynamo Kyiv 22 KRAVETS Artem F * 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Dynamo Kyiv 55 RYBKA Olexandr GK - 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Debreceni 10 BODNÁR László D *** 28.9 INJURED 1 / 1 Debreceni 14 RUDOLF Gergely F *** 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Debreceni 25 SZÉLESI Zoltán M ** 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Debreceni 11 FECZESIN Róbert F * 28.9 INJURED - / 1 Debreceni 12 PANTIĆ Djordje GK * 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Lyon 9 LISANDRO Lopez F *** 28.9 INJURED 1 / 1 Lyon 7 BASTOS Michel M ** 28.9 INJURED 1 / 1 Lyon 10 EDERSON M ** 28.9 QUESTIONABLE - / 1 Lyon 4 BOUMSONG Jean-Alain D * 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Lyon 19 DELGADO César M * 28.9 INJURED - / 1 Lyon 23 ANDERSON D * 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Fiorentina 11 GILARDINO Alberto SC *** 28.9 SUSPENDED 1 / 1 Fiorentina 25 COMOTTO Gianluca DR ** 28.9 INJURED 1 / 1 Fiorentina 9 CASTILLO José Ignacio F * 28.9 QUESTIONABLE - / 1 Fiorentina 24 SANTANA Mario M * 28.9 INJURED - / 1 Liverpool 20 MASCHERANO Javier M *** 28.9 INJURED - / 1 Liverpool 4 AQUILANI Alberto M ** 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Liverpool 5 AGGER Daniel D ** 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Liverpool 15 BENAYOUN Yossi M ** 28.9 INJURED 1 / 1 Rangers 5 PAPAC SaÅ¡a D *** 28.9 QUESTIONABLE 1 / 1 Rangers 7 DAVIS Steven M ** 28.9 QUESTIONABLE 1 / 1 Rangers 2 EDU Maurice M * 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Rangers 21 BROADFOOT Kirk D * 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Rangers 27 LAFFERTY Kyle F * 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Sevilla 22 ROMARIC Ndri M ** 15.9 QUESTIONABLE - / 1 Sevilla 2 FAZIO Federico D * 28.9 INJURED - / 1 Sevilla 5 DUSCHER Aldo M * 28.9 INJURED - / 1 Sevilla 20 DE MUL Tom M * 28.9 INJURED - / 1 Sevilla 25 PEROTTI Diego M * 28.9 INJURED - / 1 Unirea Urziceni 32 APOSTOL Iulian M ** 28.9 INJURED 1 / 1 Stuttgart 23 HLEB Aleksandr M *** 28.9 INJURED 1 / 1 Stuttgart 21 MAGNIN Ludovic D ** 15.9 INJURED - / 1 Stuttgart 7 LANIG Martin M * 28.9 INJURED - / 1 Explanation of stars (*) after the player names. There are four different categories and they describe the importance of the player. Higher the importance, bigger the effect on estimations. *** = Irreplaceable Key Player, high importance ** = A starting XI player or an often used rotation player, medium importance * = Rotation player, small importance - = A youngster or a very rarely used player, no importance Numbers at the end (for example 5 / 15) refer to how many times the player has been in the starting line-up during the season.

[TurnA]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 Standard Liege at 4/1 is a GREAT bet. They had key players missing when they played Arsenal and was unlucky not to at least get a draw. Sevilla 10/11 is also value for money, they're on a great run and although Rangers are at home, I still think Sevilla will be too strong for them. Barcelona doesn't really give any value at 1/8 but just boosts this treble up slightly. £10 returns £107.39 with Ladbrokes

[Mahno]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

In seria A Fiorentina played teams like livorno,cagliari,bologna,palermo etc. They won over sampdoria though, but lyon and roma were losses. Their last match was against Livorno, Jovetic managed to score a goal for Fiorentina in the 76 minute, basicly not a great performance on fiorentina's side against the bottom team on the list. (have to be honest have not seen the match, this result could be due to the shitty italian football style) Fiorentina played Sporting Lisbon in Florence on 26-08-2009 (champions league) , score 1-1. Liverpool has won their last 6 matches, Fiorentina won 4 out of their last 6 and lost 2. The last time liverpool played in italy (2008), was against Inter Milan. Match ended in 0-1, (fernando torres). Torres is in form and hopefully eager to score in this one. Fiorentina will be without gilardino, important players; mutu and jovetic Liverpool will be without mascherano/benayoun, important players; torres, gerrard , (kuyt?). Could end in a draw, but i am leaning towards a win for liverpool.

