The return of Champions League and Europa League football will have gotten football fans’ tongues wagging across the globe. But it also represents an opportunity for money to be made as teams know that slip ups, even in early stages, can be costly and often give their all, with players rarely rested and sides going for wins rather than draws, meaning plenty of goals!
After the draws for the group stages brought up some mouth-watering fixtures, the first round of games sees heavyweight clashes such as the champions of Germany against the champions of England. With all these huge games between evenly matched sides, both teams often score, giving the opportunity for betting fans to win big.
Tuesday 16th September 2014
- Benfica v Zenit (evens with Bet365)Last year’s Europa League finalists Benfica have conceded in the last five of their Champions League games (all of which were last year). They come up against a Zenit side managed by Andre Villas Boas who has a point to prove but will find it tricky playing against a side that has scored a goal in every league game so far this season and BTTS looks good here.
- Borussia Dortmund v Arsenal (3/5 with BetVictor) With four of the last five meeting between these teams ending with both teams scoring, it would take a brave man to bet against this happening again. Both sides are also yet to keep a clean sheet in the league at the time of writing, further enforcing the point that this game will finish with goals being scored by teams home and away.
Wednesday 17th September 2014
- Ajax v PSG (31/40 with BetVictor)PSG are always seen as one of the dark horses to win the Champions League, mainly due to their attacking strength with frightening forwards such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edison Cavani and Lucas Moura, who always look likely to score. You would have to go back to February to find the last time Ajax didn’t score at home, so this game looks like one for a BTTS coupon.
- Bayern Munich v Manchester City (8/11 with Ladbrokes) Having met in last year’s group stages, these two sides come head to head again after both their fixtures last year ended with both teams scoring. Although both sides have impressive defences, it is going forward where they look strongest with Munich having many of Germany’s World Cup winning side at their disposal, including Mario Gotze, the scorer of the winner in the final, whilst Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and David Silva are all more than capable of creating chances or scoring themselves. We expect another high scoring game here with both teams scoring.
Thursday 18th September 2014
- Everton v Wolfsburg (3/4 with Ladbrokes)Evert have scored seven and conceded 10 goals in the first three Premier League games of the season and another goal fest could be on the cards here as the first two of Wolfsburg’s Bundesliga games have seen both teams score and over 2.5 goals. Kevin De Bruyne will be a name recognised by many English football fans, and he can create and score goals from midfield and be a general nuisance to Everton’s susceptible-looking back line.
- Sevilla v Feyenoord (20/21 with Ladbrokes)In the Europa League Feyenoord haven’t kept a clean sheet since 2010, whilst Sevilla come into this game as the holders of the Europa League trophy and will be looking to start their defence well. However, since the final in May they have lost playmaker Ivan Rakitic and full back Alberto Moreno who were both key in their success, so a Feyenoord side who have failed to score just once in four league games will see a potential weakness, making for a good game of football with plenty of potential for goals.