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Today’s secondary featured game is the UEFA European Champions League game in Russia between CSKA Moscow and French champions LOSC Lille.

I can’t think of many more frustrating sides this year than CSKA Moscow, who seemingly take great delight in winning games that they should struggle in and losing games that they should win. However, I’ll be entering the market with them today as I expect them to at least complete their usual duties by scoring at home in the Champions League.

Are CSKA what they were? No, of course not. Vagner Love, Jo, and Daniel Carvalho were a lethal threesome of attackers and CSKA really miss that level of cohesion, in my view. They’re sometimes rather slow and predictable with too little creativity but with Doumbia and Vagner Love they do have two very good and hard-to-handle strikers and it tends to show in the big games. They’ve only failed to score in two out of their last seven home games in this competition with an unlucky 0-1 result against Internazionale and a dominated 0-1 defeat against Manchester United being the only exceptions. Generally speaking, CSKA will make it count at home and I think they’ll score today.

Lille are an arising team but without wanting to be disrespective, they’re simply not that good of a team. They have great cohesion and tenacity, which I respect them for immensely, but they’re lacking in stars en mass. Joe Cole, Eden Hazard, and Benoit Pedretti are the mainstays in this team and they do add a certain class to their midfield, which is Lille’s strength. Defensively, although they’re quite powerful, they’re also quite slow and a shade naive from time to time. It’s no great surprise that they’ve conceded in all of their Champions League games this season with that in mind, either! Lille can knock the ball around nicely but with defending like this, they’re simply not going much further, in my view.

This is a pivotal game, to boot. Lille must win here or they’re out and CSKA could do with three points to cement their place in the next round as a trip to Italy on their last game in the group isn’t an easy one. Therefore, I expect this game to open up at somepoint and given the shaky defences of both sides and the firepower on the field, taking both sides to score at 4/5 really appeals to me here.

Verdict: Both sides to score at 4/5.


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Tuesday’s Picks

My tips:

Olympique Lyonnais vs AFC Ajax Amsterdam – over 2.5 goals at evens.

I’m not a fan of Lyon nowadays. This side just leaves me cold whenever I watch them. They’re weak at the back and don’t have anywhere near enough firepower to get by with their attacking style. I like the way they pass the ball around but I just don’t rate most of the players that they have. Lisandro Lopez is a class act and Gomis is playing above his level but Lyon in general are over-achieving with their current squad and it really shows. They’re very predictable without the likes of Gourcuff and with players such as Kone at the back, it’s no surprise that this side is shipping goals. When this game was played in Amsterdam, Ajax ran the show and should have won the game but they weren’t clinical enough. I admit that finishing is something that Ajax struggle with at this level and that is the risk here. After all, the Stade Gerland has seen some huge sides over the years and Lyon are a very experienced side so Ajax really have to work hard to unsettle them. However, Ajax do have plenty of firepower in their ranks and helpfully they can’t defend for shit so I think we’ll see goals here tonight.

This is a big game, which helps. Lyon have to win whereas Ajax have to score to avoid defeat as they can’t keep a clean sheet for shit so one way or another, I think this game is going over 2.5 goals and at odds of evens, it’s well worth a flutter in my view.

Verdict: Over 2.5 goals at evens.

As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games!

UEFA Champions League:

CSKA Moscow vs LOSC Lille (6) 1-1
SSC Napoli vs Manchester City (4) 1-2, at least one red card in this game
Bayern Munich vs Villarreal CF (7) 2-1
Trabzonspor vs Internazionale (6) 0-0
Otelul Galati vs Basel (5) 1-2
Manchester United vs SL Benfica (7) 1-0
Real Madrid vs Dinamo Zagreb (9) -1.5 handicap
Olympique Lyonnais vs AFC Ajax Amsterdam (4) 1-2

Ecuadorian Primera A:

Independiente vs Liga de Quito (7) 0-1

English Championship:

Birmingham City vs Burnley (7)
Coventry City vs Cardiff City (5)

Macedonian First League:

Sileks Kratovo vs Teteks Tetovo (6) 2-1
Ohrid vs Bregalnica Stip (5) 1-1
Renova Dzepciste vs Vardar Skopje (6) 1-0

Enjoy your free betting tips!