The Champions League battles continue this Tuesday. Having in mind that Week 3 is ahead of us, we might say that from now on, the intensity of the game will be much higher. The speculations about the possible Round of 16 participants have already begun. After two matches, some of the teams are closer to reaching that goal, while others aren’t.
Club Brugge vs. PSG
The Saints are leading Group A of the UCL competition with two wins in two games and without a goal conceded. They will be heading for Brugge in search of a third win, but that won’t be easy against the motivated hosts. The Belgian team snapped one point against Real Madrid on the road, although leading 0-2 at one moment. Jan Breydel stadium is a ground for any guest, and be sure that this event isn’t going to be any different.
Even though Tomas Tuchel has problems with injuries, PSG is a heavy favorite here. Neymar is absent, the same as Draxler and Kehrer, but that won’t be an issue for the German coach. PSG comes into this clash in high spirits, posting four victories in a row, the latest two with 4 goals scored. Also during that span, the French champions hadn’t allowed a goal in three matches. When looking at the games on the road, PSG has five straight wins, with four clean sheets during that span, which ended with under 2.5 goals.
Club Brugge didn’t lose since the start of this season. In 17 competitive matches, they have 12 wins, and 5 draws, with the latest home victory against Gent, 4-0. Just to remind you, Gent is the current Belgium champion, and yet they were demolished. So that could tell you what the strength of these guys is. After five games with over 2.5 goals, the most recent played this weekend on the road against Mouscron ended 1-0 for Brugge. Philippe Clement’s guys are playing offensive and attractive football, meaning that three goals are something usual when they appear on the field.
Precisely because of that, and the fact that PSG has a superb attack which will be boosted by the presence of some recently recovered players, we suggest betting on over 2.5 goals in this match. BetXChange gives 0.68 for this pick.
Atletico Madrid vs. Bayer Leverkusen
With this win here, Simeone’s crew would most definitely eliminate the Germans from the knockout-stage. Meanwhile, they would make a massive step towards the Round of 16 and improve the position in the standings of Group D. Right now,
Atletico has 4 points, same as Juve, ahead of Lokomotiv Moscow with 3. A big blow for the home team is the absence of one of the best defenders in Europe, Stefan Savic. Meanwhile, Diego Costa is questionable, and that is another problem for the Argentinian manager. In three of the previous four matches, they played a draw, mostly due to inefficiency upfront. However, their back line was excellent, allowing just one goal in the latest 450 minutes.
Bayer couldn’t record a triumph in the three previous matches. This Friday, Leverkusen was beaten easily in Frankfurt 3-0, and it appears that the chemistry on the field isn’t that good. It is interesting that when looking at the last four road contests, they have one win and three defeats, all of them with at least three allowed goals. So, the defense is pretty problematic when not playing at their BayArena.
Our pick in this one would be Atletico’s win as the odds sit at 0.62 right now. From our perspective, that is a superb offer as we all know how Simeone handles home matches in the UCL.
