James Milton
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There are 8 group games in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, with 8 more taking place on Wednesday, and it could be a significant week in Europe’s top club competition.
Inter Milan vs Barcelona is a heavyweight clash in Group C while in Group A Liverpool hosts Rangers in an England vs Scotland matchup at Anfield, while impressive Napoli travels to the Netherlands to take on Ajax.
We’ve selected 4 strong bets from Tuesday’s slate, so let’s dive straight in to our Champions League predictions. Odds shown are available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Inter Milan vs Barcelona best bet: Barcelona ML (-125)
Inter Milan and Barcelona look to be battling it out for 2nd place behind Bayern Munich in Group C and Xavi’s Barca can take a big step towards the Champions League elimination stages with a victory in Milan. Inter’s defense is a major concern after allowing 11 goals in recent Serie A defeats to Lazio, AC Milan, Udinese and Roma.
That vulnerability could spell trouble against a Barcelona attack which put 5 goals past Viktoria Plzen on matchday 1 and had 18 attempts at goal in a 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich. Barcelona has won its last 6 matches in Spain’s La Liga, scoring 19 goals, and could silence the San Siro on Tuesday.
Ajax vs Napoli best bet: Napoli ML (+200)
Napoli has made a brilliant start to the season, topping the standings in Italy’s Serie A and beating Liverpool 4-1 and Rangers 3-0 in its first 2 Champions League Group A matches. A slick and speedy attacking unit means Napoli is perfectly set up for road games, winning 9 of its last 11 away matchups in all competitions.
Ajax has to be respected after a 4-0 win over Rangers on matchday 1. Since then, though, the Dutch champions lost 2-1 late on at Liverpool and have taken only 1 point from 2 Eredivisie fixtures, so they could be vulnerable against an in-form opponent.
Liverpool vs Rangers best bet: Over 3.5 goals (-120)
Liverpool’s defense has struggled in the early part of the season and its frailty was exposed again this past weekend when EPL visitors Brighton claimed a 3-3 tie at Anfield. Next up for the Reds is a Group A clash with Rangers, beaten 4-0 by Ajax and 3-0 by Napoli in its first 2 UCL games.
Liverpool has the offensive quality to rack up the goals against the Scottish powerhouses but both teams have scored in 7 of the Reds’ 9 games this season. One of the exceptions was a 9-0 EPL rout of Bournemouth and another entertaining home win can be expected at Anfield.
Check out all this week’s soccer predictions including this week’s EPL picks
Club Brugge vs Atletico Madrid best bet: Under 2.5 goals (-125)
Club Brugge has made a surprisingly strong start to the Champions League season, beating Bayer Leverkusen and Porto in Group B with shutouts in both matches. A tougher test is likely when Brugge hosts Atletico Madrid, runners-up in the Champions League in 2014 and 2016, but the Belgians can stand firm against their high-profile visitors.
Under 2.5 goals could be the best bet in this one as Atleti started the campaign with a 2-1 win against Porto in which all 3 goals were scored in added time. They conceded twice in the last 6 minutes to lose 2-0 at Leverkusen on matchday 2 and another slow-burning contest could be in the cards between defenses which both had shutouts in their weekend league fixtures.
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