Are Manchester United going to qualify for the Champions League knockout stage?

If Cristiano Ronaldo has anything to do with it, United are going to get out of their tricky group, though if he ever gets injured or needs a rest it could be panic stations. The 36 year old once again carried his teammates through a tough European night, scoring both goals, including a 90^th-minute equaliser, to secure an all-important point at Atalanta. He now has 5 goals in 4 Champions League games this season including two late winners and this injury time equaliser. United remain top of group F, level on points with Villareal, who beat Young Boys in the other match in this group, with the dangerous Italians two points back in 3^rd.

Shirt Numbers (settled at 177)

As we mentioned in yesterday’s blog, neither of these sides keep many clean sheets, but both are free-scoring, and so it proved in the thrilling 2-2 draw. There were plenty of markets to get involved in if punters fancied goals, but one of the most intriguing was Shirt Numbers, with a spread set at 104-110. Regular players in this market will know that’s a high spread, but looking at the line-ups, it was easy to spot why.  While United named their ‘normal’ XI with their pretty ‘normal’ shirt numbers, Atalanta played a front 3 sporting numbers 91, 72 and 88, with number 77 charging forward from wing-back. That meant this market was always going to be high variance, but buyers were happy to see number 72 Josep Ilicic open the scoring and number 91 Duvan Zapata re-establish that lead after Ronaldo’s 1^st equaliser.  Buyers at 110 made 67 times their bet.

Will champions Chelsea be in the knockout stages?

Chelsea moved within a point of the last 16 with a 1-0 win in Malmo thanks to Hakim Ziyech’s goal. The Blues controlled large parts of this game, putting on a defensive masterclass to make sure the Swedish champions never got on the scoresheet. Thomas Tuchel’s team won 4-0 in the reverse fixture, and while a repeat of that thrashing was never likely in front of a sell out crowd, Chelsea shut the game down after Ziyech had converted Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross.

Cross-Bookings (settled at 0)

Roared on my a partisan crowd and out-classed by a Chelsea team overflowing with star names, Malmo’s players could have been forgiven for losing their cool and incurring the wrath of the referee. The Swedish team’s discipline was excellent however, and they didn’t have any player booked or sent off, which meant the unders in all sorts of bookings markets was the side to be on. Cross-Bookings multiplies the bookings points of one team by the other, and as Malmo had 0, the make-up was always going to be 0 no matter what Chelsea did (as it happens, they had two players booked for 20 points). Sellers of the Cross-Booking spread of 290-360 banked a maximum 290 times their stake.

Who else shone in Tuesday’s Champions League games?

Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t the only superstar who continues to defy the aging process. Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick on his 100^th Champions League appearance last night as Bayern Munich thrashed Benfica 5-2 to qualify for the knockout stages. The 33 year old helped the German champions to their 4^th straight win in this competition, though their form domestically has been a bit hit and miss. They lost 5-0 in the German Cup last week against Borussia Monchengladbach, their heaviest defeat since 1978.

Robert Lewandowski Super Mega Minutes (settled at 400)

Lewandowski now has 81 Champions League goals in his 100 games, including four hat-tricks, and the buyers were out in force in the knowledge that the Polish star is enjoying an amazing season, even for him. He has 22 goals in 18 games this season, including 8 in 4 Champions League games. Buyers of Lewandowski’s Super Mega Minutes, set at 119-144, trousered 256 times their stake.