Four Remaining Positions in the Champions League Will Be Decided Tonight

Published on Aug 24th, 2011
Last night was easy picking in the Champions league match-ups with only Dinamo Zagreb not having delivered although they controlled the game, had numerous chances before getting an irresponsible red card which almost cost the group stage of the Champions league.

Tonight we have another round-up of games which will provide for some additional entertainment and new betting opportunities. The match-ups tonight are a bit tougher to call but here is where we stand for tonight’s round-up of games.

FC Viktoria Plzen surprised Copenhagen away in Denmark last week by winning 3:1 and also surprised all the bookies who had favored Copenhagen to win this tie easily. That has changed for tonight with both teams really having been given even chances to win and so we should treat this game with some caution. Best pick would be to play the corners over or yellow cards over because the Danes will be attacking right of the bat. They probably will win, but they need to win by three or equal the result from last week to give themselves the chance to advance. Both teams are in good shape having won four of the last five and barring some unexpected event such as a red card, the Czechs should be looking forward to a group stage of the Champions league.

Sturm Graz will be playing a host to the Belarus side Bate Borisov, who outplayed their Austrian counterpart mightily in their last encounter bout could not materialize a 62% of possession and 11 to 6 shots advantage since the score at the end showed a 1:1 result. Expect Sturm to come out a bit more assertive, but still focused on defense tonight while looking for a lucrative berth in the Champion league. 0:0 would do it for Sturm on account of an away goal in Belarus. Perhaps the best pick is to play less than three goals in this one as both teams have had a hard time scoring this year in both European and their national championships respectively.

One of the premium match-ups tonight is the Benfica vs. Twente game with all up for grabs after a 2:2 draw in Holland last week. We feel that Benfica is a better team currently and should prevail, having already scored two away goals. Bookies are offering a 1,6 to a dollar on Benfica and although there are perhaps some better quotes in this matchup, this one might just be the right one for tonight. For those who want to play it safe here Goals over (2,5 goals is given by bookies tonight paying 1,65 to a dollar) should be a right bet for tonight in this game.

Udinese and Arsenal will be in for a dog-fight tonight with both teams belonging in the best European competition without a doubt. Arsenal are having some serious player issues with both Fabregas and Nasri having left the team, leaving a huge void in the Gunners middle. Udinese on the other side have lost Sanchez to Barcelona and Inler to Napoli in the transfer market and have yet to fill the void left in their ranks. They have not yet started the national championship which should give Arsenal a slight physical advantage as they are already two rounds into the English Premier league. At this point it is just too hard to imagine the Champions league without Arsenal, but again to play it safe tonight we can expect both teams to score at least a goal tonight,
which pays a solid 1,65 to a dollar.

Here is the summary of the picks for today’s round of the Champions league: