The Champions League group stage comes to an end this week, leaving us with a showdown for places in the knockout round. The Premier League sides in this season’s competition have been impressing, with all five set to top their group heading into this week’s final round of group games. While there’s still some work to do for the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea, both have the potential to clinch top spot in their respective groups.
Manchester City and Tottenham have both secured their place as group winners, while Manchester United have little to do in their meeting with CSKA Moscow. However, that doesn’t mean that this is quiet week in Europe’s premier competition, with some big fixtures coming up. Tuesday night sees the French and German champions meet, while Real Madrid are up against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday. We’ve got a betting tip on the four biggest games from Europe this week, which you can see below.
Tuesday 5th December 2017
Bayern Munich v PSG (19:45) – PSG to win (6/4 with Coral)
PSG may have a group game to go, but they’re already the most impressive side to ever compete at this stage. No team has scored as many goals as PSG have across six group games, and the French champions have done that in just five matches. They have a chance to add to their record breaking tally this week, when they travel to Germany to take on one of Europe’s traditional superpowers. After their win in Paris put an end to Carlo Ancelotti’s reign, can the French champions claim a win in Munich and finish with a 100% record?
The visitors have such an impressive side, which has seen them installed as favourites for the Champions League. While they’re already through, they can lay down a marker in their push for Europe’s top trophy with a sixth straight win. While Bayern are improving of late, they still aren’t looking quite up to PSG’s standard, with an aging squad starting to struggle. We’re backing the French side to take another three points in this group, and they look like great value for the win at 6/4 with Coral heading into Tuesday’s game.
Chelsea v Atletico Madrid (19:45) – Both teams to score (4/5 with Ladbrokes)
Chelsea may have already qualified for the last 16, but they still have more to do if they’re to secure top spot. With Roma a point behind and facing minnows Qarabag, the Blues have to beat Atletico Madrid. However, Atletico are hoping that the Italians slip up, giving them a chance to qualify if they can see off Chelsea. This is certainly a tight finale to this group, but the aim is simple for Antonio Conte and his team: just win the final game. As long as they take three points against the Spanish side, the Premier League champions qualify as group winners.
Both sides need to get forward in this game, while their first meeting in Madrid turned out to be more entertaining than expected. The Blues won 2-1 in the first ever Champions League game at the Wanda Metropolitano, and we can see a high scoring game here. The visitors finally found their feet going forward in their previous group match, while the Blues have hit 15 goals so far in this campaign. We’re backing them to add to that tally, as our main tip on this clash is both teams to score at 4/5 with Ladbrokes.
Wednesday 6th December 2017
Liverpool v Spartak Moscow (19:45) – Liverpool to win to nil (6/5 with Bet365)
Liverpool are the Premier League side who are in the most precarious position, as they still aren’t through to the next round. A point against Spartak takes them through to the last 16, while a win sees Jurgen Klopp’s men top the group. They’ve got to have concerns about their displays in Europe, following their 3-3 draw away to Sevilla on the last matchday. The Reds threw away a 3-0 lead in that game, and they can’t afford to be that poor in this crunch group finale. Will they get the necessary result at Anfield to finish top of the pile?
While the Reds have had some defensive problems this term, they have been fantastic at Anfield in the Premier League. They’ve conceded just two goals at home in the league, which is a sign of progress for Klopp and his defenders. While they drew 1-1 in the first meeting with Spartak, the goal they conceded came from a long range free-kick. We don’t think the Russians offer enough goal threat here to worry Liverpool, so we think a home win to nil is the best value bet here at 6/5 with Bet365.
Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund (19:45) – Over 3.5 goals (11/10 with Betfair)
Borussia Dortmund still have work to do to secure their place in the Europa League. While the Bundesliga side were expected to challenge for a place in the top two, this group ended up being a straight battle between Tottenham and Real Madrid. The Premier League side are through as group winners, with Real really struggling in Europe this term. They’re going to need a big result when Dortmund head to Madrid this week, in a game which should see plenty of goals.
Real are a side who tend to have high scoring matches in Europe, especially since they’ve been found out at the back this term. With David Luiz reportedly being targeted by the European champions, they clearly have issues in defence. They aren’t struggling quite as much as Dortmund, after their incredible collapse against Schalke. They drew 4-4 with their local rivals after racing in to a 4-0 lead, so we expect to see plenty of goals in Wednesday’s big clash. We’re backing over 3.5 goals in this one, which can be backed at 11/10 with Betfair.