THE Champions League returns this week and one of the biggest matches of the round is at the Bernabeu Stadium where 11-time champions of Europe Real Madrid host Napoli in the Spanish capital.
Madrid is a very heavy 1.57 favourite to take a first leg lead to southern Italy in a fortnight’s time, and with them sitting pretty at the top of La Liga, favourite backers will be out in force, but I am not so sure it’s the right thing to do.
Zinedine Zidane’s side hasn’t been in the best of form recently with just three wins in their last seven matches and this might not be as one-sided as the bookies will have you believe.
Madrid is unbeaten at home in the Champions League this season, but they’ve conceded in every match and they have also conceded in every one of their six group matches in this year’s Champions League and getting with goals looks the way to profit.
In those six matches not only did both teams score, but everyone featured more than 2.5 goals and the best bets in this first leg is the 1.62 on “yes” for both teams to score that is available with most bookies and 1.55 on over 2.5 goals in the match which is pretty general as well.
It’s the same story in Napoli games with both teams scoring in nine of the last ten and over 2.5 goals have come in as a winning bet in 11 of the Italian giants last 13 games and goals look a certainty.
Can we See a Shock?
The rule when Napoli play is to usually get with them at their Stadio San Paolo and oppose them away from home, but this season they’ve turned that away form on its head having only lost twice on their travels and just three times all season.
The Ciucciarelli have been totally overlooked to win this one at the 6.50 with Bet365 and Maurizio Sarri’s side has got a much better chance than those odds suggest.
The visitors are unbeaten in their last 18 matches and they offer a massive goal threat with 40 goals scored in their last 13, including SEVEN in their last away match at Bologna; Serie A’s top goal scorers can get something from this and I am taking the draw at the general 4.50.
Unlike Spanish v Italian European match-ups of yesteryear, this will be an entertaining end-to-end thriller, and at 15.00 I am going to have a very small bet on the game to end 2-2 in the correct score markets.
Betfair:
Bet on Henrik Stenson to become the BMW PGA Championship Winner.
Paddypower:
Back Australia to take the Ashes home with them.
Betway:
Back Rafael Nadal to become the Mens French Open Winner.
Coral:
Back One For Arthur to win the Grand National.
Bet365:
Back Mexico to win the Confederations Cup.
