Whereas Tuesday night’s European action saw some league leaders taking on relegation fodder, Wednesday night sees the chasing pack from Europe’s elite leagues in action.
The question is, can any of them close the gap on the league leaders?
Let’s get you to the bets…
Dortmund vs Mainz: Dortmund to Win & Over 2.5 Goals
Wednesday 19:30
Of course, Dortmund must publicly say they’re still chasing the Bundesliga title, but with Bayern Munich away to Werder Bremen on Tuesday night and having won every match there since 2010, you’d expect them to wrap up the title with a win.
Saying all that, Lucien Favre’s men will still want to put some further distance between themselves and RB Leipzig behind them. They go against Mainz on Wednesday, a team they’ve only lost to once to at home since 2005.
Dortmund’s scoring record is outstanding, they’ve been averaging 3.07 goals and conceding just 0.73 at home. Mainz’s away scoring record is 1.60 and have conceded 2.33 goals per game on average.
This fixture tends to see a decent amount of goals as over the last five meetings at the Westfalenstadion, four have seen both Over 2.5 goals and Both Teams To Score land. Dortmund’s good clean sheet record of five out of the six games is putting us off backing that, instead we’re going with Dortmund to Win and Over 2.5 Goals.
RB Leipzig vs Dusseldorf: Both Teams to Score
Wednesday 19:30
RB Leipzig have now gone 13 matches without defeat in all competitions, six of those were draws though it must be said. Their home record has seen them go 12 matches without a loss in the league though.
They are averaging 2.40 goals per match and conceding 1.13 goals. Dusseldorf are playing for their skins now, they’re three points away from safety and with just three games to go (including this one), they’ve got no choice but to try and get something positive here.
Dusseldorf’s are conceding 2.27 goals per game away from home and Leipzig usually concede at least one at home, so we can see both nets rattling here.
Osasuna vs Atletico Madrid: Both Teams to Score
Wednesday 21:00
Osasuna’s home record isn’t the best, but they’ve only lost four times at home this season – with five wins and five draws. Atletico’s away record has been terrible for a top side this season with just three wins in La Liga so far. They may have only lost three times, but have drawn on eight occasions.
Atletico have won here in four of the previous five meetings though and kept Osasuna scoreless in three of those matches. However, this season we’ve seen Atletico struggle, especially away from home, and they’ve conceded 0.93 goals per away game.
Osasuna are scoring 1.43 per home La Liga match. We’re going against the crowd a little here, but Both Teams to Score is great value as the home side have scored in eight of their last 10 home matches in the league and Atletico have kept a blank in just three of their previous 10 ties on the road.
Rio Ave vs Benfica: Benfica to Win
Wednesday 21.15
Benfica will have to go for it here to either take over the top spot or keep the pressure up on league leaders Porto.
Rio Ave have plenty to play for too though as they are just five points off the final European place and having just lost four times at home this season (from 13 matches), they’ll be confident of making a go of it for the rest of the season.
When Benfica come to town though they are usually top dog as they’ve lost just one away match this season – winning 10 and drawing two, scoring an impressive 26 goals and conceding just nine.
Over recent meetings, Rio Ave have won just a single time in 10 attempts, while Benfica have won six.
With Benfica’s impressive away form and a good record at Estadio do Rio Ave we’re giving them the nod here.
* Prices on our snazzy new bet widget are bang up to date.
RECOMMENDED READING:
- All the latest football previews from across Europe are just a click away
- Football tips: Our 6 best bets as Premier League action returns
- You cheating b*stard! 7 ways to master the art of time-wasting in football