Matchday 5 of the Uefa Champions League gets underway on Tuesday night when our focus is on Chelsea v Barcelona, Manchester City v Leverkusen and Marseille v Newcastle
Chelsea v Barcelona
Chelsea have 7 points to show from their first 4 UCL matches which puts them in 12th position on the log. They recovered from losing their opening match 3-1 to Bayern in Munich with back to back home wins over Benfica (1-0) and Ajax (5-1) but on Matchday 4 they had to settle for a 2-2 draw away to Qarabag.
In the EPL Chelsea have moved into second place on the back of 5 wins in their last 6.
Barca also have 7 points against their name and they are 1 place better off than Chelsea due to a better goal difference. They started with a 2-1 at Newcastle before going down 2-1 at home to PSG. They returned to winning ways with a 6-1 thrashing of Olympiakos in a home fixture and last time out they had to come from behind 3 times in a 3-3 draw away to Club Brugge.
In La Liga Barca moved to the top of the standings with a 4-0 home win over Bilbao at the weekend although Real Madrid, who have the same number of points, were due to play their game in hand on Sunday.
The Verdict
This could well be tight but I’m not sure a draw would do either side that many favours considering where they are in the standings. I’ll settle for a bet in the cards market and Cucurella is my candidate.
Bets: Player to be carded, Cucurella at 29/10 with Sportingbet
Note prices quoted are subject to change
Manchester City v Bayer Leverkusen
City are unbeaten with 3 wins and 1 draw and they finished Matchday 4 in fourth position, 2 points adrift of Inter, Arsenal and Bayern. They started with a 2-0 home win over Napoli before a 2-2 draw at Monaco and then came away from Villarreal with a 2-0 victory. They hosted Bundesliga opposition in Matchday 4 and coasted to a 4-1 victory. Haaland has scored 5 of those 10 City goals in this competition.
After a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle in the EPL on Saturday City are in third place in the standings but they have won each of their last 5 league games in front of their own supporters.
Leverkusen have earned 5 points and 21sst of the 36 teams on the log. They had to wait for Matchday 4 for their only win, 1-0 away to Benfica whilst other points came in the first 2 rounds, score draws at Copenhagen and at home to PSV. On Matchday 3 Leverkusen crashed and burned 7-2 at home to PSG.
In the Bundesliga Leverkusen moved into second spot with a 3-1 win at Wolfsburg on Saturday. They are still all of 8 points behind Bayern but after a poor start they have won 9 of their last 7 league games.
The Verdict
Leverkusen have improved in the Bundesliga though the fact PSG took them to the cleaners in a home fixture looks a bit ominous. Doku to provide an assist for City will satisfy my betting interest.
Bets: Player Assists, Doku 1 or more at 1.85/1 with Sportingbet
Note prices quoted are subject to change
Marseille v Newcastle
Marseille have just the 3 points against their name and can be found down in 25th place, outside of the play off spots. Their only win came on Matchday 2, 4-0 at home to Ajax, one other home game saw them go down 1-0 to Atalanta and they have also lost at Real Madrid and Sporting (both 2-1).
In Ligue 1 Marseille are in second place, 2 points adrift of PSG and they have won 5 and drawn 1 of their 6 league games on home turf, scoring 21 goals in the process.
Newcastle have recovered from losing their opening CL match at home to Barcelona (2-1) with a 4-0 win away to Union SG, a 3-0 home victory over Benfica and a 2-0 home win over Bilbao to force their way into the top 6.
In the EPL Newcastle are still without an away win but they moved up to 15 points with the 2-1 home win over Man City on Saturday.
The Verdict
I reckon this is near enough a must win for Marseille and I’m looking for both teams to score and either team to win.
Bets: Both teams to score and either team to win? Yes at 14/10 with Sportingbet
Note prices quoted are subject to change