Last week we saw the first leg of action in the Champions League and Europa League quarterfinals. Some teams made a big move towards progress into the semifinals, others have it all to do in the second leg, while some other ties are delicately poised, with either team just as likely as the other to be the one that goes through.
There were five Premier League teams in action across the three nights of games and it was a mixed bag. Liverpool suffered a defeat at Real Madrid, while Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Slavia Prague at home. However, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United all recorded wins and look set for a place in the semifinals, if they can continue the form they showed last week.
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Let’s now check out the action in the crucial second leg ties coming up this week in both top European competitions, starting with the action across Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the Champions League. This time around, I’ve decided to go with some Correct Score betting on each of the eight games.
Champions League Quarterfinals 2nd Legs
Tuesday 13th April
- Chelsea (2) v (0) FC Porto
Goals from Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell were enough for the Londoners to earn a 2-
0 win in Portugal to put themselves very much in the driving seat in this tie, especially with the second leg still to come at Stamford Bridge.
Thomas Tuchel’s men followed that win up with a 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace at the weekend to retain hopes of finishing in the top four of the Premier League too and to be honest, they look to be very well set to progress into the semifinals of this competition relatively easily.
They have played FC Porto four times at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea have won all four games. Indeed, the Portuguese team have not managed to land so much as a draw in any game against Chelsea in London and I can’t see them changing that stat this week.
Correct Score Prediction – Chelsea 3-1 FC Porto (5-1 on aggregate) – 14/1 with bet365
- Paris St Germain (3) v (2) Bayern Munich
What a fantastic game we saw in the first leg between these two teams. Bayern had by far the better of the chances, but were a little wasteful in front of goal and they were made to pay by Paris St Germain and in particular Kylian Mbappe who added a brace to the three he scored away to Barcelona in the last round.
Paris have an excellent record against Bayern on their home ground, playing four games against the German side, winning them all and scoring nine goals against Bayern’s one in the process. That does not bode well for the current European Champions who will likely need to win by two clear goals to go through.
Unfortunately for Bayern fans, I can’t see that happening against a Paris side who seem to have done the majority of the legwork in this tie. I can’t see Bayern losing here, but by the same token, I don’t really see them winning this game either.
Correct Score Prediction – Paris St Germain. 1-1 Bayern Munich (4-3 on aggregate) – 8/1
Wednesday 14th April
- Borussia Dortmund (1) v (2) Manchester City
Dortmund almost came away with a draw in the first leg, with City scoring their second goal deep in injury time. However, the German side do have an away goal and as Leeds United proved at the weekend, Manchester City are beatable if you can get at their defence.
However, City did rest a number of key players for that game with Leeds and they should all be back for this one. City have had issues getting past the quarterfinal stage of this tournament in recent years but I think this is the year that they will end that run.
Dortmund have a superb attack and I think they will score a goal here. The issue I have for them is that I think City will be so dangerous on the counter attack and as such, I can see a repeat of the same scoreline that we saw back in Manchester and that would put City comfortably into the semifinals.
Correct Score Prediction – B.Dortmund 1-2 Man City (2-4 on aggregate) – 15/2
- Liverpool (1) v (3) Real Madrid
I have to be honest and say that I thought Liverpool were very poor against Real Madrid at crucial moments in the second half and also throughout the first half. The Spanish side played very well and fully deserve their 3-1 first leg lead.
However, that away goal from Mo Salah does give the Reds hope. A 2-0 home win, which is not beyond the realms of possibility, would be enough to take the Reds through to the semifinals and I think after ending their poor run of form at home to Villa at the weekend, they will be up for this.
That said, Real’s midfield ran the game for large chunks of the match in Spain and Liverpool will need their midfield to get on top of Real here to stand any chance. I can see the Reds scoring a couple of goals but I just can’t see them keeping Real Madrid out at the other end and I think that will be the crucial factor in this second leg.
Correct Score Prediction – Liverpool 2-1 Real Madrid (3-4 on aggregate) – 15/2
Europa League Quarterfinals 2nd Legs
Thursday 15th April
- Manchester United (2) v (0) Granada
Another fine away display saw United earn another win on the road to add to those
against Sociedad and Milan already in this competition. Even with United’s home form not being quite as good as their away form, they should still have more than enough to comfortably quality here.
Granada are not as bad a side as their recent form of four defeats in five suggests and they will give United a game at Old Trafford where they will be more suited to playing their counter-attacking game. However I can’t see it being enough as I am backing United to win the game.
Correct Score Prediction – Manchester United 2-1 Granada -15/2
- AS Roma (2) v (1) Ajax Amsterdam
AS Roma came back from a goal down in the first half to score twice in the second against Ajax and land another fantastic win, their fifth in a row in the knockout phase of this competition. Ajax, were well beaten in that second half and I think with that went their chances in this competition.
The Italian side have been superb in this tournament this year, only losing one game (away to CSKA Moscow) and I think that they are going to put this young Ajax team to the sword in the second leg in Rome on Thursday.
Correct Score Prediction – AS Roma 3-1 Ajax – 16/1
- Slavia Prague (1) v (1) Arsenal
Who knows what will happen in this game? I certainly don’t and I think we are going to see a repeat of the very close encounter between the two teams in London last week. Arsenal are suited to playing on the counter so I think they will be more dangerous, but you cannot write this Slavia team off.
For me, this is the one game that I think will end up going to extra time and I can even see penalties being needed to decide the winner and by then, Arsenal’s experience may come into play. But even so, this should be a close one.
Correct Score Prediction – Slavia Prague 1-1 Arsenal – 11/2
- Villarreal (1) v (0) Dinamo Zagreb
I don’t think any team in the Europa League this season has a better record than Villarreal, they have won all of their games, bar one, this season and they drew that other game. Dinamo Zagreb looked a very tricky test on paper but the Spaniards wrapped up another win, their fourth in a row, and then backed that up with another at the weekend.
On home soil, I think Zagreb are going to find this very tough indeed and I would be very surprised if they manage to score a goal here as I think the Spanish side will progress very comfortably into the semifinals.
Correct Score Prediction – Villarreal 2-0 Dinamo Zagreb – 11/2
Remember to check back to the site later on in the week for our look at another big betting opportunity coming up this weekend!