Agree with you mate.Liverpool should have too much for Fiorentina.I'm not saying Fiora is crap,they look ok but don't really look sharp at attack.Liverpool have much better quality players and i don't think even home ground will save Fiora tonight.

[i_like_punts]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 Fiorentina or Draw 10/11 on PaddyPower is a good price imo. I don't think Liverpool have been ultra convincing despite scoring for fun this season. You have to remember they've played Hull, Burnley and Stoke at home, while being humbled by Villa and at Spurs. Yes they still have Gerrard and Torres who can create out of nothing so Liverpool shouldnt be completely discounted. However I feel without one of their better players this season (Benayoun) and the heart of their team (Mascharano) Liverpool could be got at. I dont know that much about Fiorentina but know they're sitting 3rd in Seria A with 4 wins and 1 draw this term. They would want to put on a show against English opposition and would no doubt be up for it. I think just under evens for a home win/draw is a good price and I've included it in some doubles. Arsenal -1 (8/13) or -2 (9/5 again with PP) are also good prices. Greek teams tend to be technically sound, lacking bite in midfield and defensively poor. So in other terms, they'll play right into Arsenal's hands. They'll go to play football and be outclassed by a superior footballing team. Early Champions league fixtures at home are exactly the type of games Arsenal stroll with a few goals to boot. I also think, for the above reasons, there'll be over 2.5 goals (8/13 with PP) in this and that why I've doubled it up with there being over 2.5 in the Barca - Kyev game. Barca have an abundance of talent/goalscorers and their home games this terms have all yielded more than that number of goals so simple call for me. Another pick for me is Chelsea -1 (5/6 PP). They've just been beaten by a poor Wigan team and I dont think Ancelotti is the type to stand for such lacklusture performances. He'll want to nip any parallels to Scolari's tenure in the bud asap and that's why I think they'll come good. Good luck all.

[Toronto_Mike]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

Fiorentina or Draw 10/11 on PaddyPower is a good price imo. I don't think Liverpool have been ultra convincing despite scoring for fun this season. You have to remember they've played Hull' date=' Burnley and Stoke at home, while being humbled by Villa and at Spurs. Yes they still have Gerrard and Torres who can create out of nothing so Liverpool shouldnt be completely discounted. However I feel without one of their better players this season (Benayoun) and the heart of their team (Mascharano) Liverpool could be got at. [b']I dont know that much about Fiorentina but know they're sitting 3rd in Seria A with 4 wins and 1 draw this term. They would want to put on a show against English opposition and would no doubt be up for it. I think just under evens for a home win/draw is a good price and I've included it in some doubles. Arsenal -1 (8/13) or -2 (9/5 again with PP) are also good prices. Greek teams tend to be technically sound, lacking bite in midfield and defensively poor. So in other terms, they'll play right into Arsenal's hands. They'll go to play football and be outclassed by a superior footballing team. Early Champions league fixtures at home are exactly the type of games Arsenal stroll with a few goals to boot. I also think, for the above reasons, there'll be over 2.5 goals (8/13 with PP) in this and that why I've doubled it up with there being over 2.5 in the Barca - Kyev game. Barca have an abundance of talent/goalscorers and their home games this terms have all yielded more than that number of goals so simple call for me. Another pick for me is Chelsea -1 (5/6 PP). They've just been beaten by a poor Wigan team and I dont think Ancelotti is the type to stand for such lacklusture performances. He'll want to nip any parallels to Scolari's tenure in the bud asap and that's why I think they'll come good. Good luck all.

If your analysis on Pool is what it is, then so is the same for Viola. They have only played one convincing game which was a 2-0 vs Sampdoria. Other than that, they have looked horrendous. Their midfield is not convincing, the attack is terrible in the air, the flow of the game is all over. They lack any sort of toughness in the midfield. I do agree that Pool have yet to win against a half decent side this season and well they finally play their first true challenge in the EPL season at Stamford Bridge this weekend. You ain't always going to get Pool at this price vs a mediocore side.

