The UEFA Champions League group phase continues this week, so take a look at our tips and predictions for the Group A and Group D matches. With plenty of picks and markets to choose from, don’t waste your time and join the action here at Get More Sports.
CSKA Moscow (Rus) vs. Man United (Eng)
Three-Way: 1: CSKA Moscow +540; X: +305 Draw; 2: Man United -128
Spread +0.5: CSKA Moscow +134; Man United -143
Total +2.5: Over +114; Under -111
CSKA MOSCOW
CSKA surprised many with a 2:1 victory in their Champions League opening game over Benfica in Lisbon, despite the home team being up by a goal until the 63rd minute. Vitinho from the penalty spot, and substitute Timur Zhamaletdinov secured a huge win ahead of Man United visit to Moscow. The Horses rarely collect all three points in away games in the UEFA Champions League, so this is a big step forward for them, and the team is motivated to showcase quality against the English giants.
The Russian vice-champions played 17 matches in the 2017/18 campaign, most of them in the domestic Premier Liga, as we all know, the Russian league starts earlier than the ones on the continent. CSKA recorded 11 wins, two draws, and four losses, scoring 22 and conceding 11 goals, which is a bit less than two goals per contest on average. The efficiency is CSKA’s problem lately, as they failed to find the net in the previous two games against Kursk in the cup and Dynamo Moscow in the league, so that has to be concerning for their fans prior to the Red Devils’ visit to VEB Arena. The Militarians are currently sitting in the 4th place in the Russian championship, but interestingly, all three league defeats came at home, so United will have a solid chance to come away victorious. These teams met four times in the Champions League in the past; Man United have two wins, while two matches finished as a draw.
The Brazilian left-wing Vitinho is CSKA’s best player at the moment with four goals and five assists to his name, while Bibras Natcho, Alan Dzagoev, and Georgi Schennikov are following him with three goals each. Without a dominant striker in the team, CSKA will heavily rely on Dzagoev, Vitinho, and Golovin to produce, as the Nigerian forward Aaron Olanare is struggling right now. The right-back Mario Fernandes suffered a concussion in a match against Dynamo Moscow, and he’s questionable to play on Wednesday night, while the left winger Aleksandr Makarov is definitely out with an ankle injury.
MANCHESTER UNITED
The Red Devils are in an excellent form as they are currently at the top of the Premier League, alongside their city rivals Man City. United secured an easy, 3:0 victory over the Swiss champions Basel in the opening round of the UEFA Champions League, and they are favorites to come away with three points in the bag out of this duel with CSKA. They recorded four straight victories with only one conceded goal, but the most recent 1:0 win over Southampton wasn’t convincing at all, and it seems that United already misses Paul Pogba, who will be sidelined for a few weeks with a thigh injury.
Manchester played nine games in 2017/18 so far, recording seven wins, a draw, and loss, in a Super Cup encounter against Real Madrid at the beginning of the season. They scored 26 and allowed only five goals, which is impressive, considering they played against such teams as West Ham, Leicester, Everton, and Southampton, among others. Jose Mourinho’s teams always had great defensive records, but the efficiency is a pleasant surprise as United scores around three goals per contest. They scored a goal in each of the two previous matches at CSKA, and it is possible that another one on Wednesday night could be enough for three points, giving the home team’s inefficiency at the moment.
Romelu Lukaku is dominating the goal-scoring chart with eight goals to his name, while Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial are right behind him, with five and four goals, respectively. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is the best chance-creator in the team as he already recorded five assists in eight appearances so Lukaku will depend on the Armenian’s passes throughout the game at VEB Arena. As I already mentioned, Pogba is out with a thigh injury, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is expected to be back around the New Year as he is still recovering from a cruciate ligament injury, while Marcos Rojo is out with the same injury and he is unavailable for the rest of 2017 as well. Mourinho is without Phil Jones, and Eric Bailly for this encounter as the central defenders are suspended for this match, so the Portuguese tactician will likely hand starts to Chris Smalling and Daley Blind, which can be a chance for the hosts to score.
