Tottenham vs Olympiacos: Tottenham (-1) – 4/5
While Jose Mourinho cannot claim to have made a tangible impact with his new side until he has more games under his belt, he can continue his ideal start to life in London by securing Spurs’ progression to the knockout stages with a win on Tuesday.
Tottenham’s surrender of a two-goal lead in Greece could be seen as the beginning of the end for Pochettino, with the 2018 Champions League finalists only picking up one win in eight Premier League games thereafter – on top of being dumped out of the League Cup by Colchester and being humbled by Bayern at home in Europe.
Spurs have already improved their league record under Mourinho and they can right another wrong on Tuesday by qualifying for the knockout stages.
Even a draw is likely to be enough for Spurs, but anything other than a win will not be acceptable.
Olympiacos have lost all three of their games in Europe since that draw with Tottenham, conceding eight goals in the process.
In Mourinho’s first home game in charge, Spurs should have far too much for them.
Man City v Shakhtar Donetsk: Man City (-2) – 7/5
City might have won on Saturday against Chelsea, but they were yet again insipid in their performances.
The back-to-back league champions seem to lack energy this season and something needs to change quickly if they are too seriously challenge Liverpool for the Premier League title and if they’re to finally reach their holy grail of European success.
City have been particularly lukewarm at home recently, struggling against Southampton and Chelsea and losing at home to Wolves in the Premier League.
They could hardly have asked for more ideal opponents to let loose against than Shakhtar, however.
This will be the sixth time since 2017 that City and Shakhtar have faced off in the group stages of the Champions League and the English champions have their number, winning four of the previous five games and only losing once when they were already through as group winners in 2017.
City have scored 12 goals in their last three games against Shakhtar for the loss of no goals and should find things decidedly easy against an opponent that boasts one of the worst defensive records in Europe.
The Ukrainians have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 26 games in the Champions League, a record that stretches back to November 2014.
Given City’s penchant for scoring goals, this could be a turkey shoot.
Juventus v Atletico Madrid: Juventus to win – 11/10
Atletico Madrid’s defeat to Bayer Leverkusen has left them with an uphill task if they are to top Group D.
Realistically, the Spanish side must win in Turin if they are to pip Juventus to top spot and, based off their current form, it is an unlikely scenario.
The perennial Italian champions head into this one on the back of a five-game winning streak in all competitions, while Atletico have only managed one win in their last five.
The two-time finalists were already lucky to snatch a draw in Madrid earlier this season and will find it more difficult to do so away from home in a venue that holds nothing but bad memories for them.
Atletico will still be smarting from their two-goal implosion against the Italians in the spring, but they are unlikely to exact any revenge on Tuesday. Ronaldo and co should wrap up Group D with a victory.
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