The fourth round of the UCL League Phase gets underway on Tuesday and we take a look at all nine matches including Barcelona vs Aston Villa, Atletico Madrid vs Bayern Munich, Man United vs Roma and Villarreal vs PSG
Galatasaray vs Stuttgart
Gala got off the mark in Round 3 with a 4-2 win at Lille, scoring twice in each half. They lost their first two matches despite scoring first in both games, 3-1 away to Sporting and 4-1 at home to Barcelona.
Stuttgart have 2 wins and 1 draw against their name and are sixth on the log. They had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Atletico last time out with the Madrid side having a man sent off in the 64th minute. Earlier they won 3-0 at Bratislava and they started with a 3-1 home victory over Viking where Ermedin Demirovic scored a first half hat trick in the space of 12 minutes.
That win in Lille should do Gala a power of good and although they come up against a useful Stuttgart side I will go with the hosts to score 2-3 in their multi goal market.
Bet: Galatasaray multi goal 2-3 at 11/10 with Sportingbet
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Sporting
Shakhtar have 4 points from 3 matches. They drew 1-1 away to PSV in the opening round and followed up with a 3-1 win over AEK in a home game played in London. In Round 3 they were holding Inter at 0-0 and had a man advantage but they conceded in the 77th minute and went down 1-0.
Sporting saw off Galatasaray 3-1 in Lisbon and then came away from Lens with a 2-0 win but they were on the wrong end of a shock result last time out, going down 3-2 at home to LASK.
This game is staged at Chelsea’s ground in London, Shakhtar have been pretty good so far and Sporting need to get that LASK defeat out of the system. I see it as a tricky call but the fall back position is to back Sporting’s Luis Suarez to continue his scoring streak.
Bet: Anytime goalscorer Luis Suarez at 11/8 with Sportingbet
Atletico Madrid vs Bayern Munich
Atletico have 1 win, 1 draw and 1 defeat against their name. They draw (1-1) came away to Stuttgart last time out where they had Morten Hjulmand red carded on 64 minutes. Atletico took an early lead away to Liverpool in the opening round but they conceded either side of half time and went down 2-1. They bounced back a home game against Man United with a 2-0 win.
Bayern are fourteenth with 1 win and 2 draws. Matchday 1 was plain sailing as they put Bodo/Glimt away 5-0 in Munich but since then they scrambled a 3-3 draw away to Viking and last time out they drew 2-2 at home to Arsenal.
Bayern could be missing a couple of key players here, they haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last 7 across all competitions and I fancy Atletico could be in the goals, hopefully in both halves.
Bet: Atletico to score in both halves? Yes at 18/10 with Lucky Fish
Barcelona vs Aston Villa
Barca are eighth with 2 wins and 1 defeat. They began with a 5-1 demolition of Feyenoord and then put Galatasaray away 4-1 in Istanbul. In Round 3 they took on PSG in Paris, they came from 1-0 and 2-1 down to square things up before PSG pulled away late on to win 4-2 on the night.
Villa are 1 of 5 teams with the maximum 9 points. They opened up with a 3-2 win away to Club Brugge then dished out a 6-0 hiding of Fenerbahce at Villa Park and last time out another home game saw them beat Viking 3-1.
Villa have had some favourable match ups in these early UCL games but that stops here. I think the visitors could have a goal in them though and Nicolas Jackson is the most likely scorer.
Bet: Anytime goalscorer Nicolas Jackson at 11/5 with Sportingbet
Bodo / Glimt vs Lille
After reaching the League Phase through the qualifiers Bodo have 1 win and 2 defeats against their name. They took on German opposition in the first 2 rounds, crashing to a 5-0 defeat to Bayern in Munich before putting themselves on the board with a 1-0 home win over Dortmund. In Round 3 they lost 4-3 away to Napoli.
Lille are still looking for their first points after a 4-2 home defeat to Galatasaray last time out. Earlier they lost 3-0 away to Arsenal and 3-2 at home to Betis.
On the face of it this looks a good opportunity for Bodo to get another home win on the board but I will let this go through to the keeper, no bet!
Feyenoord vs Inter Milan
Feyenoord went down 5-1 away to Barcelona in their opening match before they put themselves on the board by edging an entertaining clash at home to Como 3-2. In Round 3 they lost 1-0 away to Betis.
Inter finally got off the mark with a 1-0 home win over Shakhtar in Round 3 with Augusto finding the winner after Inter had Bastoni sent off. They went down 4-3 at home to Club Brugge in Round 2 and lost 2-1 away to Real Madrid in the opening round.
Inter still have some recovery work to do after the 2 early defeats and they were also beaten in the Milan derby in Serie A at the weekend, their first league defeat of the season. I’ll look for an Inter scorer and with Martinez sidelined Marcus Thuram is the next obvious choice.
Bet: Anytime goalscorer Marcus Thuram at 23/20 with Sportingbet
LASK vs Slovan Bratislave
LASK were very much the outsiders for their Round 3 visit to Sporting but they picked up their first points with a shock 3-2 victory. Earlier they were beaten 6-3 by Liverpool in their only home game so far and they went down 1-0 away to AEK in their opening match.
Slovan Bratislava came through qualifying and are finding it really tough going. They had the toughest possible start away to PSG where they were thrashed 6-1. A subsequent home game ended in a 3-0 defeat to Stuttgart and last time out they went down 4-0 away to Roma.
Having turned Sporting over in Lisbon this home game is a great opportunity for LASK to chalk up another win. Sasa Kalajdzic looked a handful in Portugal and gets the vote to pop up anytime.
Bet: Anytime goalscorer Sasa Kalajdzic at even money with Lucky Fish
Man United vs Roma
United are in the English Premier League relegation zone and have just 1 win (and 2 defeats) in the UCL. They started with a 4-0 home win over minnows Sabah Baku before losing 2-0 Atletico in Madrid. Round 3 saw them throw in a shocker as they crashed to a 4-1 defeat at Como.
Roma have 4 points and their first win came at home to Slovaan Bratislaava (4-0) las time out. Earlier they went down 4-3 at home to Real Madrid who scored 3 goals from the 83rd minute onwards to snatch victory. Roma played put a 1-1 draw away to Fenerbahce in their opening match.
Big pressure on United and Roma are useful on their day and have been banging in the goals in Serie A but they do have a few injury doubts for this game. I’m thinking goals though and hopefully 4 or more.
Bet: Total goals over 2.5 at 5/4 with Sportingbet
Villarreal vs PSG
Villarreal have been involved on some entertaining games, winning 1 and losing 2. They were 3-1 winners at home to Napoli in their second outing which came either side of a 3-2 defeat in Dortmund and most recently a 4-3 loss to Liverpool at Anfield.
Defending champions PSG have 3 wins from 3 and it’s raining goals. Last time out they were 4-2 winners at home to Barcelona and they beat Man City 4-2 in Manchester and Slovan Bratislava were thrashed 6-1 in Paris.
PSG have looked sublime and their 2 most recent wins in this competition were of the statement variety. They haven’t been keeping clean sheets though and the excellent Georges Mikautadze could find a way through for the hosts.
Bet: Anytime goalscorer Georges Mikautadze at 21/10 with Sportingbet
Note, prices are subject to change