CSKA Moscow (Rus) vs. Man United (Eng) – Match Prediction
CSKA is struggling with scoring goals recently, while United’s defense has been rock solid in September, but without two key defenders, Jose Mourinho’s side could face problems on Wednesday night. I believe the visitors will score here, while the Russian team is experienced enough to take advantage of Jones’ and Bailly’s suspensions, so I think they will find the way to David de Gea’s net as well.
MY PICK: Both teams to score YES (+110)
Juventus (Ita) vs. Olympiakos (Gre)
Three-Way: 1: Juventus -476; X: +900 Draw; 2: Olympiakos +2800
Spread -2.5: Juventus +117; Olympiakos -120
Total +3.5: Over +125; Under -137
JUVENTUS
The Italian champions suffered a rather undeserved 3:0 defeat to Barcelona in the opening round of their Champions League campaign, and now are looking to bounce back with three points against Olympiakos. Juventus responded well after that loss, though; they recorded three consecutive victories in the Serie A over Sassuolo, Fiorentina, and most recently, Torino.
The Old Lady played eight games so far in the season, winning six of them alongside a couple of defeats, with a goal difference of 20:9, which means over 3.5 goals per contest. The encouraging sign for Juventus is that they allowed only one goal in the last three matches, while they still didn’t concede when playing at Allianz Stadium, so Olympiakos will have a mountain to climb on Wednesday night. The two teams met six times in the Champions League since 1999; Juve recorded four victories, the Greeks won once, while one encounter ended without a winner. Most recently, they played in the 2014/15 season; Olympiakos won 1-0 at home, while Juve sealed a 3-2 victory in Turin.
Paulo Dybala has been in a sensational form this season, scoring astonishing 12 goals in eight appearances, but other players are trailing far behind him, which is a bit concerning. Gonzalo Higuain is struggling at the moment as he scored only the pair of goals so far, while Mario Mandzukic also has two goals to his name. Higuain and Mandzukic must step up in case Dybala is finding difficult to score, and considering the quality of these forwards, it is only a matter of time when they will start scoring again. This match-up seems like the perfect opportunity for them to shine. Miralem Pjanic is the top assist-maker with six, while Juan Cuadrado recorded three, but will not be able to help his teammates on this one due to a suspension. Mattia De Sciglio and Benedict Howedes are out for this clash, while Sami Khedira, Marko Pjaca, and Claudio Marchisio could be back into contention after spending time on the sidelines with injuries.
OLYMPIAKOS
Following a relatively well start of the season, the Greek champions are struggling at the moment as they recorded only one victory in the previous five matches, and that was against Asteras in the cup. They eliminated Partizan and Rijeka to reach the Champions League group stage, but the opening game and a home loss to Sporting, 2:3, wasn’t what the fans expected, and now Olympiakos have a mission impossible ahead of them to come away from Turin undefeated.
The Reds played 11 games in the 2017/18 so far and won six of them, along with three draws and two losses, scoring 21 and conceding 14 goals, which is almost three goals per contest. Olympiakos failed to keep their net intact in last five outings, and it is hard to imagine that they will do that against Juventus on Wednesday night.
The attacking midfielder Konstantinos Fortounis is the team’s top scorer with four goals, while Emmanuel Emenike is following him with three goals to his name. Marko Marin, Mehdi Carcela, and Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe are all key performers for Olympiakos and could contribute in the attack, so Allegri should pay special attention to them. Athanasios Androutsos is out with a sprained ankle; Alberto Botia is unavailable due to a foot injury, while Manolis Siopis is also sidelined with an injury. The Serbian center-back Jagos Vukovic is questionable to play as he is still suffering from a back injury.
Juventus (Ita) vs. Olympiakos (Gre) – Match Prediction
Juventus must win this game as any other result would be a huge surprise, and I am convinced they will sink the Greeks without trouble. Still, I think that the overall goal count in this game will not exceed 3, so I am going with the under.
MY PICK: Under 3.5 goals (-137)
