Betting on European knock out rounds updated

In the Europa League we fancy two “outsiders” here in the form of Fulham and Atletico Madrid. Fulhams thumping of Juventus will have given them a lot of confidence and they’ve got the easier of the draws. Betting at the moment stands as follows and you can see why we like these two from a risk and return perspective:

Liverpool – 3/1
Hamburg – 4/1
Valencia – 4/1
Benfica – 6/1
Wolfsburg – 7/1
Atletico Madrid – 8/1
Fulham – 10/1
Standard – 16/1

In the UEFA Champions League, our two picks (Inter Milan and Barcelona) continue to chug on and both have got interesting match ups in the quarterfinals in the forms of CSKA Moscow and Arsenal. I think it is still reasonable to say that they are both favourites to win these match ups.

The problem from here is that if they do progress from here, they will end up knocking one of them out of the competition in the semis… Oh well I guess that’s the nature of the beast!

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Champions League picks

Another round of the Champions League is here today and there look like some pretty straightforward soccer picks for tonight.

• Apoel Nicosia vs FC Copenhagen - Draw
• Arsenal vs Celtic - Arsenal win (2-0, 3-0, Da Silva Eduardo as first goalscorer)
• Fiorentina vs Sporting - Fiorentina (1-0)
• Olympiakos vs FC Sheriff - Olympiakos to win 2-0
• Stuttgart vs Timisoara - Stuttgart to win (2-0, 3-0)

Big Finals

Two big finals this week and

Barcelona / Manchester United
The Barcelona vs. Manchester United final has certainly stirred up football fans across the World Wide Web.

It's been interesting to go from site to site reading the different comments and its
amazing how there doesn't seem to be an "under-dog" in this match-up. These two sides, while having contrasting styles of play are hugely competitive and it should be a humdinger of a final.

I backed Barcelona to win either 2-0 or 2-1 but I don't have any real loyalty on the line here so I'll sit back and let the respective fans scrap it out.

Chelsea / Everton
There is no question who the under-dog is in this game and I got some pretty handy odds backing Everton for this final.

After Villa got knocked out I have tentatively switched my allegiance (for this trophy only!) to Everton so hope they give Chelsea a bit of a surprise...

Best club side at the mo...

The Champions League is supposed to answer the question of which side is currently the greatest club competing in Europe at the moment.

Obviously everyone has their own favourite who they believe is the best side, but last nights round made for some seriously interesting viewing.

Chelsea beat Liverpool at Anfield - 1-3 - big result
Barcelona thumped Bayern Munich - 4-0

On top of that, you had the gutsy performance out of Porto to hold Manchester United 2-2 at Old Trafford and definately playing from a strong position going into their home round...

Any thoughts on which is the best club side at the moment and why?

Champions League Predictions - 25 / 26 November 2008

From the Sports Trader blog

We had an absolute nightmare last time round trying to make some calls on the Champions League fixtures. Hopefully this next round brings a higher success rate.

There are no easy games in Europe at the moment and English clubs have battled. With injuries taking their toll, we're not particularly bullish on their prospects this week either.

Tuesday - 25 November
Zenit St Petersburg v Juventus - Juventus win
AaB v Celtic - Celtic Win
Villarreal v Man Utd - Villareal win
Fiorentina v Lyon - Draw
Bayern Munich v Steaua Bucuresti - Bayern Munich win
Arsenal v Dynamo Kiev - Arsenal draw
Fenerbahce v FC Porto - draw
BATE v Real Madrid - Real Madrid win

Manchester United make an unenviable trip to Villareal minus key marksman Bergatov. With Christiano Ronaldo in doubt, we're betting against them taking anything from this fixture.

Cesc Fabregas takes over the captaincy of Arsenal following William Gallas' indiscretions. With Arsenals' up and down form in the last few weeks, we're not particularly confident in backing them.

Wednesday 26 November
Bordeaux v Chelsea - Draw
CFR Cluj-Napoca v Roma - Roma win
Inter Milan v Panathinaikos - Inter win
Anorthosis Famagusta v Werder Bremen - Werder Bremen win
Shakhtar Donetsk v Basle - Draw
Sporting v Barcelona - Barcelona win
Atletico Madrid v PSV - Atletico Madrid win
Liverpool v Marseille - Draw

Chelsea and Liverpool we've marked down to draw but we're backing the Spanish clubs (Atletico Madrid, and Barcelona) to do the business.

If you are looking for high scoring games, we're recommending you look at the Roma and Inter Milan fixtures...

Good luck punters.

Champions League Picks from Sports Trader

The world's greatest football clubs lineup for the next round of the Champions League and Sports Trader has made its predictions for the 4 / 5 November rounds.

The Liverpool vs. Atletico Madrid game is going to be an intriguing match up.

Liverpool are playing great football at the moment, but with marksman Fernando Torres expected to miss this game, there are going to be some tough questions asked of their attack. With a couple of close games in recent weeks and the rather surprising loss to Spurs on the weekend, we are calling a draw.

Roma vs Chelsea is another big game - more specifically for Chelsea. We're expecting Chelsea to do the business here, despite the travelling.

If you are looking to go high on the goalscoring front then look to either the Barcelona or Inter Milan games.

4 November 2008
Roma v Chelsea - Chelsea win
CFR Cluj-Napoca v Bordeaux - Draw
Werder Bremen v Panathinaikos - Werder Bremen win
Anorthosis Famagusta v Inter
Milan - Inter Milan win
Barcelona v Basle - Barcelona win
Sporting v Shakhtar Donetsk - Sporting Win
Marseille v PSV - Marseille win
Liverpool v Atletico Madrid - Draw

For the 5th of November games, we're not putting a hell of a lot of faith in the English clubs.

We're going long Celtic for a win against Manchester United and Fenerbahce to hold Arsenal to a draw.

Picking a high-scorer was tough but we're going long on Bayern Munich to do the deed and rack up a big score against Fiorentina.

Real Madrid v Juventus - Real Madrid - Win

Celtic v Man Utd - Celtic win
Fiorentina v Bayern Munich - Bayern Munich win
AaB v Villarreal - Villarreal win
Lyon v Steaua Bucurest - Draw
Arsenal v Fenerbahce - Draw
Dynamo Kiev v FC Porto - FC Porto win
BATE v Zenit St Petersburg - Zenit St Petersburg win

Good luck punters