[i_like_punts]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

If your analysis on Pool is what it is, then so is the same for Viola. They have only played one convincing game which was a 2-0 vs Sampdoria. Other than that, they have looked horrendous. Their midfield is not convincing, the attack is terrible in the air, the flow of the game is all over. They lack any sort of toughness in the midfield. I do agree that Pool have yet to win against a half decent side this season and well they finally play their first true challenge in the EPL season at Stamford Bridge this weekend. You ain't always going to get Pool at this price vs a mediocore side.

Well hopefully today's the day Viola and Mutu turn it around then :ok :cow

[akcaig]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 Barcelona v Dynamo Kyiv Barcelona to win. It might seem like a no-brainer, but on other forums many punters have raised the issue of Barcelona's record against Ukrainian teams last season (Shakhtar). People point to the defeat of Barcelona by Shakhtar and also how they struggled to break down Shakhtar again in August. Two factors here; 1. Barcelona played a reserve team against a full strength, well-motivated Shakhtar, and of course mistakes are going to be made when the coach has told the kids 'go out and have fun, do your best, but we've already qualified', but they still managed to score twice, despite losing. 2. In August, Shakhtar's season had already been under way for a few rounds and so match fitness was much higher, plus the pitch was terrible and Barca couldn't play the normal slick technical football. But look, they still won didn't they? In my opinion, and my experience of European football for the past ten years, Barcelona are not a team that makes the same mistake twice, even though personally I'm not a fan, I have to give them that. And Guardiola is a gifted coach - he won everything in his first season as a manager and the players respect him. He will take this match very seriously - and remember, he was in the Barca team that got thrashed by Kyiv in 1997 - he won't want that to happen again. The great Dynamo of Lobanowsky, Rebrov, Luzhniy, and Shevchenko is long gone. Shevchenko himself is doubtful for this game. Of course Dynamo have to be respected. But so does Barcelona. They dropped points against Inter that they should have won (I'm an Inter fan, by the way, for many years), and they won't be happy about that. This is the home opener, the Nou Camp will be packed to the rafters, many people will remember the Kyiv game and want to see a big change. Sure no Henry is playing but Iniesta is back in the team and in my opinion might even be more valuable at unlocking a solid Dynamo defence. Ibrahimovic is motivated to prove his critics wrong that he cannot play well in the Champions League. And nothing needs to be said about Messi, its Messi #10. Barca look solid in midfield with the two destroyers Keita and Toure and the brilliant Xavi, and the backline looks great, Alves and Abidal returning to form, Puyol ever-present and Pique improving with every match, and Valdez not looking shaky. And don't forget 100,000 raucous home fans. Barca will cover the -1 handicap. I am not much of a risk taker but this one I will take. My 2cents, for what it's worth. GL to all, whatever bets you choose.

[sajtion]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 my bet for this weeks champions league is this first goal scorers Filippo Inzaghi for milan with his experiance i expect him to play from the start Edin Dzeko is going to be higly motivated for this game i expect him to score first Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been consistant goal scorer recently so he is the obvious choice Cristiano Ronaldo same as above bet £10 and win about £10 000

[Flotschi]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 henry wont play against kiev...he has problems (is injured) with his adductors..

[Caveman]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 I don't rate Lyon stronger than Liverpool and Hungarian side "achieved" a respectable 0:1 away defeat against Merseysiders, I saw this match and was really surprised of their well organized defense and I am sure We will also see them doing well at home. If we futhermore take into consideration that Delgado, Boumsong, Bodmer, Anderson, Lisandro Lopez and Bastos will miss for this clash, it is obvious Lyon will probably play defensively 4-5-1 with Gomis as lonely wolf in front... Lyon is quite different team this year, with Juninhio & Benzema also their main offensive weapons are gone. They win their matches, but not like years before, when we saw even scoring them 4 goals away against Real Madrid And with half of their offensive section missing, I can't see a goalfest here, Lyon will probably nick it 1:0... Under 2,5 goals @ 2,15 188bet for me with medium stakes

