The first of the two Champions League semi-finals takes place on Tuesday night with Real Madrid hosting Chelsea in their 1st leg. We take a look at the game from a betting angle.
Real Madrid saw off Liverpool in the quarter-finals, winning the home leg 3-1 before holding Liverpool to a goalless draw at Anfield. Prior to that they had beaten Atalanta 4-1 on aggregate and their group stage form was a bit more inconsistent with 2 losses, 3 wins and a draw. In the playoffs both of their home matches had finished in 3-1 victories
They were in League action on the weekend and played to a goalless draw to Betis and you have to go back to the 30th of January to find the last time Real Madrid tasted defeat. Interestingly enough Madrid have been held scoreless in 3 of their last 4 games in all competitions.
Chelsea beat Porto 2-1 on aggregate despite going down 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in the 2nd leg. The damage was done in the 1st leg at Porto with Chelsea winning 2-0 and in their last 16 match they were very efficient in seeing off the dangerous Atletico Madrid 3-0 on aggregate. Chelsea’s away form in the group stages was also perfect and they won all 3 of their matches.
Chelsea were also in action domestically over the weekend beating West Ham 1-0 away in a crucial EPL match. Chelsea’s last 4 matches across all competitions have seen only 1 goal or less scored.
These sides last met in the International Champions Cup in 2016 with Real Madrid winning 3-2.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Real Madrid 27/20
Draw 9/4
Chelsea 9/4
Suggested Bet: The draw at 9/4
I am expecting this to be a very tight game and although Real Madrid are rightfully the favourites at home I think that Chelsea can get a point to take back to Stamford Bridge.
Looking at some of the other markets on offer, Over 2.5 Goals is quite tempting at 12/10 as although recent Chelsea and Real Madrid games have been low scoring, Real Madrid home games in the Champions League tend to have goals in them.
You can get 9/10 that Both Teams find the back of the net and I quite fancy that my Correct Score prediction in this game is a 1-1 draw, currently on offer at 19/4.
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
