UEFA Cup-Villa & Pompey in Action
It’s the final matches in the group stages of the UEFA Cup tonight and Aston Villa and Portsmouth are both in action.
As we saw in the Champions League final group matches where teams have little or nothing to play for means they may make lots of team changes and this can lead to shock results. It’s worth checking on team selections before you place your bets or you could end up getting your fingers burned.
Aston Villa have already qualified and James Milner, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Gareth Barry and Martin Laursen have all been left at home and did not travel for the match against Hamburg.
Hamburg are fourth in the Bundesliga at present and Martin Jols side will be tough opponents. Given all the changes that Villa will make tonight 10/11 (Partybets) for a Hamburg win doesn’t look too bad a price and they are our selection in this match.
The 2-0 corrects score 15/2 (Paddypower) and is worth a small bet.
Portsmouth have looked unconvincing of late in the Premier League and they have found their European experience a tough one. Pompey did play well at home against AC Milan and with tonight’s game against Heerenveen a meaningless fixture, they might just relax and go out and play with a bit of style.
Heerenveen haven’t managed to pick up a point yet in the group and they are only playing to try and restore some pride tonight. They have been giving away goals cheaply and even at 7/2 (VCbet) they don’t look worth backing.
It has to be a Portsmouth win 4/5 (Coral) and a 3-1 correct score 14/1 (Bet365) looks worth chancing. Peter Crouch 5/1 (Ladbrokes) is our selection to be first goalscorer.
AC Milan are 10/13 (Bodog) to get a home win against Wolfsburg that would see them finish top of the group. Wolfsburg have scored 11 goals in their three matches and remain unbeaten so far and they will not be easy to beat.
We’re going for a draw in this match at 9/4 (Partybets) and a small bet on the 2-2 correct score at 16/1 (Skybet) could bring a return. Fillipo Inzaghi 6/1 (Bet365) looks a bit overpriced and could be worth taking as the first goalscorer.
A home win for Ajax looks a formality against Slavia Prague and they must be a banker bet at 4/9 (Coral) to get a home win. We’re tipping a 2-0 correct score 5/1 (Partybets).
A win for either Bruges or Copenhagen would see them through to the next round and there’s not a lot between the sides in our opinion. Bruges have drawn all three of their matches and Copenhagen have lost one and drawn two of their three games.
Home advantage could play a big part tonight and so we’re siding with Bruges to get a win at 11/10 (VCbet).
Thursday Night
Spurs take on Spartak Moscow and a point would ensure their qualification. Spurs look more than capable of winning this one against a Spartak side who have had a disappointing tournament. At 8/11 (Ladbrokes) Spurs look worth backing to win.
The 1-0 correct score 6/1 (Paddypower) is worth a bet.
Manchester City may rest a few players for their trip to Spain to meet Racing Santander, but we think they can still take a point from this game and we’re going for a draw 13/5 (Bodog).
Udinese have won all their games so far in the group and although they are likely to send a second string to face Nijmegen they look too good a price at 3/1 (Paddypower) not to have a little nibble. The correct score of 2-1 14/1 (Coral) is where our money is going.