[Smooth Jimmy]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

Smooth Jimmy, Olympiakos have played three games in the last week using a total of 13 players. Their best player is Argentinian playmaker Luciano Galletti - he is injured and is doubtful for this match. The main striker Diogo has been inconsistent and off-colour this season, and the team is struggling to create chances and generally fades after the first half, allowing fitter teams to punish them. In their win against Panionios in the Greek league, they took the league and then took a battering from Panionios in the second half who should have really equalised. The real threat will be from Torisidis the attacking wing back - he is of great quality with dribbling and heading on corners so Arsenal needs to pay attention. Summary: Arsenal - fast, technically gifted and relentless, but prone to errors under pressure in the midfield (Diaby, lol) Olympiakos - exhausted, poorly conditioned, inability to press forward - this time likes to score one goal and kill it off - but its not going to work against Arsenal, who loves this kind of team exactly - it allows Arsenal to just sit in their half and pepper their goal. Don't underestimate Olympiakos of course - they still have some great players, but I think a confident and on-form Arsenal, who have finally kept a clean sheet in the last match, can take something great from this match.

Good info :ok

Barcelona to win. It might seem like a no-brainer

These are the kind of bets that you use if you want to make money consistently in this game, so don't worry about it's percieved obviousness.

[Mugetsu]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 Im going to go for an away treble. Consisting of Liverpool, Inter Milan and Stuttgart. Liverpool, I feel are coming onto a game and goals are coming in from all areas of the pitch but most noticeably from their golden child Torres. I feel this will be a tight affair but Liverpool should just sneak it by the odd goal. Stuttgart played pretty well in the first half against Rangers and the game couldve gone either way in the second. Both teams probably felt hard done by the draw. The Stuttgart forward lines are very big and very powerful and this should be a good battle with the big strong Romanian defence. Stuttgart to again nick this one. Inter Milan are I feel a bargain at 4/6 with bet fair against the Russian Champions. Kazan are no mugs but I just feel Inter could do some damage in the CL this season and Jose wants some decent progress. Inter for a solid win methinks.

[blackcrow]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 Inter Milan -1.5 @ 2.94 (pinnacle) After their surprise loss to Sampdoria on the weekend, expect a bounce back from Inter here. Knowing Mourinho from his time at Chelsea, he rarely lost two games in a row and the side often came out and won the next game quite well as the players were made to feel they had let him down and they had to make up for it. Defensively they are quite solid at the back and doubt Rubin can score on them while Etoo and Milito are two very good forwards who are much better than what Kazan has ahd to face in their domestic league. The difference in class between these two teams will be very visible as Mourinho will expect, and demand, a response from his team to ensure they d not slip up again Liverpool @ 1.99 (pinnacle) The partnership between Torres and Gerrard continues to develop, and with the added influence of Kuyt and Benayoun, goals are starting to flow for the Reds. They generally tend to play well in Europe and like the look of them in their current form to beat Fiorentina as not mnay of the continental teams can match the speed of the English game. Fiorentina are not exactly in the best form and without their striker Gilardino who is suspended, while Mutu is struggling for goals, even though Liverpool have conceded more golas of late than usual, they should be able to keep a clean sheet here. Hard to see Fiorentina stopping Liverpool scoring as the speed and pressure they put on will either force mistakes from the home team or create an opening for one of them to score from. Arsenal -2.5 @ 2.66 (pinnacle) Arsenal continue to play some very good football and expect them to totally outplay Olympiacos at home as Fabregas, Arshavin and Rosicky in midfield should dominate and create for their strikers van Persie and Eduardo who have that presence around the goal to score from a half chance that comes their way. Can't see the Greeks being able to withstand the pace that Arsenal play at, and last year they were easily beaten by Chelsea 3-0, so expect Arsenal to achieve a similar scoreline here

[HERO]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

They have only played one convincing game which was a 2-0 vs Sampdoria.

QFT. Fiorentina had sucky opponents as , as soon as the level went up a bit higher (ROMA, LYON) they lose. And lately barely won over livorno. they needed penalty to score a goal. And had a red card cause livorno was pushing to hard. Like ^says the only good result is sampdoria.

