Expert Picks
Over 2.5 goals landed in all of Roma’s matches this season. ...
Napoli lost their last two games. ...
Villarreal are winless this season. ...
Is the wrong team favored in Belgium? ...
Barnabas Varga and Luka Jovic lead the AEK charge. ...
Agia Sophia Stadium is a nightmare of a place to play. ...
Club Brugge is going to be an overs wagon in UCL. ...
Dortmund won this matchup easily last UCL season. ...
First leg of a Champions League qualifying playoff tie with a 3 p.m. ET start as Dinamo Zagreb, the most successful Croatian Football League side ever, welcomes Viking FK of the Norwegian Eliteseren. The winner of the tie gets to the league phase. The reigning Croatian champions are in Europe for the 21st season running, while it's the first time Viking has reached the UCL since 1992-93. This is the teams' first-ever fixture, and Viking's first match against a Croatian team. Dinamo Zagreb is unbeaten all-time at home vs. Norwegian clubs (W3 D1), outscoring them 9-3. Dinamo also won its last UCL qualifying two-leg tie this year quite easily by a combined score of 7-1. Viking is off a road domestic loss last Friday.
A London vs. Paris powerhouse matchup in Hungary. OK. Now I want Arby's as am hungry. I never would have guessed this, but it's the first major men's club competition final between teams from England and France. Arsenal could complete the greatest season in franchise history, while PSG tries to become only the second team to repeat as UCL champion. Just asking for a regulation draw and then go crazy. The Gunners have not lost in this year's competition and have allowed only six goals in their 14 matches (no U3.5s available). PSG and Arsenal have met seven times, with two wins each and three draws.
I’m backing PSG to win. Arsenal have been incredible defensively, but I still don’t trust their attack, especially if they need to chase a goal against a PSG side that should have the better attacking matchups in this one. Luis Enrique is an incredible manager, and I give him the edge over Mikel Arteta in this spot. When you look at the matchups across the pitch, PSG look more than equipped to win this in 90 minutes.
This could be a high-flying match, but history suggests it’s more likely to be a snoozefest than a barn burner. Before PSG’s 5-0 win over Inter Milan last year, six straight Champions League finals went under 2.5 goals. Arsenal are built to play slow and controlled, and their defense has been elite. They have conceded just 0.43 goals per match in the Champions League and 0.71 domestically. PSG are not exactly slouches defensively either. Add in the fact that BTTS has not hit in seven straight UCL finals, and the under becomes even more enticing. In my eyes, someone wins this 1-0 or 2-0, giving us value on the under.
I know that -170 is a GROSS number, so let me just say I have absolutely no problem taking over 4.5 goals, and over 5.5 goals, and over 6.5 goals. This is the kind of match you want to consider (responsibly) doing a bit of a goal ladder. We saw a record breaking nine goals in the first leg, and both managers after the match said they were changing nothing about how they're playing this second leg. Both managers play an extremely aggressive line urging their players to attack. I think we see at least six goals in this game, so even at -170 this line feels like a gift.
I'm someone who is lucky enough to say I've traveled to Munich to watch Bayern Munich play at home in person. This environment that they are capable of creating is hell on earth for visiting clubs. Expect this team to show up for the most important match of the year, and make the environment deafening for PSG for 90 minutes. I am bias as a Bayern Munich fan so take this with a grain of salt, but I believe Bayern Munich not only win, but win by multiple goals. I'm looking at a 4-2 final, with Bayern advancing, as PSG crumble beneath the front line of Kane, Olise and Diaz.
Thank you Arsenal on Tuesday. Most of our other books have -1 and even one at -1.5, so even at this price for the other semifinal from Germany on Wednesday yep. Bayern is sitting down a goal in the aggregate following last week's utterly bananas 5-4 first leg in Paris. That was fun. PSG did lose a pretty key player to injury in right back Achraf Hakimi, and he's out. Bayern has won five of its seven previous UEFA two-legged ties against French opposition. PSG has lost its past two such vs. German foes.