UEFA CUP – Villa Have Tough Task Ahead
Aston Villa look to have a tough task on their hands in their match with CSKA Moscow. The Russians qualified with a 100% record from their group that included Deportivo and Nancy, so it shows they are a real threat.
The game at Villa Park will be the first for new CSKA boss Brazilian Zico who won the Turkish league title as coach of Fenerbahçe SK in 2006/07 and went on to win the league and cup double with Uzbek club FC Bunedkor in 2008. The Russians scored 12 goals in their four qualifying group matches and Villa will need to be wary of strikers Love and Dzagoev, who have found the net 11 times between them in the competition so far.
Villa qualified and then played fringe players in their final couple of group games and it’s hard to judge how well they may perform against a top class side like CSKA. Villa have been going extremely well in the Premier League and that may well be their priority, as qualification for the Champions’ League next season would be a far better payday than winning the UEFA Cup.
With home advantage we think this match will end in a draw 23/10 (Bet365). The 2-2 correct score at 14/1 (Partybets) is worth a small stake.
Manchester City did well to win their group which was reasonably strong. They are away in the first leg in their match with Copenhagen and will do well to get anything against a side with a record of just one loss in ten UEFA Cup games.
City are 8/15 (Betfair) to win the game, but we think that’s extremely short and Copenhagen look a far better betting prospect at 9/5 (Partybets). We’re taking Copenhagen to win by 1-0 6/1 (Bet365).
This competition will be a distraction from their league form for Spurs, but we’re not sure if that’s a good thing or not. We can’t see this being Tottenham’s number one priority and while they will give their best we’re sure Harry Redknapp will rest a few players in these matches.
They are away to Ukranian side Shakhtar who enter the tournament in this round after failing to qualify for the Champions league later stages. This match looks to have a home win written all over it and we can’t see Spurs winning, so the 2/1 (Bodog) on offer isn’t attractive to us at all.
Our prediction is a Shakhtar win at odds of 6/5 (Bet365) and we’re having a small bet on a 2-0 correct score at 7/1 (Partybets)