European football is back after the winter break with the first stage of knockout ties in both the Champions League and its little brother, the Europa League. There are a number of juicy looking matches to consider, so let’s get down to business and try and find some nice big winning accas.
Easy Winner – 6/5 (BetVictor)
- Shakhtar Donetsk v Bayern Munich over 1.5 goals (2/9) – Shakhtar won one, drew one and lost one of their home group stage matches with an average of over three goals per game. They bring that record into a game with one of last year’s semi finalists, Bayern Munich. Bayern topped their group only losing once away from home. Over 1.5 goals should be a given and goes into our first acca.
- Real Madrid to beat Schalke (4/11) – Carlo Ancelotti’s men finished the group stage with a perfect six win from six. They only conceded two goals and scored an impressive 16 which is worrying form for Schalke who host Cristiano Ronald and co on Wednesday night. We will back the away team to take a victory into the second leg.
- Young Boys v Everton over 1.5 goals (1/3) – Everton’s trip to Bern will be a difficult one. Young Boys have won their last seven home games in the Europa League so Everton will need to score to have something to bring back to Merseyside. Young Boys are capable of scoring twice themselves, add in Everton’s attack and you have a recipe for over two goals.
Medium Risk – 10/1 (Coral)
- Schalke v Real Madrid both teams to score – no (11/10) – Real Madrid are the better side and should win but they won’t take too many risks. If they do get a goal, they will try to then shut up shop so that they can take a nice win to build on in the Spanish capital. Back no in the both teams to score market at good odds.
- Sevilla v Monchengladbach both teams to score – yes (10/11) – Both teams score in over half of each of Sevilla and Monchengladbach’s league games. Both sit fifth in their respective leagues and both score plenty of goals. Add both teams to score to this acca – odds of 10/11 are huge.
- PSV to beat Zenit (8/5) – PSV are sitting pretty at the top of the Eredivisie with 11 victories out of 11 at home. The Dutch team’s price is inflated as Zenit have dropped into the Europa League. Zenit struggled in the Champions League and could well continue to do likewise against PSV.
Long Shot – 170/1 (Bet365)
- PSG v Chelsea, Zlatan Ibrahimovic to score first (7/2) – Zlatan, Il Genio, Ibra. Whatever you call him there’s no denying his ability to score goals in big games. His team will need him to come through once again to have a chance of getting through the tie against Chelsea.
- Basel to beat Porto (11/5) – Porto are favourites for this game and are a good side, but they could come away from Switzerland with nothing. Basel are an awkward team to play against at St. Jakob-Park. They’re good odds to win the match and have everything in place to upset the odds.
- Wolfsburg v Sporting over 2.5 goals and draw (11/1) – Both of these teams score lots of goals both home and away. They are also very well matched. You can take the huge 11/1 that this will be a multi-goal thriller that will end up with the sides sharing the spoils.