Atletico, Bayern and Leicester are excellent away treble
Coral are offering mega odds of 9/1 on an enhanced multiple of away victories for Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich in the Champions League, as well as Leicester City in the Championship.
Atletico travel to the San Siro where they face injury-hit AC Milan, Bayern are in London to resume their rivalry with Arsenal, and the Foxes tackle an East Midlands derby against Nottingham Forest.
AC Milan v Atletico Madrid
Diego Simeone’s Atletico are joint-top of La Liga and face a Milan side that are simply a shadow of their former selves. Clarence Seedorf makes his European debut in management, but his Rossoneri team resemble the walking wounded as they have so many injuries to contend with.
Based on that alone, it’s no surprise that Atletico are 11/10 favourites to win this last 16 first leg. They boast an unbeaten Champions League run of five wins and a draw this term and that should not be belied by losing three of their last four in all competitions.
Atletico are odds-on at 2/5 to qualify for the quarter-finals and have David Villa in their ranks. He boasts an unbeaten record against Milan and two goals from three starts. Punters back Villa to score anytime at 7/4.
Arsenal v Bayern Munich
Munich have won three of the six previous meetings in this fixture, including last season’s 3-1 win at the Emirates. A repeat of that scoreline here is a 12/1 shot.
Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic netted the third a year ago, and has five in his last three appearance, so back him at evens to score anytime again. Pep Guardiola’s Bayern are odds-on at 8/11 to win this leg and 1/5 to qualify for the next round.
Odds of 5/4 on versatile attacker Thomas Muller getting a goal in this game should also be considered. Munich are 16 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, and have retained their title in all but mathematical fact.
Bayern boast nine wins in their last 10 outings, but that one loss came to Premier League opposition in Manchester City. Admittedly, that particular match meant more to Manuel Pellegrini than Guardiola.
Nottingham Forest v Leicester City
Nigel Pearson’s side can restore a 10-point cushion at the top of the Championship by winning at the City Ground. Forest need a victory too, however, if they are to keep their hopes of automatic promotion alive.
Leicester are made narrow 9/5 favourites for the win because they have only lost one of the last seven encounters with the Reds. Pearson’s Foxes also netted a last-minute winner in Nottingham last season.
Maverick winger Anthony Knockaert grabbed that decisive goal then, and is 3/1 to score anytime here. Pearson almost has a fully fit squad to choose from for the trip to Forest, whereas the hosts are missing several key players.
Punters may also fancy odds of 12/5 on the Foxes keeping a clean sheet. Leicester have managed it in three of their last five away league games, so the 7/2 price to win to nil is also attractive.
