Matchweek 3 of the UEFA Champions League kicks off this week, with key fixtures including Man United v Copenhagen, Sevilla v Arsenal, Newcastle v Borussia Dortmund, PSG v Milan and Young Boys v Man City.
Here we bring you the rundown of the biggest games and our top betting tips!
Key Fixtures
Manchester United v FC København
Manchester United host the leaders of the Danish Superliga on Tuesday night and will be looking to turn around their disastrous start to the Champions League Group Stage which has seen them lose both their opening games. Few would’ve given Copenhagen much hope of progressing from Group A, but a positive result in Manchester could give them hope of at least a Europa League spot.
United head into the game in poor form at home, and won’t be helped by a length injury list along with the absence of the suspended Casemiro. The English side have had no problems scoring goals in this years competition, but can’t seem to stop conceding them. Copenhagen, who have scored in 26 of their last 28 games, will be hopeful of capitalising on their hosts’ defensive woes.
While this will certainly be a test for Erik Ten Hag’s men, we expect Man United to finally get some points on the board in an exciting affair at Old Trafford.
Prediction: Manchester United 3-1 FC København
Sevilla v Arsenal
Arsenal travel to Spain on Tuesday night where they face a Sevilla side who are struggling for wins so far this season. Sevilla have been something of an enigma in recent European football history, dominating the Europa League but struggling to make the step-up to the Champions League.
This season however, they’ve been struggling altogether so far. Sevilla have just 2 wins from 9 in La Liga, with those coming against newly-promoted Las Palmas and bottom-of-the-league Almeria, but will take confident from Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Real Madrid and a recent narrow 1-0 defeat at Barcelona.
It’s hard to judge what kind of mood Arsenal will arrive in, with a late comeback against Chelsea salvaging what was otherwise an underwhelming performance. The Gunners will be eager to bounce back from a shock defeat against Lens in their last Champions League outing and their young side will hope to draw on their impressive form away from home to counter their inexperience at this level.
This is likely to be a cagey affair neither side will want to lose and could go either way, but we expect Arsenal’s quality to shine through and earn them a valuable 3 points.
Prediction: Sevilla 0-1 Arsenal
Newcaslte v Borussia Dortmund
Newcastle United will be hoping to continue their dream start to this years UEFA Champions League as they square-up to yet another one of Europe’s elite clubs. The Magpies have not looked out of place on their long-awaited return to European football’s top table and head into the game in fine form following Saturday’s 4-0 demolition of Crystal Palace.
Dortmund currently sit bottom of Group F and really need to get going if they’re going to progress to the knock-out rounds. They’re currently unbeaten in the Bundesliga after a strong start and will need to draw on that form if they’re to get a result at what is sure to be an electric St. James’ Park, where PSG already suffered a 4-1 humbling.
This looks like it could be a difficult night for the German side. They will need to silence the crowd early on and avoid conceding first, otherwise they could be in for a long 90 minutes on Tyneside. Newcaslte will have already put to bed any nerves they had upon seeing their Group F opponents and we think this game could be a big step on their way to the last-16.
Prediction: Newcastle 2-0 Borussia Dortmund
Paris St Germain v AC Milan
It’s fair to say that it’s a year of transition for PSG, who said goodbye to superstars such as Messi, Neymar and Sergio Ramos over the summer. They currently sit 3rd in Ligue Un, 2 points off pace-setters Monaco, but don’t currently strike the same level of fear into their opposition as they did 12 months ago.
AC Milan have made a strong start of their own domestically, trailing local rivals Inter Milan by just a point after 9 games. They will head into the game more confidently following PSG’s 4-1 thrashing at Newcastle and know that avoiding defeat in Paris would leave them in a strong position to progress, with 2 of their remaining 3 games at home.
PSG do possess firepower, much of it in the name of Kylian Mbappe, and this game could-well be decided in the transitions thanks to the mercurial talents of Mbappe and Rafael Leao coming head-to-head. This should be an interesting watch, and we expect PSG to require a balance of posing enough attacking threat to break down Milan, whilst keeping an eye on Olivier Giroud’s link-up up with Leao on the counter-attack.
As hosts, PSG should be the favourites here, but an early goal for AC Milan could certainly test this new-look PSG side.
Prediction: Paris St Germain 2-1 AC Milan
Young Boys v Manchester City
City will travel to Switzerland on Wednesday night as overwhelming favourites in this match, and it’s easy to understand why. Pep Guardiola’s men finally got their hands on the trophy they’d been waiting for last season, and the holders head into this years competition heavily fancied to repeat the trick.
Manchester City are off to a perfect start in Group G, but do head into the match following a slightly nervy 2-1 victory over Brighton and a loss at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal before the international break. It is likely that the Citizens will have one eye on the Manchester derby coming up this weekend, and could take this opportunity to rest a few key players.
Young Boys may see this as an opportunity to secure what would be a famous result. This is the third occasion the Swiss champions have qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage, and they finished bottom of the group on both previous occasions. Interestingly, they did face Manchester opposition in both those campaigns, being drawn in the same group as Manchester United. This fixture comes little over 2 years after Young Boys stunned the red half of Manchester, recovering from a Cristiano Ronaldo goal to secure a famous 2-1 victory in Bern. They’ll be desperately hoping for another night like that one.
Despite the likelihood of Manchester City rotation, they do possess incredible strength-in-depth and should have enough quality to overcome their relatively-shaky recent form to secure 3 points in this fixture. Young Boys will do their best to avoid conceding an early goal and hope for an opportunity on the break or via a set-piece. With the way the group is shaping up, keeping the scoreline respectable could be considered an acceptable result for Young Boys, as qualification for the Europa League via a 3rd place finish would represent their strongest Champions League performance to-date.
Prediction: Young Boys 0-3 Manchester City
Betting Tips
Tuesday’s Acca Tip:
- Galatasaray v Bayern Munich – Bayern Munich to Win
- Inter Milan v Red Bull Salzburg – Inter Milan to Win To Nil
- Lens v PSV – Both Teams To Score: Yes
- Manchester United v FC Københagen – Manchester United to Win
- Sporting Braga v Real Madrid – Real Madrid to Win (-1.5)
8.26/1 at William Hill
Wednesday’s Acca Tip:
- Barcelona v Shakhtar Donetsk – Barcelona to Win (-1.5)
- Feyenoord v Lazio – Both Teams To Score: Yes
- Newcastle v Borussia Dortmund – Newcastle to Win
- Red Bull Leipzig v Red Star Belgrade – Red Bull Leipzig to Win
- Young Boys v Manchester City – Manchester City to Win (-1.5)
7.92/1 at BetUK
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