Wednesdays Champions League Betting

The second night of Champions League football this week arguably has more anticipated clashes than last night. Where does the betting value lie? Let’s look at some selections.

Real Madrid v Ajax:

Europe’s big spenders take on the former European Cup holders from the Netherlands in a match that sees last year’s Champions League winning manager get back into action. Can Jose Mourinho get his attempt to win a second successive Champions League title off with a win? Bet365 make Real Madrid the 1.30 favourites to claim all three points, with Ajax available at 9.50 and the draw can be backed at odds of 5.50.

Neither of these two sides have looked particularly impressive at the start of the seasons, with Real Madrid having scored just one goal in their first two league matches and Ajax struggling to get into the Champions League. Real are undefeated in La Liga under Jose Mourinho with a draw and a win under their belt, but the highlight is that Mourinho has worked his magic already and Real are yet to concede a goal. Ajax were lucky to reach this point of the tournament, having overcome Greek side PAOK on away goals and beaten Dynamo Kiev 3-2 on aggregate in the qualifiers. However, they are joint top of the Dutch league having gone unbeaten for five league matches, winning four and drawing one, but can they remain unbeaten against massive superior opposition that the teams in the league?

I can’t see Ajax getting anything from this game as Real will keep things tight under the stewardship of Jose Mourinho, and I expect to see a Real win in a tight game. My money for this match is on Real Madrid to win the game by at least two goals. Check the odds at your sportsbook.

Bayern Munich v Roma:

Neither of these sides have started off the season well and Bayern sit mid-table in the Bundesliga, while Roma are doing even worse and sit second bottom of Serie A after two games. How will this game go? Books believe that Bayern will take all three points and make them the 1.67 favourites, with Roma available at 5.30 and the draw can be backed at odds of 3.80.

Bayern began their domestic season with a win over Wolfsburg, now managed by former England boss Steve McClaren, but since then they have picked up just one point from their following two games and they failed to find the net in either match. However, that pales in comparison to the start had by Roma this season. After pushing Inter Milan all the way to the title last season they would have hoped to start this season well, but a 0-0 draw on the opening day against newly promoted Cesena and a 5-1 thumping at the hands of Cagliari see them sit second bottom of the league. Both teams need to turn things around in this match, but which one of them will do so?

With Roma’s dismal away performance at the weekend against Cagliari I feel that they will struggle at the Allianz Arena this Wednesday and i’m backing a home win in this game despite their poor start to the season. As well as backing a Bayern Munich win at odds of 1.67, I’ll also be putting my money on both teams not to score at odds of 2.10. Both set of odds come from Bet365.

Arsenal v Sporting Braga:

The oddsmakers have Arsenal as 1.29 favourites to pick up all three points in the first Champions League match of the season at the Emirates Stadium. Braga are available at odds of 11.00 and the draw can be backed at 5.50. Will the game go according to these odds?

Arsenal have started the Premier League season well and have dropped just two points from their opening four games as they sit in second place in the table. The dropped points came on the opening day of the season against Liverpool at Anfield as they were outplayed by a ten man Liverpool side. Since then they have scored twelve goals and conceded just two, with ten of those goals coming in two matches at home and this will give them the confidence to believe that they can collect all three points against Braga.

However, Braga will be no pushovers as shown by the manner in which they qualified for the Champions League – a 4-3 victory at Sevilla, who had just previously beaten Barcelona 3-1 at the same ground days previously. However, they come into this game having been beaten in the league by FC Porto, will this motivate them to get all three points or will they fail to get anything from the match?

Arsenal are devastating at home at the moment and while Braga are a decent team they are will still be unable to deal with an Arsenal side that is at the top of its game at the moment. However, they have shown that they can score goals away from home, having scored in six of their last seven away games, and with Arsenal’s weak point being their goalkeeper I expect this game to see both teams on the scoresheet. My money is on Arsenal to win the game by at least two goals at odds of 1.80 and both sides to score.

Check all the Champions League Odds @ sportsbetting.com