Top 5 Bets from the Champions League & More

After mixed results for the English clubs in yesterday’s Champions League openers, Manchester City and Liverpool will hope to follow Chelsea, not Manchester United’s, lead and get their campaigns off to a winning start. But where are the big bets coming in on tonight’s football and elsewhere?

When do Liverpool play AC Milan in the Champions League?

Liverpool’s Champions League campaign begins tonight with a tricky home game against old foes AC Milan, back dining at football’s top table for the first time since 2014. This is a repeat of the 2005 final in Istanbul, rated by many as the best Champions League final ever.

Liverpool v AC Milan

Olivier Giroud Player Goal Minutes (8-11)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic may be absent through injury when Milan head to Anfield, but they have a more than capable deputy in Olivier Giroud. Even with Zlaten in and out of the team, Milan have started the season on fire, winning their first three games, and former Chelsea and Arsenal star Giroud has been among the goals, grabbing a brace against Cagliari. Add in the fact he is likely to be on penalties, and he has a great record against the Reds, with 8 goals in 16 games against them, and

it’s easy to see why there has been money for Giroud.

Who are Manchester City playing in the Champions League?

City’s first group game is at home to RB Leipzig, and in a group also containing PSG and Club Brugge, nothing less than a win will do.

Man City v RB Leipzig

Man City -2 Handicap (7.9-9.4)

Leipzig were runners-up in Germany last year and enjoyed a fantastic season, but the wheels have come off this campaign.  Manager Julian Nagelsmann left to take charge of Bayern Munich and under new boss Jesse Marsch, they’ve lost three of their first four Bundesliga games, including a  4-1 home hammering at the hands of Bayern last weekend. City have Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden back available and, having lost their Premier League opener at Spurs, have won their last three League games by an aggregate 11-0. This Handicap Market sees 25 points awarded for the win and 10 points for a draw, with 0 the result if City don’t win by at least two. City -3 has a spread of 3.6-5.1, so if City win 4-0 or better, buyers would profit 15.6 times their wager in the -2 market, and 19.9 in the -3. If City ‘only’ win by three clear goals, buyers still win 15.6 times their bet on the -2 Handicap, but just 4.9 times on the -3.

Penalty Goal Minutes (15-18)

After last night’s games, which saw penalties galore including four in one game for the first time in Champions League history, it’s no wonder there’s money around buying Penalty Minutes at 18. Leipzig actually conceded a penalty in Saturday’s defeat against Bayern, allowing Robert Lewandowski to open the scoring, and City have so many tricky attacking players that it would be no surprise to see them awarded a spot kick. Whether they can score it is a different matter.

Are there any other big Champions League games tonight?

Inter Milan v Real Madrid

Two of the biggest names in European football meet at the San Siro this evening, though both are going through somewhat of a rebuilding period. Financial constraints forced the summer sales of two of Inter’s best players, Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi, bringing in over £150million, while coach Antonio Conte also departed. Madrid’s Galactico teams are a thing of the past, and while Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard are all still very good players, they’re not the world class superstars of yesteryear.

Benzema Super Mega Minutes 36-42

After reclaiming his place in the France team last year, Benzema is enjoying an Indian summer. He’s bang in form, having scored a hattrick in Madrid’s last game, a 5-2 win over Celta Vigo, and he scored in his last appearance against Inter, getting the opening goal in a 3-2 win in November. Super Mega Minutes awards points for the minutes of each goal scored, with double points for a second goal and treble for third.

Golf

Where is the European Tour event this week?

While the chosen few ready themselves for next week’s Ryder Cup, the rest of the European Tour head to the Netherlands for the Dutch Open.

Dutch Open

Finishing Positions Ondrej Lieser 54-57

Last year’s Challenge Tour number 1 has not had as much success as he would have hoped on the European Tour this year. Having dropped back down to the Challenge Tour last week to record a confidence boosting 11^th place finish, could we be about to see a bounceback to some sort of form for the big Czech? The Finishing Positions market is made up where the player finishes, with a maximum make up of 70, so sellers at 54, expecting Lieser to perform well, are risking 16 times their bet if it all goes wrong, but would make 53 times their bet if he wins.