Expert Betting - Champions League betting previews

After a spectacular 2-2 draw in the first leg, Barcelona seems to be favorite to win this game and to qualify. The catalans played better in the first game, having more scoring chances, but Almunia was one of the best players in the game. This game won't be the same, it will be much harder for Arsenal's defense to keep the ball away.

Both teams will miss a lot of important players. Barcelona will play without suspended Puyol and injured Pique, so Marquez and Milito will probably start the game in first lineup. Also Ibrahimovic is injured and he can even miss the derby against Real Madrid. Iniesta seems to be back, but is not sure if he will start the game in the field or he will enter in the second half. The defense is weak for Barcelona, but I think the midfield will keep the ball a lot and will intercept a lot of important balls. Guardiola will have tho choose between Xavi, Iniesta, Yaya Toure, Busquets and Keita to play in the midfield. I think the best choice is to play with Xavi, Yaya Toure and Keita as they will gain more strength. Even if Ibrahimovic will miss the game, Bojan seems to be in good shape scoring 2 goals against Bilbao in the weekend. Alongside Messi and Pedro, Barcelona's offensive will be good enough to score some goals.

Arsenal will miss some of their important players, starting with suspended, but also injured Cesc Fabregas. Arshavin will also miss this game, and the English team will loose o lot in the midfield without these 2 players. I don't think they have too many chances starting the game with Denilson or Eboue in the midfield. Rosiscky is a good player, but he never was in his best shape as he is injured too often. Nasri is also a talented player, but he still needs more games to play at this level to have the needed experience. The defense will suffer as Gallas is also injured for this game. If Arsenal had their best squad they could have a good chance to qualify, but in these conditions I see them loosing this game by 2 or more goals. I don't even think they can score. However, I hope the Gunners will win the Premier League trophy this year, but we all know that Chelsea has the first chance.

Probable teams:
Barcelona: Valdes, Dani Alves, Marquez, Milito, Abidal, Xavi, Busquets, Keita, Messi, Pedro, Bojan

Arsenal: Almunia, Clichy, Vermaelen, Diaby, Sagna, Nasri, Denilson, Eboue, Rosiscky, Bendtner, Walcott

Our prediction: Barcelona -1.25 AH, 7/10 @1.81 at Pinnacle

Final result: 4 - 1, +5.67

Most of the bets on this game are for Manchester to win because they are playing very good in last period, others take Bayern because they "need" to win as they will have a hard time on Old Trafford. I am honest and say that I can't see any team here to be favourite enough to take a bet. However, I must say that I'm confident in an over 2.5 goals bet for this game. We have two teams with strong attack, players like Robben, Ribery or Rooney are scoring a lot in their local competitions, but also in Champions League. I know that for the first leg both teams will play a little cautious, but if we have a little bit luck to see goal in first half of hour, the game should be spectacular. We all saw what happened on San Siro when that first goal came soon. I don't like too much the Bayern's defense, and I think Man Utd will find a way to score and make the second leg easy for them.

Also, both teams have different philosophies than the italian teams for example. They are trying to win the games, rarely will be glad with a draw. Man Utd haven't stopped to score again AC Milan in the second leg even if they won the first leg. I see Man Utd to have the first chance for a qualification, but after the second leg. For this game I will only take this bet, over 2.5.

Probable teams:
Bayern Munich: Butt, Lahm, Van Buyten, Demichelis, Badstuber, Van Bommel, Pranjic, Robben, Muller, Ribery, Gomez.

Man Utd: Van Der Sar, Evra, Vidic, Ferdinand, Neville, Parj Ji-Sung, Carrick, Fletcher, Nani, Rooney, Valencia.

Our prediction: Over 2.5, 5/10 @2.11 at Pinnacle

Final result: 2 - 1, +5.55

We enjoyed a very good game in the first leg, when Manchester won 3-2, with Rooney scoring 2 goals. The good news for the English team is that Rooney will be back in the first line up in this game.

AC Milan needs to score at least twice to have a chance for the next stages, so they really should go in offensive strikes from the beginning of the game. I don't like AC Milan style of playing for a couple of years, but they are showing good performance this year with Ronaldinho in good shape. Also, players like Pato, Huntelaar or Boriello can pass through the United's defense and score. AC Milan will have great scoring chances if they will receive any free kick around the penalty area, as we all know how many free kick goals scored by Pirlo, Beckham or Ronaldinho we saw.

With AC Milan trying to get the ball in the opponents' penalty area, Rooney will have a lot of counter attack chances. I don't think Manchester will defend all the game waiting for the final whistle, but they won't play as if they really need the victory. However they won't say "no" to any counter attack chance.

With such offensive players for both teams, I think this game will be at the same level with the first leg, and we'll enjoy watching some goals tonight.

Our prediction: Over 2.5, 7/10 @1.88 at Pinnacle

Final result: 4 - 0, +6.16

In the last period I've staked on over bets when Real Madrid played at home. The reason is simple, they had on of the best squad a team ever had in the last decade. And also they are maybe in their best shape this season. Ok, they lost the first leg at Lyon, event if they had better possession, but on Santiago Bernabeu the things will be different. Now it's the second leg, Real will go in offensive from the first minute, how can any team to keep a clean sheet 2 games against Real Madrid in this period? I don't think Lyon's plan is to defend all the 90 minutes, so they will try to score. If they will score, Real needs at least 3 goals to qualify.

Also, if Real will score soon in the game, Lyon can't hope to reach the extra time or penalties. They really need to play some football tonight and score once ore more if they want a real chance for the quarter finals. Real Madrid won't stop for a second to defend, even if they will lead 2-0, Lyon can score in every moment and qualify. So, maybe if Real will have a 3 goals (at least) advantage they will defend. This game has a change to be a high scoring game, maybe more than 4 goals, and the odds offered for this bet are good enough.

Our prediction: Over 3.25, 6/10 @2.19 at 188Bet

Final result: 1 - 1, -6.00