Wednesday’s Champions League Betting : Sporting Braga vs Celtic
There are some big name sides
in action this Wednesday evening in the third qualifying round of the
Champions League. Who will take an advantage into the second leg?Online
handicapping portal BetRepublic.com previews the three biggest games
here.
This match sees the Hungarian
champions take on the Swiss champions for a place in the playoff stage
of the qualification section of the Champions League. Online sports
BetRepublic.com make Basel the favourites to win this first leg tie at
evens ahead of Debrecen and the draw at odds of 11/5. Will the Swiss
champions live up to their pre-match billing as favourites?
Basel had a reasonable season in Europe last season. They finished
third in the same Europa League group as Roma and Fulham, only failing
to progress on the final matchday as they lost 3-2 to eventual
finalists Fulham.
However, they did secure an
impressive 2-0 win over Roma before losing out to the more illustrious
sides from Italy and England. They did secure the domestic double of
league and cup in the 09/10 season in Switzerland as well and will be a
major threat for Debrecen.
Last season Debrecen got a
tough Champions League lesson as they lost all six matches as they were
drawn against Lyon, Liverpool and Fiorentina in their group. They
failed to score in four games, only finding the net against Fiorentina
on five occasions in their two matches, but still losing both. They
conceded nineteen goals in total in the six matches. Can they get one
step closer to getting back to the group stage again by beating Basel?
I don’t see it, and feel that
Basel are great value at evens for the win. I also see goals in this
match as there have been eight in Basel’s first two league games of
their new season and there were seven in Debrecen’s second round
qualifying game, so my money will be on Basel to win @ evens and over
2.5 goals @ evens.
Ajax vs PAOK Saloniki:
This match sees the runners up
in the Dutch and Greek leagues in the 2009/2010 season go head-to-head
for a place in the Champions League qualification playoffs, but who
will take victory in the first leg game in Amsterdam? Books make Ajax
the 2/7 favourites, with PAOK available at 7/1 and the draw can be
backed at 7/2.
Ajax are the more well known of
these two sides after their Champions League exploits in the mid 1990’s
that saw them claim the title in 1995 and lose the 1996 final on
penalties. They are not the power that they once were – they have not
won the Dutch league since 03/04 – but finished well in their domestic
league last season but were beaten by former England manager Steve
McClaren’s FC Twente by a point.
PAOK had an extraordinary
season last year, but still managed to throw things away when they had
the chance of a league and cup double, however they salvaged things by
winning the end of season playoffs to book themselves a spot in the
Champions League. They have had a poor pre-season and fired their
management team, so they face a massive task to win this game.
I actually do not think they
can do it and I fancy Ajax to lead at half time and win the game at
odds of 10/11 and I see there being a few goals on top of this too, so
I’m backing over 2.5 goals at odds of 8/11.
Sporting Braga vs Celtic:
Who will progress to the
Champions League qualification playoffs in this matchup between the
runners up in the Portuguese and Scottish leagues? Braga are the
favourites for victory in the first leg tie in Portugal at odds of
19/20 with Celtic available at 23/10 and the draw can be backed at 9/4.
These sides had completely
opposite seasons last time out with Braga gaining their best ever
league finish, while Celtic were completely outplayed by Rangers
throughout the season and finished six points behind their city rivals
after they fired Tony Mowbray and replaced him with club legend Neil
Lennon.
Lennon lacks experience and
this match will be his toughest so far, can he get something from this
game to ensure that the match is still alive when they come back to
Celtic Park next week?
Neither side have played
competitively since the end of their seasons in May, but I feel that
Celtic should have enough not to lose this game. As a result I am
backing the draw at odds of 9/4 with both sides to score at evens.
BetRepublic.com Recommends:
FC Basel to beat Debreceni VSC @ evens
Over 2.5 goals in the Basel v Debrecen game @ evens
Ajax/Ajax HT/FT v PAOK @ 10/11
Over 2.5 goals in the Ajax v PAOK game @ 8/11
Braga v Celtic to end as a draw @ 9/4
Both Braga and Celtic to score @ evens