Uefa Champions League Round 7 gets under way on Tuesday night when our focus is on Monaco v Aston Villa and Atletico Madrid v Bayer Leverkusen
Prices below from Sportingbet are correct at the time of writing but subject to change
Monaco 14/10 Draw 5/2 Aston Villa 1.75/1
Monaco have 10 points from a record of 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats and that puts them in sixteenth position. It's a very congested log and they are only 3 points shy of a top 8 spot but the sheer number of teams involved will make it tough to qualify automatically whilst even a play off spot is far from guaranteed. It all started well with 3 wins and 1 draw from their first 4 matches including home wins over Barca (2-1) and Red Star (5-1). Since then defeats at home to Benfica (3-2) and most recently at Arsenal (3-0) have seen them slide down the standings.
Villa are fifth with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat and they have this game and a home fixture against Celtic to come. They have won twice away from home, at Young Boys first up (3-0) and in Round 6 they came away from Leipzig with a 3-2 victory. A 1-0 loss at Brugge could still be damaging but they have picked up form in the EPL and will arrive in good shape.
The Verdict
Monaco have won just 2 of their last 11 across all competitions and this could be an opportunity for Villa to take a giant stride towards qualifying automatically. I'll go with Watkins anytime
Bets: Anytime goalscorer Ollie Watkins at 16/10 with Sportingbet
Atletico Madrid 1.45/1 Draw 23/10 Bayer Leverkusen 1.85/1
Atletico have won 4 and lost 2 of their matches which puts them in eleventh position heading into the penultimate round. They have won their last 3 including away fixtures at PSG (2-1) and Sparta Prague (6-0) and last time out they were 3-1 winners at home to Bratislava. Their other win came at home to German opposition, a 2-1 victory over Leipzig in the opening round.
Leverkusen finished Round 6 in fourth spot, the second of 6 teams with 13 points. Their only defeat came at Liverpool (4-0) on Matchday 3, they also dropped points away to Brest (1-1) and 1 away win came at Feyenoord (4-0). They have been foot perfect at home, most recently beating Inter 1-0.
The Verdict
Atletico were surprisingly beaten in La Liga at the weekend, ending a 15 match winning streak whilst Leverkusen have won each of their last 12 across all competitions so we have 2 sides in top form and looking for top 8 finishing positions. Leverkusen are at home to Sparta in their final match whilst Aletico go to Salzburg and both those opponents look like also rans but much hinges on the outcome of this game. I'm with a score draw which brings the run of play market into the mix.
Bets: Run of play, lead and draw at 33/10 with Sportingbet
Note, prices quoted are subject to change
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