There are two UEFA Champions League last 16 first leg encounters taking place on Wednesday and we take a look at each of them from a betting angle.
INTER MILAN v LIVERPOOL
Inter came through the group stages with 3 victories, 2 defeats and a draw and looking at their home form they won 2 and lost 1 that loss coming 1-0 against Real Madrid. They drew 1-1 away at Napoli in the League on the weekend.
Liverpool came through the group stages with a 100% record with their 3 away wins coming against Porto, Atletico Madrid and AC Milan. Liverpool scored 17 goals in 6 matches and never scored less than 2 goals in a game. Looking at their League form they have been in good nick and edged Burnley 1-0 away on the weekend that after beating Leicester 2-0 at home last week.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Inter Milan 23/10
Draw 12/5
Liverpool 11/10
Suggested Bet: Liverpool win at 11/10
Inter Milan are well capable of challenging Liverpool and I expect they might be able to keep things tight early. Overall though I think this Liverpool side are playing too well and will bank a first leg away victory.
Another bet I would seriously consider here is Liverpool Total Goals over 1.5 at 17/20 which looks a fair price when you consider they scored at least 2 goals in each of their group matches.
SALZBURG v BAYERN MUNICH
Salzburg had to qualify for the group stages and then came through that with 3 wins, a draw and 2 defeats. Their home form was excellent and they beat Lille, Wolfsburg and Sevilla and they beat Rapid Vienna 2-1 away in the League on the weekend.
Bayern Munich came through their group stage without a blemish winning all 6 games including a convincing 3-0 away win over Barcelona in their opening match. In their away games they scored 9 goals and conceded just 1.
Bayern Munich were stunned by Bochum in the League on the weekend losing 4-2 on the road that broke a run of 3 successive League victories.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Salzburg 6/1
Draw 9/2
Bayern Munich 37/100
Suggested Bet: Handicap, Bayern Munich (-1.5) goals at 10/11
I am assuming that Bayer Munich’s poor League performance was because they were focused on the Champions League matches to come and I am expecting them to dish out the pain in Salzburg. For this bet to arrive we need them to win by more than a goal.
Looking at the Goal Scoring markets I see over 3.5 goals priced at 19/20 which is a lot shorter than we would normally expect, but given how high scoring Bayern Munich games are it is probably a fair bet.
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change