Football Betting Briefing: The business end of the Champions League and UEFA Cup

/ James Eastham / 08 March 2009 / Leave a Comment

Champions League second-legs, the return of the UEFA Cup and a single Premier League match are amongst this week's football offering. James Eastham talks us through the eye-catchers and the early betting.

Tuesday 10th March

Liverpool and Chelsea take 1-0 leads into their Champions League last 16 second legs this week - but neither side will be confident that such precarious advantages guarantee safe passage to the next round. Rafa Benitez's side were excellent value for their victory at the Bernabeu a fortnight ago but they are essentially a counter-attacking side and, paradoxically, may find it more difficult to win at home. Liverpool are [2.3] to win on the night and [1.34] to qualify, with Real Madrid [3.35] to win at Anfield and [3.8] to go through.

Chelsea are a similarly short price to qualify against Juve - [1.38] - with Claudio Ranieri's Italians [3.55] to go through. Guus Hiddink has won five out of five since taking over at Stamford Bridge and Didier Drogba will attract plenty of attention in the scorers markets after netting three goals in his last four games, including the first-leg winner.

The night's third tie is perfectly poised - Panathinaikos are [1.86] to get through at home after a 1-1 draw against Villarreal in Spain a fortnight ago. The visitors, who have a better recent European pedigree, are [2.14] to reach the last eight. The final tie of the evening is a shoo-in for Bayern Munich - their 5-0 win at Sporting has made the Germans unbackable to qualify. Over 2.5 goals at [1.77] may be a wise selection in a game likely to contain plenty of chances.

Wednesday 11th March

Man Utd's attempts to win the quintuplet continue with their home leg against Inter following a 0-0 draw in the San Siro a fortnight ago. Sir Alex Ferguson's side are [1.77] to win in 90 minutes and [1.53] to put out Jose Mourinho's Serie A champions. Another Anglo-Italian tie is Roma v Arsenal, with the Gunners taking a 1-0 advantage to the Stadio Olimpico. Arsenal are a short-priced [1.45] to get through but over 2.5 goals at [2.32] looks a better bet in what ought to be an open match.

Tournament favourites Barcelona (they're [4.2] to lift the trophy) face a tricky second leg against Lyon, who deservedly earned a 1-1 draw in the first encounter. Chances were aplenty in the initial meeting so it's no surprise to find over 2.5 goals a short-priced [1.7], although Lyon will probably be aggrieved to see Barca as short as [1.19] to get through.

Porto and Atletico Madrid played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Vicente Calderon a fortnight ago and those away goals are the reason why Porto are [1.42] to get through on home soil.

There's one Premier League match as well - Fulham host Blackburn in a game where Rovers will look to collect points to pull away from the relegation battle.

Thursday 12th March

This may be the final season of the Uefa Cup as we know it, but the competition promises to go out with a bang as there are some wonderful teams left in it. [6.2] tournament favourites Man City host AaB, second favourites CSKA Moscow play Shakhtar Donetsk and defending champions Zenit St Petersburg travel to face Udinese. There's a fabulous encounter in prospect at the Stade Velodrome, where Marseille take on fellow former European champions Ajax, while Paul Le Guen's resurgent PSG host Portugal's surprise package, Sporting Braga.

Werder Bremen v St Etienne, Dinamo Kiev v Metallist Kharkiv and Hamburg v Galatasaray complete the draw.

Friday 13th March

Fenerbahce are still in the Turkish Superliga title race and will be confident of beating relegated-threatened Kocaelispor while a similar points gap separates hosts Groningen from Roda JC in the Dutch Eredivisie. The big league game of the night takes place in the Bundesliga, where Wolfsburg will move to within a point of leaders Hertha Berlin with a home win over Schalke.