PSV v Tottenham: Over 2.5 Goals – 6/10
Spurs dug in through their Premier League opening run to win seven and lose just twice, making their best start to a campaign since football was invented in 1992.
They haven’t seen the same form replicated in Europe though – and that’s understandable given they had to take on Messi last time out, though Mauricio Pochettino might be more upset about their late 2-1 away defeat to Inter in round one.
Fortunately, they now have two games against a pointless PSV to get their Euro campaign up to speed with their PL form.
Or at least they’ll hope it’s all that simple.
The Dutch side are scoring heavily in the league – yeah, it’s only the Eredivisie, but they all count, just ask Vincent Janssen – where they’ve scored a mind-bending 36 goals already this season at a rate of four per game.
They’ve also given up the most shots to opponents through the opening two rounds of fixtures in the UCL group stages, and though they failed to net against both Inter and Barca, that run seems unlikely to hold through when they’re scoring so much in their bread-and-butter fixtures.
Both teams’ survival in the Champions League is also at stake, so all of this points to goals. We’d take over 2.5 in this at 6/10 for our acca purposes.
Soccer Football – La Liga Santander – FC Barcelona v Sevilla – Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain – October 20, 2018 Barcelona’s Lionel Messi after sustaining an injury REUTERS/Albert Gea TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Barcelona v Inter Milan – Any Time Scorer Mauro Icardi – 6/4
The Nerazzurri return to the Nou Camp for the first time since 2010’s epic semi-final tie – we hope Barca have the sprinklers ready this time to clear the pitch if necessary.
And they might be spraying come full time in this one given the absence of Lionel Messi.
The Argentine suffered a stomach-churning arm fracture against Sevilla at the weekend – naturally he’d already scored by then – and will likely miss at least three weeks with the injury.
That misfortune could benefit Luciano Spalletti’s men, who have won seven straight games, including a Mauro Icardi-inspired victory in the Milan derby at the weekend.
But they’re not without injury worries of their own, with Radja Nainggolan already ruled out and both Ivan Perisic and Marcelo Brozovic in doubt for the trip.
Still, Barcelona have kept just one clean sheet in their last nine games, so there’s a goal at least in this for the Italians.
With that in mind, and his tasty form this season – two goals in two in Europe, and four in seven in Serie A after hitting 29 last season – Mauro Icardi as an any time scorer at 6/4 appeals here.
Liverpool v Crvena Zvezda: Liverpool -3 – 6/4
The Reds haven’t quite been the irresistible force brushing movable objects aside this season, but the visit of the artists you’d usually know as Red Star Belgrade to Anfield does present an opportunity for a encore performamce from last season’s European run.
Klopp’s side have scored 27 goals in their last eight home Champions League games on Merseyside, games that include a 7-0 spanking of Spartak Moscow, flinging five past Roma, humbling Hoffenheim with four and just a 3-0 win over Man City.
Belgrade have already been on the end of one away trip tonking – PSG slotted home six goals in Paris last time out and Liverpool have every incentive to go for goals in this after losing to Napoli.
They’ve steadied their defence this season, so Crvena could be closed out, and despite Mo Salah not quite playing at his unworldly best, they have wracked up some impressive scorelines this campaign already. Covering -3 on the handicap at 6/4 looks within their grasp here.
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*All odds correct at time of posting