Tuesday, 22 April 2008
UEFA Champions League
Liverpool v Chelsea, SF, L1, 19:45
Draw @ 21/10 (VC Bet) | won
Under 1.5 goals @ 8/5 (Betfair) | lost
Like most first legs of European ties between two evenly matched sides, particularly when the two sides are relatively unadventurous, the aim is often not to lose rather than to win. Neither manager will be happy if his team conceded early, and the longer the game goes goalless the less desire there will be to take risks. Expect this game to be cagey and low scoring, as the last meeting between Liverpool and Chelsea to have more than two goals was the Community Shield in August 2006, eight matches ago.
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
UEFA Champions League
Barcelona v Man Utd, SF, L1, 19:45 | Barcelona to qualify @ 13/8
This is an extremely difficult tie to call given Barcelona’s indifferent form in recent weeks, goalless draws at home to Getafe and Espanyol respectively dropped the Catalan giants into third place – 9 points off leaders Real Madrid. Combined with a shock exit in the semi-finals of the Copa Del Rey to Valencia, manager Rijkaard is under pressure to deliver against United.
Despite not firing on all cylinders domestically, in Europe they have won all five of their home ties this season including a convincing 3-0 win against Lyon.
Similarly Manchester United’s domestic form has been very ordinary of late. Draws against Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers have given Chelsea a sniff in the title race. This combined with an undeserved victory over Arsenal despite being outplayed for long periods, will give Barcelona confidence.
Like their illustrious opponents, United have an impressive record in Europe this season, with 3 wins and 2 draws in their previous 5 matches. In spite of this Ferguson has an abysmal away record in the knockout stages over the past 5 seasons: W2 D1 L5, proving to be tactically inept on a number of occasions despite a continuous spending spree in an attempt to rectify this problem. Comparing this with Barcelona’s fantastic record in the knockout stages over the last 5 seasons: W4 D3 L1, I am siding with Barcelona given their excellent home record in this competition.
Messi to score more goals than Ronaldo across the two legs 6/4 @ Paddy Power
Paddy Power are taking bets on a special market entitled 'Ronaldo v Messi', where the Portuguese winger is favourite to outscore his Argentinian counterpart. For those who agree with the notion that Cristiano Ronaldo is vastly overrated, especially by those who consider him the best player in the world, this bet holds good value. Remember last season when he was supposed to steal the show against Milan, and reality was outshone by Kaka, the actual best player in the world? It is more probable that Zambrotta will take care of Ronaldo, than Wes Brown taking care of Messi.
N.B: Should both players score equal number of goals, the bet will be void and Paddy Power will refund all stakes on the event.
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