Welcome in to Champions League Best Bets, brought to you by Bettor In Green, where we recap the latest Champions League action and look ahead with my favorite bets for the upcoming matches.
Recap:
Matchweek 2 of the UEFA Champions League brought us plenty more goals with 58 across the 18 matches, averaging more than 3 goals per match!
Big scorelines included Brest beating Salzburg 0-4 on the road, Arsenal beating PSG 2-0, Dortmund thrashing Celtic 7-1, and Barcelona dominating Young Boys 5-0.
It was another rough week for us with the bets, going 1-2 to bring us to a dismal 1-5 on the season. The Champions League is tough, and this week’s slate is no different, but it’s time to get back to work and get back to winning ways.
Upcoming Matches:
Big matches this week include Real Madrid hosting Dortmund on Tuesday and a battle of two in-form giants as Barcelona host Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Let’s get to the bets:
Best Bets:
Pick #1: Arsenal to Win to Nil -140 (Oct. 22, 2024; 3:00 p.m. EST):
For our first matchup we look to an Arsenal team that just had a shock result domestically, losing 0-2 at Bournemouth.
Admittedly, this line is on the shorter end of the odds I usually give out, aiming to keep my Best Bets to -150 or longer. However, I couldn’t pass up this bet following this weekend’s result.
Arsenal went down to 10 men in their weekend Premier League match after center back William Saliba denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity at the 30’ mark. They went on to lose 0-2.
They’ll be looking to bounce back, as will Saliba, who should be well rested after only playing 30 minutes, and who will face a ban in his next EPL match, meaning he’ll be hungry to perform in this match.
Shakhtar Donetsk have yet to score a goal in the Champions League this season, drawing 0-0 with Bologna and losing 0-3 to Atalanta.
Pick #2: Liverpool Moneyline -115 (Oct. 23, 2024; 3:00 p.m. EST):
Admittedly, this is a tough spot for Liverpool, coming off a relatively tough game hosting Chelsea and now set to take on 3 tough road games at RB Leipzig, Arsenal, and Brighton, all only a few days apart.
Liverpool keep impressing me this season under Arne Slot and I foresee them getting their 3rd Champions League victory to take some confidence into the Arsenal match.
Slot may be forced to rotate from his favored midfield 3 for this match but has the depth between Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Jones, and MacAllister. Unfortunately, though, they’ll be without star keeper Alisson.
RB Leipzig are in solid form in the Bundesliga, however, they’ve lost both UCL games this season. They have a tough UCL schedule and, so long as league results are good and UCL results are poor, they may focus on their league form.
They don’t have the same injury and rotation risk as Liverpool, but I still expect the dominance of Liverpool’s form to be a touch too much for Leipzig.
Another reason I like Liverpool is the recent news of former Liverpool boss Klopp becoming the global director of soccer for Red Bull. This definitely did not go down well for German fans who see it as a betrayal to his former clubs Mainz and Dortmund. I don’t think Liverpool fans are as upset, but I think a reminder to Klopp about the quality of the Liverpool side he left would be the icing on the cake for Liverpool and their fans.
Pick #3: Inter Milan Clean Sheet +115 (Oct. 23, 2024; 3:00 p.m. EST):
For our final bet we are backing an Inter Milan side on the road to Young Boys.
Inter are in good form and have kept clean sheets in both of their UCL matches this season, drawing 0-0 with Manchester City and winning 4-0 to Red Star Belgrade. They also have 3 clean sheets in Serie A.
The thing about Young Boys that sticks out is their inability to score against tougher opposition. They failed to get a goal in either UCL game this season, losing by an aggregate 8-0 across those two matches. In the Swiss Super League, they failed to score recently against Basel and Grasshopper, historically stronger Swiss sides.
Forza Inter? Take Inter Milan to Win to Nil at +140.
Bonus:
A few other bets I like this week are:
Aston Villa Moneyline -160 (I’ve also parlayed this with AC Milan at +142)
Bayern Munich To Win Either Half -130
Season Record:
Best Bets: 1-5
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