[milan-tifosi]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 anyone's got any info on how important the players missing in the AZ - standard and the debrecen - lyon game are ? also info unirea's missing would be nice.

[akcaig]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

anyone's got any info on how important the players missing in the AZ - standard and the debrecen - lyon game are ? also info unirea's missing would be nice.

Hey mate, everything you have asked for is actually covered by people's comments in this thread so if you take a minute or two to read, you will find what you are looking for. Seriously, AZ-Standard, Debrecen-Lyon and Unirea-Stuttgart are all covered in some depth. To summarise for you, anyway; AZ-Standard = AZ playing bad, but at home and motivated. Standard playing well, but missing key player Defour. However did not really trouble them too much against Arsenal, despite loss. Debrecen-Lyon = Lyon in mixed form, and missing important forwards Bastos and Lisandro Lopez. But Gomis, other star forward, and Govou and rest of team ok to play. Lyon should probably win, but not by much. Unirea-Stuttgart = Stuttgart is missing Hleb. I don't know much about Unirea.

[dak]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 For Tuesday's matches: Rubin Kazan - Inter: Inter Win @ 1.77 (Betfair) 10/10 Kazan are ok, but Inter's roster is a class above and they arguably have one of the best coaches in football. Furthermore, Inter should be 100% focused given the draw with Barca. A slip from Inter here could spell trouble for qualification to the next round since CSSKA won against Rubin and is probably going to do the job against Besiktas. Kazan may score, but I think Inter will have more in them. Look for Inter to take it 1-2. Fiorentina - Liverpool: Liverpool Win @ 2.14 (Betfair) 10/10 I was initially wondering if Liverpool were short in this match, but further consideration tells me they should win. Fiorentina are doing ok in Serie A, but their opposition has been far inferior to Liverpool and tonight Gillardino is suspended which should really compromise their offense. Liverpool hasn't dropped points since August 29 (loss to Villa 1-3). They haven't been as convincing as some would expect, but they are doing the job. The 6-1 thrashing of Hull and Torres' three goals may also indicate that their scoring may have kicked in for good. I think it will be tight since Fiorentina will play as such and Liverpool won't necessarily take any huge risks. I expect a 0-1 win for Liverpool. Rangers - Seville: Seville Win @ 1.95 (Totesport) 10/10 Seville is on a 5 game unbeaten streak (4 Premiera and 1 CL match). The Rangers have stumbled with three draws in Scotland Premier. The hosts couldn't defeat Aberdeen over the weekend and I just can't understand how they are going to get anything against a top Spanish team that is faster and scores goals comfortably. In sum, the Rangers just don't have the depth in their squad to deal with a top team from a League that is light years better than the Scottish Premier. I think Seville will take care of business with a 0-2 score. Best of luck everyone :hope

[SpiritOf67]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

At first glance Standard Liege look a big price @ 5.3 on Betfair. AZ Alkmaar have been in poor form domestically losing their last 3 Eredivisie games and lost on matchday1 away to Olympiakos. Odds of 4/6 look too short on the home team and Standard had some impressive displays in Europe last season and were unfortunate in the nature of the goals conceded against Arsenal where they lost 3-2 after leading 2-0, even with some of their best players out. The Belgians are joint top of their domestic league and have a better record away from home where they are unbeaten and its only a short journey here to their neighbouring country. Also like the look of Porto @ 11/10 with PaddyPower. Atletico Madrid have had a dreadful start to La Liga and have yet to win a game. Off-field problems have affected the team on the park and they sit 3rd bottom and failed to beat Cypriot side Apoel Nicosia on matchday 1. They salvaged a draw away to Valencia yesterday evening with a late equalizer which may give them a boost but Porto come off the back of a morale boosting win themselves over Sporting Lisbon and played very well for large periods of the match at Stamford Bridge. Porto knocked Atletico out at the last 16 stage last year when both teams were on top of their game, with the visitors off form and low in confidence Porto will be confident of putting them to the sword once again. These two teams look like fighting it out for second spot and Porto will see this as a great chance to get their first win of the section at the Dragao. CSKA Moscow also appeal at 8/11 to get their first points on the board against a woefully out of form Besiktas side. The visitors have amassed just six points from six games and are well off the pace and sit 15 points behind leaders Fenerbahce. They will struggle away from their home cauldron and CSKA will see this as a must win if they want to escape from this group behind Man Utd. A few other speculative punts at high odds could be Unirea Urziceni @ around 3/1 with some firms at home to Stuttgart. The visitors won in Romania in the qualification beating Timisoara but they were very uninpressive in the second half against Rangers and Cluj produced a few shocks early in last years competition. They are top of their domestic league and a 2-0 defeat in Seville on matchday1 was no disgrace, I don't fancy Stuttgart at all at 4/5. While you'd expect Inter to be favourites against Rubin, the home side are no mugs and 9/2 for the Russian champions does look a little large. I watched Inter a few times in last seasons competition and was never overly impressed by them. A speculative one but Rubin going well in their own league and while I wouldn't back against the 4 english teams or Real/Barca in this competition, a few of the second tier teams could be worth taking on. A few speculative ones in there where the odds look tempting but CSKA and Porto could have the makings of a good double. With Arsenal getting some players back fit such as Arshavin & Rosicky and their excellent home form in this competition I'd also expect them to cover the -1 handicap at home to Olympiakos at 4/5. Arsenal have an easy group here and will want to qualify as quickly as possible.

