It’s Champions League matchday three this week and teams know they can go a long way to securing their passage into the last 16 with a vital win. On Tuesday, Chelsea and Manchester United are the Premier League representatives hoping to maintain their recent good form while there’s a mouth-watering clash for Celtic when they go to Barcelona.
Barcelona v Celtic
Probably the biggest game of the evening sees Neil Lennon’s side travel to take on the might of the Catalan giants and aristocrats of Europe.
Barcelona are, as ever, huge favourites (1/12 – match odds) to come out on top but this is unlikely to be as easy an evening as the market is suggesting for Tito Vilanova’s men, with Celtic’s 25/1 odds of winning looking just a bit too large.
Celtic, unlike in recent campaigns, have given themselves a chance of qualification with a draw at home to Benfica and a fine win at Spartak Moscow so far, but still they face a huge ask to make it into the top two in such a tough group.
However, Tuesday is one of the Bhoys’ biggest European nights for many a year – considering the way the group is finely poised after two games – and they know getting anything from the game, however hard that is, will give them a great chance of progressing and also go down as one of their best-ever results.
But this is Barca at the Nou Camp we are talking about and even the most die-hard Celtic fan will struggle to predict anything other than a home win.
Celtic would love a repeat of their 1-1 draw from 2008 when they famously earned a point in Barcelona and, again at long odds of 11/1, the draw is tempting to back on Tuesday.
Don’t be fooled though, Barca have much more quality than the SPL champions – even if boss Vilanova opts to rest a few regulars – and a fairly comfortable 2-0 home win is our prediction.
Prediction: Barcelona 2 Celtic 0 at 6/1.
Manchester United v Braga
United’s home game with Portuguese side Braga should be a straightforward evening for the Premier League giants at Old Trafford.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men have won their first two games in the Champions League so far and should have too much for Braga as they look to make it three wins out of three (1/3 in the match betting) and take a big step towards a last-16 place.
United have not yet been at their best this season and have looked rusty, inconsistent and less than watertight at the back in certain games to offer Braga hope of a shock victory (9/1) or draw (4/1).
But they were surprisingly beaten 2-0 at home by relative minnows CFR Cluj on matchday one before restoring pride with an impressive 2-0 win over Galatasaray in Turkey last time out. That suggests they are a side difficult to predict and on their day a match for most but, on this occasion, a defeat looks very likely.
Prediction: United 3 Braga 0 at 8/1.
Shakhtar Donetsk v Chelsea
The final game involving a British side sees in-form Chelsea make the tricky journey to Ukraine to tackle a Shakhtar side (6/4 in the match betting) who are fast emerging as a side to fear in Europe.
Mircea Lucescu’s men are, like the Blues, sitting pretty at the top of their domestic league but boast a perfect P12 W12 record so far, while they are also in with a chance of progressing out of the Group after seeing off newcomers Nordsjaelland 2-0 before claiming a very creditable 1-1 draw against Juventus in Turin on matchday two (Draw v Chelsea – 12/5).
Both sides know, with Juve lurking and likely to claim one of the top two places and qualification, that this is a big night. A potentially-pivotal win for Roberto Di Matteo’s men then, on offer at 15/8, is worth backing but don’t expect it to be easy for the reigning European champions.
Shakhtar are very dangerous and goals look likely but we fancy the Londoners to turn in another efficient and stylish display and run out narrow victors.
Prediction: Shakhtar 1 Chelsea 2 at 10/1.
Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.
Manchester United, Chelsea and Celtic get their Champions League group campaigns underway on Wednesday and, despite all three being at home, it could be a tricky evening for the British sides.