Liverpool and Tottenham, both of whom enjoyed differing fortunes in their opening fixtures, are back in Champions League action on Wednesday.
Liverpool face a tricky away trip to Naples, while Tottenham host the might of Barcelona at Wembley and our Champions League betting expert has taken a look at the best bets ahead of both fixtures.
Napoli v Liverpool
Thanks to a late Roberto Firmino goal, Liverpool’s Champions League campaign got off to the best possible start against PSG at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp’s side dominated from start to finish and would have been out of sight had it not been for some careless finishing.
A draw in the other opening fixture has put Liverpool in the ascendancy and they will hope to confirm that against Napoli on Wednesday.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side were frustrated by Red Star Belgrade in their first match of the competition and were held to a goalless draw.
That was away from home and they are a totally different kettle of fish at the Stadio San Paolo, where they are three wins from three in the league this season.
Make no bones about it, this is a serious test for Jurgen Klopp’s team and you’d think he’d bite your hand off for a point.
Napoli might be slightly lacking in confidence after being comfortably beaten by Juventus on Saturday, so I’m backing the draw at 5/2 with Grosvenorsport.com.
Tottenham v Barcelona
Things appear to be turning for Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham. September defeats to Watford and Liverpool in the league, as well as a damaging loss to Inter Milan in their opening Champions League saw the critics begin to question the Argentinian.
However, solid performances against Brighton and Huddersfield have eased those worries and perhaps more importantly, Harry Kane is back amongst the goals with three in his last two.
They entertain a Barcelona side, who are hopelessly out of form.
Home draws to Girona and Athletic Bilbao, intertwined with a defeat to Leganes have seen Real Madrid pull alongside them in La Liga and manager Ernesto Valverde will be desperate for his side to get back to winning ways against Spurs at Wembley on Wednesday evening.
If there was ever a good time to play Barcelona, this is probably it and Pochettino’s side will aim to prey on the low confidence that is clearly hampering their opponents at the moment.
Winning your home games in the Champions League is key to qualification for the knockout stages and this coupled with their opening loss mean Spurs must get something from this game.
Taking this into account, I’m backing Spurs to hold their Spanish opponents to a point at 11/4, while there also looks to be a bit of value in backing them with a one goal headstart at 5/6.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.