Decided to go with a small stakes treble tonight. Unirea Urziceni 16/5 Sevilla evens Arsenal 2/7 Didn't post up Sevilla originally as I don't like betting against Rangers in Europe. While being devoid of much quality, they are well organized and play very defensively and have recorded a good few 0-0s against top teams such as Barca in recent years. But they are struggling to score right now and Sevilla are a quick, direct side and are in red hot form with Luis Fabiano scoring for fun. Unirea is a speculative one but like I said in my original post wasn't impressed with Stuttgart on matchday1 and they have had a poor start in the Bundesliga and miss their most influential player tonight in Hleb. Petrescu looks a very good manager and has a well-discplined side. Inspired by the home crowd on their first ever home champions league game they are worth a punt at 16/5 and could pull off a 1-0. Arsenal is fairly self-explanatory. Olympiakos have lost their last 8 CL away games against English opposition and face an Arsenal side getting their best players back. The Gunners should beat the handicap here but just played it safe with a home win at 2/7. I may opt for a single on Standard Liege before I leave for work. Have totally reversed my opinion on Inter, was getting a bit carried away by the odds in my original post and at around 4/5 Inter now look backable and there have been some good write-ups on that game. Will probably put on a decent stakes double on Porto/CSKA Moscow tomorrow but a bit frustrating that Porto have now dropped to odds on 10/11 in most places. Btw Dak great write-ups there :ok

[Jase82]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

However I feel without one of their better players this season (Benayoun) and the heart of their team (Mascharano) Liverpool could be got at.

Mascherano is definitely out, but Benayoun has been included in the squad, so could start. I think Liverpool would have to have a massively big off night for them not to win. Liverpool are probably in the top 10 of European clubs, which Fiorentina aren't, so anything around 2.0 is excellent. Fiorentina also miss their leading goalscorer, which is more crutial to me than Liverpool missing Mascherano, because to get one over them, they will need to score more than Liverpool. I'm not going to tip anything else as most has already been said and the CL is full of hiddeously one sided encounters.

