Matchday 4 for Uefa Champions League Groups A to D takes place on Wednesday night and we take a look at the betting and have a tip for selected matches including Arsenal v Sevilla
Matchday 4 Wednesday 8th November
Bayern are in total control of this group with the maximum 9 points, Galatasaray (4 points), Man United (3 points) and FC Copenhagen (1 point) are doing the chasing.
Group A
Bayern 1 / 5 Draw 13/2 Galatasary 10/1
Bayern were 3-1 winners when these teams met in Istanbul on Matchday 3 and another win here will seal a last 16 place. They have also won 4-3 at home to Man United and 2-1 in Copenhagen. Aside from shock defeats in the domestic cup competitions they have been firing in the goals in the Bundesliga, most recently thrashing Dortmund 4-0 away from home.
Gala's best result came in their only away fixture, a 3-2 win at Manchester United n Matchday 2. They started with a 2-2 draw at home to FC Copenhagen thanks to 2 late goals so all 3 of their matches have seen backers of the btts yes and over 3.5 goals combo collect.
The markets point to goals, probably for both sides and the majority to be scored by Bayern but prices are very skinny. I have a healthy respect for Gala who are no mugs but Bayern have kept 3 straight clean sheets in Bundesliga home games and they my well win and keep another one here.
Bet: Which teams to score? Only Bayern at 15/10 with BetXchange
FC Copenhagen 7/2 Draw 29/10 Man United 8/10
Copenhagen lost 1-0 at Old Trafford when the teams met on Matchday 3 and they are still looking for a first win. They could have secured a point in that match had they not missed an injury time penalty. The Danes led Gala 2-0 in Istanbul on Matchday 1 before being reduced to 10 men and they conceded 2 late goals in a 2-2 draw and they were far from disgraced in a 2-1 home defeat to Bayern, taking the lead on 55 minutes before Bayern hit back.
United have still to host Bayern and visit Galatasaray so they really need to follow up on their Matchday 3 win which came courtesy of Harry Maguire's 72nd minute goal. Recent poor domestic form in league and cup has increased the pressure on Ten Hag although Saturday's 1-0 win at Fulham was a timely boost.
Copenhagen have not been as poor as their record suggests and even with the missed penalty there wasn't much between the sides at Old Trafford. We had a total corner count of 15 in that game and I'm hoping for 11 or more here.
Bet: Total corners over 10.5 at 11/10 with BetXchange
Group B
Arsenal top this group with 6 points, Lens have 5 and Sevilla and PSV both have 2.
PSV 15/20 Draw 3/1 Lens 7/2
These sides played out a 1-1 draw in France on Matchday 3, a second successive point for PSV who drew 2-2 at home to Sevilla and crashed 4-0 at Arsenal.
Lens also came away from Sevilla with a 1-1 draw and then turned Arsenal over in a 2-1 home win so they remain unbeaten. It's 9 games across all competitions since Lens lost a football match although that sequence is littered with draws.
A tricky one in my opinion but all of Lens group matches have seen backers of 2-3 goals in total collect and that could be the way to go here.
Bet: Total goals aggregate 2-3 at 23/20 with BetXchange
Arsenal 1 / 3 Draw 9/2 Sevilla 8/1
After thrashing PSV 4-0 in their opening group match Arsenal were a huge disappointment in the 2-1 defeat at Lens but they bounced back with a 2-1 win at Sevilla last time out. Jesus scored but also picked up an injury in that game and he an Odegaard were both absent from the Arsenal side that lost 1-0 at Newcastle
in the EPL last Saturday.
Sevilla led twice at PSV but had to settle for a point and they also led at home to Lens on Matchday 1 but they conceded the first 2 goals of the game against
Arsenal in that 2-1 defeat. In La Liga Sevilla have drawn each of their last 4 matches and are in the bottom half of the standings.
With Jesus out and Odegaard and perhaps one or two other injury doubts I like Saka to score anytime for Arsenal
Bet: Anytime goalscorer Bukayo Saka at 16/10 with BetXchange
Group C
Real Madrid have 9 points, Napoli 6, Braga 3 and Union Berlin have yet to open their account.
Real Madrid 1/ 4 Draw 6/1 Braga 10/1
Real were 2-1 winners at Braga to maintain their 100% record which started with a 1-0 home win over Berlin and a 3-2 away win at Napoli.
Braga also lost 2-1 at home to Napoli before coming from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Union Berlin. Despite those narrow margin scorelines it's a one sided betting heat which I'm happy to swerve.
Napoli 4/10 Draw 38/10 Union 13/2
Napoli were 1-0 winners when these teams met in Berlin on Matchday 3. Napoli began with a 2-1 win away to Braga before losing to 3-2 to Real which broke a 14 match unbeaten run in the UCL in front of their own supporters. After a slow start to the domestic season Napoli have won 4 of their last 6 Serie A matches to move into fourth spot but they are still 7 points behind Inter.
Things have gone from bad to worse for Union who have now lost 12 matches in a row across all competitions although their 3 defeats in this group have all been by a single goal margin
Napoli haven't been at the level they were last season but they ought to be goals for them here and Raspadori, who was on target on Matchday 3 and a couple of
subsequent league games gets the anytime goalscorer vote.
Bet: Anytime goalscorer Giacomo Raspadori at 35/20 with BetXchange
Group D
Real Sociedad and Inter both have 7 points, Salzburg have 3 and Benfica have yet to earn a point.
Salzburg 9/2 Draw 32/10 Inter 6/10
Inter were 2-1 winners when these teams met in Milan on Matchday 3, they led 1-0 at half time and shortly after Salzburg equalized Inter found the winner from the penalty spot. Salzburg had started with a 2-0 win at Benfica before going down 2-0 at home to Sociedad.
Inter needed a late Martinez equalizer to rescue a point from their opening match away to Real Sociedad which finished 1-1 before a 1-0 home win over Benfica and the aforementioned win at home to Salzburg. Inter have won 9, drawn 1 and lost 1 of their Serie A matches to top the log.
I'll go with Inter to edge this one by a single goal margin.
Bet: Winning margin, away team by 1 goal at 5/2 with BetXchange
Real Sociedad 15/20 Draw 28/10 Benfica 15/4
Sociedad beat Benfica 1-0 in Lisbon on Matchday 3, they were 2-0 winners at Salzburg and had they not conceded a late equalizer in a 1-1 draw at home to Inter in their first group match they would have a 100% record. Real Sociedad lost 1-0 at home to Barca in La Liga at the weekend and they are in seventh spot.
Benfica are desperate for a result after 3 defeats and perhaps catching Salzburg in third and qualifying for the Europa League play offs is the most realistic ambition now.
Under 2.5 goals has been they way to go in all group matches involving either of these sides and I will go with that trend to continue here.
Bet: Under 2.5 goals at 9/10 with BetXchange
GFTG Newsletter
Subscribe to our free weekly betting mailer which will include our best and value bets below.
