Juve Got To Fancy Goals When Real Visits Turin

It is all about popular exotic betting options in this week’s program of UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches, with lots of games lending themselves to plays on either both teams to score or sides to win to nil.

Juventus versus Real Madrid is one of this week’s marquee UEFA Champions League matches and, as luck would have it, also one of this week’s best betting games. The heat is on Juventus because the Italian Serie A title holder has only two points from its first three Group B matches and it may be as good as out if it loses to Real Madrid and Galatasaray justifies favouritism away to Kobenhavn, which is possible.

Quite simply Juventus cannot afford to play for a home draw against Real Madrid because, if Galatasaray wins in Denmark, one point versus the Meringues would leave the Old Lady four points adrift of Gala with two rounds remaining, one of which features Galatasaray versus Juventus in Turkey.

Juventus has to attack and Real Madrid still knows only one way to play in spite of swapping Jose Mourinho for Carlo Ancelotti in the close season. Real Madrid has scored in 15 of its 16 games across all competitions this term and both sides have found the back of the net in each of the Spanish team’s six matches away from home this season. Ladbrokes is offering odds of 1.55 that both Juventus and Real Madrid score in Turin and that looks like a rock-solid play.

Sticking with the both-teams-to-score theme and two other UEFA Champions League games appeal – Plzen against Bayern (available at odds of 2.15 with BetVictor) and Dortmund versus Arsenal (available at odds of 1.57 with Bet365).

Bayern thrashed Plzen 5-0 in Munich to put one foot in the UEFA Champions League knockout stage. One could expect the European title holder to defeat Plzen in the Czech Republic given the obvious gulf in class between the two sides but away clean sheets are not Bayern’s forte and the Czech team is nothing if not attack minded. Bayern has leaked at least one goal in each of its last three road matches so odds above the even-money mark appear somewhat generous.

Arsenal is top of UEFA Champions League Group F but the Gunners have to get something out of their trip to Dortmund to stay on course for the last 16 because of how the section is playing out. Arsenal, Dortmund and Napoli are locked on six points apiece and the Gunners have played two of their three games at home. Arsene Wenger knows that Arsenal cannot reasonably expect to hold Dortmund goalless by defending for 90 minutes at Signal-Iduna Park so the Gunners are likely to adopt an offensive strategy. Dortmund is one of Europe’s most attack-minded sides so the match should be a real cracker to watch, with goals at both ends of the field.

Atletico, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain entertain Austria Wien, CSKA Mosvka and Anderlecht respectively in their latest UEFA Champions League games. All three home short-priced favourites won their reverse fixtures with something to spare and, provided that the matches go to form, bets on the jollies winning to nil should collect.

Many bookmakers, including Coral, Paddy Power and Sky Bet, are offering odds of 1.67 about Atletico winning to nil. Coral and Ladbrokes are quoting odds of 1.85 that Manchester City triumphs without conceding a goal. And one can get odds of 1.65 with Bet365 on Paris Saint-Germain collecting another three points and keeping another clean sheet.

There are few attractive match bets this week but Sociedad and Tromso are over the odds to beat Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League and Anzhi in the UEFA Europa League respectively. Sociedad should be not the underdog for the visit of a Manchester United that has beaten no team of any consequence in its last three domestic games, while Tromso ought to fancy its chance of rolling crisis club Anzhi, which has gone 14 away matches without a win.

Sociedad is available at odds of 3.30 with Bwin to defeat Manchester United, while Tromso is trading at odds of 2.90 to beat Anzhi. Quite how Anzhi can be the favourite for any away game given its current parlous state is remarkable.