[Scotlandspunter]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 Good afternoon fellas.... I'v been away on some business over the last couple of days so not really had a chance to look into the CL matches....now I am annoyed I havent as I would have put a serious bet on Sevilla at quoted odds of around 2.2 to win in Glasgow this evening. As it stands they are currently 1.9 (Bet365) and Ill still be putting a serious bet on this. Rangers V Sevilla - Sevilla win @ 1.9 (Bet365) Rangers go into this Champions League tie on the back of a run of form which has seen them win 1 game of their last 5, even this win was a struggle last week in the League Cup against division one side Queen of the South, in which the underdogs should have scored at least 2 goals. Thier recent form has seen them draw their last 3 league games and the good draw in Germany last round of CL against Stuttgart. They cant seem to score goals and thier best attacking player recently has been Bougerra (A center half who has to go on runs from defence to start an attack). Rangers strikers IMO are some of the worst that have been at the club in recent years, Novo is no where near consistant enough, Miller again doesnt find the net nearly enough times to say he is CL level and Kris Boyd only seems to score against the weaker oppositions. Rangers are going through somewhat of a transitional stage at the moment with David Murray wanting to sell the club and a new chairman has now been brought in. At the moment I just cant see how this side can be competitive in the CL. Another point to note is that Rangers have a MASSIVE derby match against league leaders Celtic on Sunday. If Celtic win we will go 7 points clear at the top of the league, so although this match against Sevilla is important IMO the one on Sunday will mean more to the Ibrox faithful and the players. Doesnt come much tougher for a team like Rangers tonight, they face a world class team, who unlike Barcelona are alot more pohysical and direct and I really cant see the Spaniards having a problem in getting the three points tonight in Glasgow....as has been mentioned earlier in the thread Sevilla are on a good run of form and I think they continue that tonight. From a personal point of view I want to see Sevilla win as me and some mates made a good connections with alot of them, not only through Celtic playing Porto in the Uefa cup final in Sevilla but also I went down to the final in Hamden when Sevilla were playing and thier fans were absolutely tremendous. Great club, Great supporters.....Vamos mi Sevilla :cheers:cheers Sevilla to win even @ 1.9 is a gift in my opinion. I am going to double this up with another bet this evening..... Arsenal V Olympiakos - Arsenal (-1) to win @ 1.66 Much of the important facts surrounding this game have been almost professionally covered by some punters earlier in the thread so well done for that :clap:clap Arsenal should have too much for the Greeks tonight, with Arshavin, Rosicky, Fabregas, Walcott (making his return so possibly from the bench) providing great service to RVP and Eduardo up front, I can see the gunners continuing their good form with a comfortable win against the Greek outfit tonight, perhapds 2-0, 3-1. GL everyone :hope:hope

[Caveman]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 Sorry mates, I can't see any value in Sevilla away win tonight! This is exactly sort of matches, bookies love to make CA$H with. Many ppl compare basically form of teams from their domestic leagues, and this is why majority of cash flow is going towards away win in this one. Sevilla won all last 5 matches, sure, but who were their opponents? 4 mediocre or low class spanish sides and Unirea Urziceni!!They will have to prove their strength at least against teams of Valencia level, not even to mention Real or Barca ...Rangers are struggling atm, sure, drew 4 out of last 5, considering all competitions, but still are unbeaten in all competitons! And ppl forget fact this scottish side delivers traditionally strong matches at Ibrox in CL year after year. This is the team which drew against Barca or Inter Milan and only lost 1 match in last 12 CL home matches!! Sevilla will arrive with bigger names, sure, they will be full of confidence, also d'accord, but I think at the end Rangers will nick at least a draw out of this. For me with medium stakes Glasgow Rangers +0,5 @ 2,06 188bet

[Scotlandspunter]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

Sorry mates, I can't see any value in Sevilla away win tonight! This is exactly sort of matches, bookies love to make CA$H with. Many ppl compare basically form of teams from their domestic leagues, and this is why majority of cash flow is going towards away win in this one. Sevilla won all last 5 matches, sure, but who were their opponents? 4 mediocre or low class spanish sides and Unirea Urziceni!!They will have to prove their strength at least against teams of Valencia level, not even to mention Real or Barca ...Rangers are struggling atm, sure, drew 4 out of last 5, considering all competitions, but still are unbeaten in all competitons! And ppl forget fact this scottish side delivers traditionally strong matches at Ibrox in CL year after year. This is the team which drew against Barca or Inter Milan and only lost 1 match in last 12 CL home matches!! Sevilla will arrive with bigger names, sure, they will be full of confidence, also d'accord, but I think at the end Rangers will nick at least a draw out of this. For me with medium stakes Glasgow Rangers +0,5 @ 2,06 188bet

