Chelsea are 9/5 with Bet365 to win against Barcelona tonight

Chelsea/Barcelona, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 2, Free Bets, Best Odds

Barcelona’s 6-2 demolition of Real Madrid has seen them installed as 13/8 favourites tonight while the hosts are available at 9/5 with Bet365.

Headline trends:

» Chelsea have won their last six Champions League home games against foreign opposition.

» Away-goal chasing Barcelona have scored in 21 consecutive La Liga and Champions League away games.

Posted: May 6th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 2 Comments

Away wins are a rarity in UEFA Cup semi-final first-legs

Dynamo Kiev/Shakhtar Donetsk, 5.30pm, ITV4, Best Odds
Werder Bremen/Hamburg, 7.45pm, ITV4, Free Bets, Best Odds

While the Big Four have dominated the Champions League for two successive seasons, the Premier League’s claim to the “best league in the world” moniker is brought into question by the fact that none of the not-so-big 16 have won the UEFA Cup in the last 25 years. We’ve grown accustomed to all-English Champions League semi-finals but tonight teams from the Bundesliga and the Ukranian Premier League fight it out for the right to represent their country in a guaranteed Germany v Ukraine final:

SEMI-FINAL STATS

» The away side haven’t won a UEFA Cup semi-final first-leg in any of the last six seasons and only one of the last 18 have ended in the visitors’ favour.

» There has only been one goal in this week’s three big televised games this week and there is a danger that the drought could continue - only eight of the last 24 UEFA Cup semi-finals have broken the 2.5 goal barrier.

Posted: April 30th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Why Arsenal can’t be written off despite losing the first leg

Five stats about this week’s Champions League semi-finals

1. Manchester United have scored on each of their three previous trips to the Emirates, despite only taking a point from those games.

2. However, Arsenal’s current home defensive record has been fantastic despite their injury problems. The Gunners have conceded just once in their last 12 games at the Emirates.

3. Arsene Wenger’s side have never failed to score in nine meetings with the Big Four sides at the Emirates. They have scored twice in each of their three home games there against Manchester United.

Posted: April 29th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment

Why Manchester United can’t lose focus in the closing stages

Man Utd/Inter, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 2, Free Bets, Best Odds

Rather than concentrating on their gameplan to eliminate Manchester United, Inter Milan have been busy calculating what percentage chance they stand. Jose Mourinho says 50% while Mario Balotelli goes with 45% but both are wrong as the actual figure is 33%. Here we present the case for both teams, leaving you to assess whether the 8/15 on the holders breaking the curse is better value than the 7/4 Ladbrokes are offering on Inter progressing, while providing you with useful tips on other markets:

In the red corner…

» Manchester United have won eight and lost just one of their last ten home games against Italian opposition, triumphing in their last four.

» The Red Devils are unbeaten at home in over a year in all competitions and have gone more than four years without a Champions League loss at Old Trafford, a run stretching nineteen games.

Posted: March 11th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Spurs 7/4 to retain the Carling Cup after sneaking through

Tottenham get out of jail thanks to the ridiculous away goal rule

When chickendinner yesterday advised you to back a Burnley win to nil at 11/4 even though they still wouldn’t qualify, we had no idea just how close they would come. For the second time in four years Arsenal fans had reason to curse the ridiculous Carling Cup rule whereby away goals only count after extra-time.

In 2006, Arsenal overcame a 1-0 defeat away to Wigan to win 1-0 at Highbury but in extra-time both teams scored a goal to send Wigan through on away goals and last night, despite Burnley being ahead on away goals at the final whistle, they were forced to hold on for another thirty minutes because of the bizarre rule.

Posted: January 23rd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment