[Mario]

UEFA Champions League
12/9/2014

AS Monaco vs Zenit St. Petersburg

Home - AS Monaco
Last away matches - W-L-W-D-L-W

AS Monaco have been doing pretty well at home this season in all competitions. In UCL play, they have 1 win and 1 draw in their opening 2 home matches with only 1 goal scored against none allowed over these 2 games. In French Ligue 1 matches, Monaco have managed to win 3 times and only lose twice at home through 8 matches played there. Overall only 2 losses in 10 home games isn’t to shabby as they will look to continue their strong home performances with a win on Tuesday evening. Monaco boast a more defensive-minded approach to the game of football as they look to take away an opponents will to win before striking. Dimitar Berbatov has been in fine form lately as he comes off a 2 goal showing away at Toulouse in their last match on Friday. Expect more of the same as Monaco will need to force a draw or win to advance out of the group stage in this season’s Champions League competition.

Away - Zenit St. Petersburg
Last away matches - W-L-W-L-D-W

Zenit St. Petersburg are a very good Russian League team as they currently sit in 1st position, a whole 7 points above 2nd place. They are currently enjoying 4 wins over their last 5 games overall including an impressive 4-0 win over Krasnodar on Saturday. The short week could hurt them. But there can be no excuses here in the last round as they absolutely must win to advance past the group stage, knocking Monaco out in the process. This is not an easy task however as Zenit have to beat them in Monaco. Overall, Zenit have been very solid on the road this season as shown by their 7 wins in their last 10 away matches including one against Benfica in UCL group stage play. Hulk and Rondon will need to add to their incredible 15 goal tally to push Zenit into the knockout rounds. They will need these deadly attackers to show up once again if they are to advance past a tough Monaco defense on Tuesday evening.

Asian Handicap
Home - (-0.25)
Away - (+0.25)
Pick - AS Monaco (-0.25)
Odds - 2.21
Stakes - 9/10
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UEFA Champions League
12/9/2014

Benfica vs Bayer Leverkusen

Home - Benfica
Last away matches - W-L-W-L-D-W

Benfica Lissabon are certainly the best team in Portugal at this point of the season. Sitting in 1st position with a +21 goal differential in the Portuguese Primeira League is no small feat regardless of where you hail from. They have put together an impressive resume the last few seasons as they were invited to participate in this season’s UEFA Champions League. Unfortunately for Benfica, they drew a rather tough group to play in with powerhouses such as Monaco, Leverkusen, and Zenit to go up against. They did not do well as could be expected, only winning 1 game the entire group stage 1-0 against Monaco at home. This win comes against a team that Leverkusen couldn’t beat in either match, losing both by the same score of 0-1. So Benfica may actually stand a chance on Tuesday despite the fact they have nothing outside pride to play for. Winning 6 of 8 at home in UCL and League play is not simple by any means as they have successfully put away an impressive 15 goals scored over these 8 home games. Incredible Brazilian youth Talisca has been on an insane pace this season scoring 9 goals already over 14 games in all competitions, including the winner in their only UCL win against Monaco. Benfica will need to want this win despite the meaningless implications if they are to come out on top of a deadly Leverkusen team.

Away - Bayer Leverkusen
Last away matches - L-W-W-L-W-D

Bayer Leverkusen will enter Tuesday’s evening clash in Lisbon with the key advantage of win to claim the group. They will put everything they have into this game despite coming off an emotional 0-1 loss to Bayern Munich on Saturday. Traveling has not been Leverkusen’s strong suit this season as they only have gathered 4 wins over 10 away games through UCL and German Bundesliga play. But, they have won 2 times on the road already in UCL play over 3 total games which saw them dismantle one of the deadliest home teams in the world in Zenit St. Petersburg 2-1 back in early November. The incredible scoring talents of Karim Bellarabi and Heung-Min Son have pushed Leverkusen into the top of this years UCL group. There is a combined 18 goals scored between the pair in all competitions including 5 from Son in UCL play. As they look to claim 1st place, these 2 star attackers will need to continue their dominate play if Leverkusen are to safely come away with the win. A draw could see them finish in 2nd place so expect them to come out to play their typical, hard-nosed football on Tuesday evening in Portugal.

Asian Handicap
Home - (0.00)
Away - (0.00)
Pick - Benfica (0.00)
Odds - 2.20
Stakes - 8/10
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UEFA Champions League
12/9/2014

Galatasaray vs Arsenal

Home - Galatasaray
Last away matches - W-L-W-L-L-W

The key man for Galatasaray is their midfield maestro, Wesley Sneijder. The Ajax youth product may not be the same player that he was a few years ago, but the Dutchman can still produce a match winning moment of magic every once and a while when he is called upon to do so. The former treble winner has created a chance every 42 minutes for the Turkish side in the league and one every 65 minutes in the Champions League. This shows that the former Real Madrid man and his team have had trouble readjusting from the lower level of competition in the Turkish League to the top quality in the Champions League. However, as he has shown with the Dutch national team, Sneijder has the quality to turn a match with one moment of magic. If he is able to produce one of those moments against Arsenal, it would go a long way to Galatasaray getting the victory.

Away - Arsenal
Last away matches - L-W-L-W-W-L

Arsenal have unsurprisingly been bit by the injury bug and have been bit hard. The gunners will definetly be missing Theo Walcott, David Ospina, Jack Wilshere, Mesut Ozil, Mikel Arteta, and Mathieu Debuchy who have been out for extended periods of time. The English side may also be missing Tomas Rosicky, Nacho Monreal, and Yaya Sanogo who will all have fitness tests before the game. Along with all the injuries, Arsene Wenger has already confirmed that Alexis Sanchez will be rested. It would not surprise anyone of Wenger decided to rest other players as well before the hectic English Christmas period. Galatasaray wil be without Blerim Dzemaili and Hakan Balta.

Asian Handicap
Home - (+0.50)
Away - (-0.50)
Pick - Arsenal (-0.50)
Odds - 2.29
Stakes - 10/10