UEFA Cup Betting: Spurs and Villa faces tough trips East

Europa League / Richard Aikman / 19 December 2008 / Leave a Comment

Aston Villa and Tottenham have been dealt difficult ties in the Uefa Cup Round of 32 after being drawn to meet CSKA Moscow and Shakhtar Donetsk in the first of the knockout stages, while Manchester City take on Copenhagen. Richard Aikman reports.

Martin O'Neill may now rue resting five first-team players for their last Uefa Cup group match, which resulted in a 3-1 reverse at Hamburg last night. That defeat left Villa third in Group F and as such they were rewarded a seeded side in the form of CSKA Moscow, who won their group at a canter.

CSKA beat Deportivo, Feyenoord, Lech Poznan and Nancy scoring 12 goals in the process and as if that wasn't proof enough of their Uefa Cup credentials, the fact that they won this tournament in 2005 should be. Their chief danger man is Wagner Love, but the striker is in such demand that he may not even be at the club by the time the two sides meet in February. A trip to Moscow at that time of year is not ideal but Villa [17.5] may benefit from the fact that CSKA [22.0] will be in their off-season and could be a touch ring-rusty.

The reception won't be much warmer in Ukraine, where Spurs [17.0] face Shakhtar Donetsk, who finished third in their Champions League group this season. Having beaten Barcelona last week, Spurs will hardly frighten Shakhtar, who boast several Brazilians in their side including Brandão, Jadsen and Fernandinho and have a wealth of European experience as Champions League regulars. Indeed, even at this early stage [65.0] about the Ukraine outfit looks to be very generous indeed.

Manchester City, meanwhile, will be pleased with their draw as FC Copenhagen provide their opposition in the spring. The Danes also have Champions League experience, having appeared in Europe's elite club competition as recently as last season but they only qualified for this stage courtesy of a narrow 1-0 win over Club Bruges, after having lost 3-1 to Saint-Etienne, and shared 1-1 draws with Valencia and Rosenborg, hence their incredibly long outright odds of [210.00]. City are second favourites at [10.0].

AC Milan are favourites at [5.8] despite never having won the competition and a tough draw in the next stage. The Rossoneri go toe to toe with Werder Bremen [32.0] while in another mouth-watering tie last year's semi-finalists Fiorentina [24.0] take on Marco van Basten's Ajax [50.0].

First section draw:

Paris St Germain v Wolfsburg
FC Copenhagen v Manchester City
NEC Nijmegen v Hamburg
Sampdoria v Metalist Kharkiv
Braga v Standard Liege
Aston Villa v CSKA Moscow
Lech Poznan v Udinese
Olympiakos v St Etienne
Second section:
Fiorentina v Ajax
Aalborg v Deportivo La Coruna
Werder Bremen v AC Milan
Bordeaux v FC Galatasaray
Dynamo Kiev v Valencia
Zenit St Petersburg v VfB Stuttgart
Marseille v FC Twente
Shakhtar Donetsk v Tottenham
The last 32 ties will be played on Feb 18 and 19 with the return legs on Feb 26.

Last 16 draw:

Werder Bremen or AC Milan v Olympiakos or St Etienne
Aston Villa or CSKA Moscow v Shakhtar Donetsk or Tottenham
Lech Poznan or Udinese v Zenit St Petersburg or VfB Stuttgart
Paris St Germain or Wolfsburg v Braga or Standard Liege
Dynamo Kiev or Valencia v Sampdoria or Metalist Kharkiv
FC Copenhagen or Manchester City v Aalborg or Deportivo La Coruna
Marseille or FC Twente v Fiorentina or Ajax
NEC Nijmegen or Hamburg v Bordeaux or FC Galatasaray