Champions League Betting: United and Chelsea set to record early wins

Champions League / Mike Norman / 15 September 2009 / 3 Comments

Porto's new Colombian striker Radamel Falcao Garcia has averaged a goal a game so far this season and will have to be watched tonight at Stamford Bridge

Tonight's English participants in the Champions League have one thing in common... they were both beaten by Barcelona in their last European game. The road to revenge starts tonight. "Mystical" Mike Norman previews.

Recommended Bets:
Back Over 3.5 Goals @ 3.75 in Besiktas v Man Utd; Back Man Utd HT/Man Utd FT @ 2.44; Back Over 3.5 Goals @ 3.75 in Chelsea v Porto; Back Essien @ 7.0 and Falcao @ 5.4 in To Score market

Besiktas [8.2] v Man Utd [1.53]; The Draw [4.4]

A lot has been made of the hostility that is set to greet United in the Inonu Stadium tonight, but you don't go 25 games unbeaten in Europe (as United did prior to being beat by Barcelona) without being able to cope with a bit (or in this case, a lot) of crowd intimidation.

Let me be honest, Besiktas - despite being the current Turkish champions - are no great shakes. They've won just once this season in defence of their domestic title and lost 3-0 to Galatasaray on Saturday. They also lost 8-0 the last time the played English opposition in European competition - against Liverpool at Anfield just 22 months ago.

True, Turkish sides are a different proposition in front of their home crowd, but Sir Alex Ferguson is arguably the most experienced manager in the world when it comes to these kind of fixtures. He will select a side capable of handling the intense atmosphere, and more importantly, he will select a side that will have far too much ability for Besiktas, one that will be well capable of taking home all three points.

United have responded brilliantly to that shocking defeat at the hands of Burnley in the Premier League, winning three out of three fixtures and scoring ten goals in the process. Wayne Rooney has started the season in fantastic form, and old heads Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes have been outstanding in the games they've featured in. Anderson scored his first goal for the club against Spurs on Saturday, whilst Dimitar Berbatov had arguably his best game in a United shirt. It all bodes will ahead of tonight's fixture.

I can only see one result in Istanbul, and not surprisingly it's a victory for Man Utd. The [1.53] in the Match Odds market is a fair price, but with United undoubtedly desperate to get an early goal to silence the crowd, Man Utd/Man Utd at [2.44] in the Half Time/Full Time market appeals more.

I'm definitely in the Over 2.5 Goals camp - available to back at [2.08] - for two very simple reasons. One, if Man Utd do silence the crowd, the Besiktas players could very easily lose heart (as they did at Anfield) and become sloppy all over the pitch. Two, if Besiktas start on the front foot and get the crowd behind them, it will be a very open game with a lot of goalscoring chances.

In fact, because of the two ways the game can pan out, I'm quite keen to go one step further and back Over 3.5 Goals at [3.75].

Chelsea [1.42] v FC Porto [10.0]; The Draw [4.9]

Have Chelsea turned into Man Utd I here you ask? Out of their five Premier League wins this season they've already scored injury time winners in two of them, a stat that would make even Sir Alex proud.

But the similarities don't end there. Chelsea (like United when they're at their best) just never know when to give up. They are playing some fantastic football, creating chance after chance after chance, and they're refusing to panic when the ball doesn't hit the back of the net. If they can maintain this throughout the season, they will be extremely tough to beat in the Champions League this term.

Carlo Ancelotti's men get their campaign started with a tricky looking encounter against Porto tonight. However, Chelsea do have a 100% record at Stamford Bridge against them in the last five years (two wins from two), and despite the number of first team players missing tonight (Didier Drogba, Alex, Joe Cole, Deco, Paulo Ferreira, Jose Bosingwa), they'll still be able to field a team of eleven international players.

Porto have started their domestic season almost as well as Chelsea, recording three wins and a draw from their opening four fixtures with new striker Radamel Falcao Garcia averaging a goal a game.

These teams have met four times in this competition and each game has always contained goals. In fact 12 goals have been scored in the four games played so statistically speaking, the [2.0] on offer for Over 2.5 Goals looks a cracking bet. It looks even more appealing when you consider that Chelsea's five league games this season have contained 15 goals, whilst Porto's four league games have seen 14 goals scored.

I have to fancy Chelsea for a victory tonight but I think there will be a lot better [1.42] chances as the season progresses. Porto are a decent outfit, and the absence of Drogba for the Blues worries me slightly.

I'm keeping my stakes low, and as well as backing Over 2.5 Goals I'm going to back Over 3.5 Goals at [3.75] (those goals per game stats imply that I must).

Two other prices that catch my eye both appear in the To Score market. Michael Essien has the opportunity to play far more advanced in European games so at [7.0] to score at anytime during the game, he could be a great selection. Also, the [5.4] being offered for Falcao to score simply must be taken. As I said earlier, he is averaging a goal a game so far this season and he will unquestionably be Porto's chief goalscoring threat tonight.

Tags: Besiktas, Carlo Ancelotti, Champions League, Champions League Betting, Chelsea, Didier Drogba, FC Porto, Man Utd, Radamel Falcao Garcia, Sir Alex Ferguson, Wayne Rooney