Wednesday’s Champions League Preview
Wednesday sees the Manchester clubs in action as they continue their quest for European glory. Despite their dramatic win against Villareal at home Manchester City travel to Spain still knowing victory is still imperative with daunting fixtures against Bayern Munich and Napoli forthcoming. They travel in good shape following back-to-back wins in the league since their last European outing and Mario Balotelli has been included in the Champions League squad for the first time this season. It would be typical of the controversial Italian to grab a goal and he is backable at 4/1 to get the first goal. David Silva returns to Spain in imperious form and he is also good value at 13/2 to score first, while Adam Johnson, who has been excellent in recent weeks, is 8/1 for the same market. Once again City are odds on favourites and after the scare they had on their own patch won’t take anything for granted which could mean the handicap markets once again offer value. With a -1 City are 6/4 and this could be lucrative given the attacking form they have shown in recent times, or alternatively, could be backed at 7/2 to win by exactly two goals.

Mario Balotelli is the the squad for a Champions League game for Manchester City for the first time this season.
Manchester United host minnows Otelul Galati at Old Trafford looking to all but secure their progress to the next phase and few would question the home side to beat the 25/1 shots. United have a few injury problems with Ashley Young, Chris Smalling and Tom Cleverley out injured, but the strike partnership of Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney should be far too much for the Romanians and a 4-0 win is 6/1. Rooney and Danny Welbeck are 2/1 to both score and given the form of the latter this could also be worth following.
Of the other ties Lyon face Real Madrid, Madrid have been excellent this season and 4/7 is a worthy price for them to continue that, Bayern Munich host Napoli at The Allianz Arena and Inter Milan play struggling Lille at home which adds up to an excellent treble at 16/5. CSKA Moscow are good value to overcome Trabzonspor away from home at 15/8 after a decent start to their group campaign while Benfica and Ajax are odds on to beat Basel and Dinamo Zagreb respectively in what could turn out to be a rather predictable night of action.
SYS Predictions:
- Bayern Munich 2-1 Napoli
- Villareal 1-3 Manchester City
- Inter Milan 2-0 Lille
- Trabzonspor 0-1 CSKA Moscow
- Benfica 2-0 FC Basel
- Manchester United 4-0 Otelul Galati
- Ajax 2-1 Dinamo Zagreb
- Lyon 0-2 Real Madrid
SYS Tip of the Day: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan treble at 16/5.