Coral’s Champions League best bets for final group games
Published:
Aaron Cox | December 8, 2015
The Champions League group stages draw to a close this week with the Premier League sides desperately clinging on.
Only Manchester City have qualified and the other three must get results on Matchday Six if they are to protect the coefficient and keep this little island on the European footballing map.
Here we take a look at the five best bets ahead of the two nights of action…
Wolfsburg v Man United – Wolfsburg win to nil
Louis van Gaal’s side are without captain Wayne Rooney and Morgan Schneiderlin, among a few others, for this clash and have won just once on their travels in their previous nine Champions League games.
It’s two victories and as many clean sheets on home soil for the Germans on their own patch and, with United scoring just five goals in the competition this term, it’s easy to see Dieter Hecking’s men making life hard.
Real Madrid v Malmo – Real Madrid score over 3.5 goals
Malmo have conceded nine goals in their last two Champions League matches and have scored just once in five games in this competition. Real have yet to be breached at the Bernabeu and have already hammered Shakhtar 4-0 in the Spanish capital.
It should be a case of fill your boots for Cristiano Ronaldo and co, who are even-money chances to score over 3.5 goals.
Olympiakos v Arsenal – Olympiakos win or draw
The Gunners have thrown themselves into an awkward position where they need to win in Greece in order to have any chance of making the last 16. If you had said to Arsenal fans that they would have beaten Bayern Munich and failed to qualify they would have laughed at you, but that is a real possibility.
Arsene Wenger’s men don’t exactly have the greatest of records on visits to the Karaiskakis Stadium, losing on all three trips in the Champions League.
They might not lose this but they will struggle to grab the three points. Olympiakos are 4/5 to win or draw.
Valencia v Lyon – Valencia win to nil
Gary Neville’s appointment at Valencia shocked many and now it is time for the former pundit to take charge of his first game. The Spaniards must win to have any chance of qualifying and they should do that comfortably against a weak Lyon side.
French club Lyon are already eliminated with a single point in Group G, while they have scored just three goals in the process.
Valencia will be buoyed after their draw with Barca and the new boss effect will carry them through. Back them at 11/8 to win to nil.
Bayer Leverkusen v Barcelona – match total over 3.5 goals
These have been two very entertaining teams in this year’s competition, with a combined 26 goals in their matches so far.
Expect more fun here. Barcelona’s front three are unstoppable when on form, which is seemingly all the time, and Leverkusen’s Javier Hernandez has 11 strikes in his previous 10 outings.
Related
Check out our Champions League archive, where you’ll find more content for the midweek fixtures.
