Tonight’s three most tastily priced Europa League visitors

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Picking out just one away winner in Europe is a tough task, attempting to find three – all at odds of evens or greater – is just asking to be humiliated, but we’re willing go for glory and live with the shame if it all ends miserably.

Our first pick is Roma, who having won their last nine matches in all competitions, look ominously like the kind of team we can rely on. They’re off to Greece to face Panathinaikos, who were beaten at home by Kavala at the weekend, and look great value at 6/4 on Bet365.

Then there’s Benfica, another team who are flying. They did the double over

Posted: February 18th, 2010 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Chelsea’s decision to appoint Carlo Ancelotti gains support

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Here at chickendinner we aren’t convinced that Carlo Ancelotti is the right man to guide Chelsea back into title contention but it appears that punters disagree with us.

Before news of the Italian’s appointment broke, the Blues were 4.2 to win the title but by the close of play they had been backed in to 3.85, although they have dropped back a bit this morning.

Chelsea, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, AZ, Marseille, Bayern Munich, Schalke and Wolfsburg have already made managerial changes for the coming season but the famed merry-go-round is going to gather even more momentum over the coming week. Juventus, Celtic, Portsmouth and Sunderland are already looking for a new boss and Roma, Lazio and Wigan look set to join them.

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Posted: June 2nd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Feeling patriotic? Back both English sides at almost 5/2!

Porto/Man Utd, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 2, Free Bets, Best Odds
Arsenal/Villarreal, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 3, Free Bets, Best Odds

There isn’t too much value to be found if you fancy backing the English teams to do well tonight but the best price we have found is on a Manchester United/Arsenal win double, where Paddy Power will pay out £33.73 on a £10 stake. Here’s why that could be a worthwhile bet:

English domination
It’s been almost two years since an English side were knocked out of the Champions League by foreign opposition.

Arsenal’s home comforts
The Gunners haven’t lost a European home match against foreign opposition since September 2003, when they lost their opening group game 3-1 against Inter Milan. Arsenal have conceded just one goal in ten home matches and have won their last four.

Villarreal are struggling
As well as being without a win in three games, the Yellow Submarine have won just one of their last ten away games, losing six times over that period. That run started with a 2-0 loss to Celtic, who finished bottom of their Champions League group.

Man Utd did similar last year

Posted: April 15th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Man United host a Porto side who hate travelling to the UK

Manchester United/Porto, 7.45pm, ITV1, Free Bets, Best Odds

Manchester United have been granted the best draw they could have asked for in their quest to retain the Champions League but recent defensive frailties threaten to end their run of seven straight clean sheets in two-legged European ties. However, Porto’s dreadful record in the UK means that an upset (9/1 with Ladbrokes) remains incredibly unlikely:

HOME ADVANTAGE
Manchester United’s domestic invincibility may have worn off but there are some pretty significant stats which make them the team to fear in Europe. The holders haven’t lost a Champions League home game since February 2005 and are unbeaten in 21 games in total in the competition. However, while they won all six of their European games at Old Trafford last season, they haven’t been quite as convincing this season. They beat Celtic (3-0) and Inter (2-0) but they failed to find a way past potential quarter-final opponents Villarreal (0-0) or the fifth-best team in Denmark, Aalborg (2-2).

Posted: April 7th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Jose Mourinho falls short and Fulham lose at home again

Five stats about Wednesday night’s football

1. Roberto Mancini had no problem winning Serie A so the main reason Jose Mourinho was brought in to replace him as Inter boss was to achieve European success. However, Mourinho went out last night at the same stage the Italian champions fell in each of Mancini’s last two seasons.

2. And there has been no domestic improvement either. Inter are a point worse off than they were at this stage last season, despite last year’s runners-up Roma struggling down in sixth.

3. Fulham have gone from losing just one home game in ten-and-a-half months to being beaten three times in the space of eight days at Craven Cottage.

Posted: March 13th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Why Arsenal may need to score again to eliminate Roma

Roma/Arsenal, 7.45pm, Sky Sports Xtra, Free Bets, Best Odds

Arsenal will take confidence from the fact Chelsea completed their job in Italy having arrived with a 1-0 advantage but will also be aware how hard Juventus made things for the Blues. Roma are even better at home than Claudio Ranieri’s side so Arsenal may need to score and force their opponents to score three. Sometimes they find that easy - Cardiff, Burnley - but sometimes they make things really difficult for themselves - West Ham, Sunderland, Fulham. Here are some interesting stats about tonight’s match:

» Roma are unbeaten in twelve home matches and have won ten of them.

» The Italian side have only failed to score once at the Stadio Olimpico since Manchester United won 2-0 there on April 1 last year and that was against league leaders Inter.

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