I dont forget this at all mate. I know Rangers can be strong at home, but I watch them week in, week out against Scottish and European teams and IMO they will lose tonight. They cannot score at the moment, Walter Smith will go with the only system he knows in these games which is a defensive 4-5-1. This will make it even more difficult for them to score IMO and the best they can hope for is a 0-0 draw. Yes they got this against Barca (notably not as strong a Barca team as they have now) however I think Sevilla are a different proposition than Barca, IMO they are alot more direct and place alot more emphisas on speed and power than Barca did with their short passing game....In the game between Rangers and Barca at Ibrox, the Catalans tried to walk the ball into the net, Sevilla wont do this tonight, they will go for the win no matter how they get it and I am sure they will be victorious. Its all about opinions, sure Rangers may get something from it but for a Sevilla win @ 1.9 iM all over that :ok

[dak]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

Sorry mates, I can't see any value in Sevilla away win tonight! This is exactly sort of matches, bookies love to make CA$H with. Many ppl compare basically form of teams from their domestic leagues, and this is why majority of cash flow is going towards away win in this one. Sevilla won all last 5 matches, sure, but who were their opponents? 4 mediocre or low class spanish sides and Unirea Urziceni!!They will have to prove their strength at least against teams of Valencia level, not even to mention Real or Barca ...Rangers are struggling atm, sure, drew 4 out of last 5, considering all competitions, but still are unbeaten in all competitons! And ppl forget fact this scottish side delivers traditionally strong matches at Ibrox in CL year after year. This is the team which drew against Barca or Inter Milan and only lost 1 match in last 12 CL home matches!! Sevilla will arrive with bigger names, sure, they will be full of confidence, also d'accord, but I think at the end Rangers will nick at least a draw out of this. For me with medium stakes Glasgow Rangers +0,5 @ 2,06 188bet

Hi Caveman! I can understand your bet. Sure, Rangers are playing at home and yes they have produced, in the past, some good results against big teams. Certainly, one might argue that this is a value bet, but I think taking Rangers based on their history is not the best criteria. Tonight's CL match will played tonight and what matters is the current form and roster quality of the teams. Your point about Seville's comparatively weaker opposition in the games they have won in Spain (Bilbao, Mallorca, Osasuna and Zaragoza) is correct. But, by the same token I think you would accept that Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and Motherwell, against which Rangers could only manage goalless draws, are also seriously inferior teams. In fact, I would argue that all of Seville's opponents in Spain are clearly better teams than the Scottish sides mentioned. So, I would find it difficult to oppose a team that not only has clearly better quality players but also shows better form. I just don't see Rangers out of the blue clicking into gear against a good team like Seville. Sure, anything can happen....this is football, but I think a bet on Rangers getting something is a bit hopeful. Good luck to you anyway mate.....

[i_like_punts]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30

Mascherano is definitely out, but Benayoun has been included in the squad, so could start. I think Liverpool would have to have a massively big off night for them not to win. Liverpool are probably in the top 10 of European clubs, which Fiorentina aren't, so anything around 2.0 is excellent. Fiorentina also miss their leading goalscorer, which is more crutial to me than Liverpool missing Mascherano, because to get one over them, they will need to score more than Liverpool. I'm not going to tip anything else as most has already been said and the CL is full of hiddeously one sided encounters.

I feel Mascherano is absolutely critical to Liverpool. Lucas is not fit to lace his boots in my opinion and would struggle in an intimidating atmosphere, as I am sure there will be tonight. Another reason I am backing Fiorentina which I didnt mention earlier is the poor form of Carragher. From what I've seen of him this year he's been rather poor. Gave away a penalty against West Ham and was it him who gave one away against Villa?? I feel there are goals for Fiorentina in this game, esp as Liverpool are missing that midfield protection. I feel Liverpool dont have to win this game. They could easily take a draw and even a defeat wouldnt be the end of the world. I feel with a hostile atmosphere, Fiorentina, despite poor recent form, will be eager to get at them as they actually NEED a result. And after all, football isn's played on paper.

[Andraz85]

Re: Champions League » Sep 29/30 Fiorentina - Liverpool-0,25 1,81 188bet 5 units now this bet have some value. I expect to see AH 0,5 or even 0,75 with 2,10 odd. I watched Fiorentina against Livorno and they are nothing special. Attack is very weak. Mutu is back today but I do not see that he is 100% fit. Liverpool played great match against Hull. Torres is back on form, Steve is good to Mascherano is doubt but Liverpool have enough good players!!