The UEFA Champions League round of 16 first legs continue with four more ties spread across Tuesday and Wednesday.
Here are our betting tips for this week’s round of 16 first leg action.
Champions League Betting Tips - Tuesday 20 & Wednesday 21 February
UEFA Champions League Acca of the Day
Arsenal to win
FC Porto vs Arsenal
Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals
Napoli vs Barcelona
Internazionale Milano to win
Internazionale Milano vs Atlético Madrid
Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals
PSV Eindhoven vs Borussia Dortmund
At 10/1, a £10 bet would return £111.28
UEFA Champions League acca of the week- 20 & 21 February
Porto vs Arsenal betting tips
Arsenal have not won a Champions League knockout phase tie since 2010, falling at this hurdle in seven successive seasons subsequently, their most-recent victory coming over Porto.
Well, the Gunners will be reacquainted with the Dragões on Wednesday, and they certainly come into this tie in red-hot form.
Mikel Arteta’s team made it five wins on the spin on Saturday, smashing Burnley 5-0 at Turf Moor, having scored 21 goals in these matches.
This, amazingly, is the first time ever Arsenal have began a calendar year with five consecutive wins, while it’s the first time since 1934/35 they’ve won 5+ games by a five-goal margin within the same season.
One of these wins came in the group phase, smashing Lens 6-0, winning all three home games without conceding, meaning any sort of result in Northern Portugal would leave them in a strong position to advance.
Porto meanwhile ended up second in Group H, beating Royal Antwerp and Shakhtar Donetsk both home and away, but losing both encounters with Barcelona, 1-0 at home and 2-1 at Montjuïc.
Sérgio Conceição’s side are also enduring a bit of a down season domestically, currently third in the Primeira Liga, seven points below the leaders, beaten 3-1 at Arouca last Monday night.
If Porto don’t finish in the top two, they won’t be back in this competition next season.
Since 1977, they’ve won only one of 11 two-legged ties against English clubs, losing each of the last seven, their sole victory during this time-frame coming over Man United in 2004, en route to capturing this trophy.
If Porto harbour any hopes of winning this one, victory at Estádio do Dragão is vitally important.
Arsenal to win
1st selection
Both teams to score NO
2nd selection
Bukayo Saka to score anytime
3rd selection
At 15/2, a £10 bet would return £85
FC Porto vs Arsenal Bet Builder
Napoli vs Barcelona betting tips
Elsewhere on Wednesday night, the champions of Italy and Spain go head-to-head, although neither have shown very many characteristics of champions in recent weeks.
Napoli won a first Scudetto since 1990 last season, but currently find themselves ninth, nine points adrift fourth, while rumours suggest that Walter Mazzarri will be sacked, following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Genoa.
He returned to club in November, during the group stages, in which I Partenopei were decent, accumulating ten points by beating Braga twice and Union Berlin at Olympiastadion, finishing second behind Real Madrid.
12 months ago, Napoli reached the European Cup quarter-finals for the first time ever, dumping out Frankfurt in this round, so can they get through again?
Well, while Barcelona aren’t quite in as big a mess as their hosts, they are certainly beatable.
The La Liga champions sit third right now, eight points adrift top, with Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Celta Vigo meaning they’re unbeaten in four, although Xavi’s side have conceded 21 goals in their last nine outings.
Xavi himself has already confirmed he will depart at the end of the season, with the five-times European champions aiming to reach the quarter-finals of this competition for the first time since 2020.
Coincidentally enough, the side they beat back then, the two legs played 165 days apart due to Covid-19, was Napoli, drawing 1-1 in Southern Italy before a 3-1 victory at Camp Nou.
Given the chaotic nature of both teams right now, a high-scoring tie is likely at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Napoli to win or draw
1st selection
Both teams to score
2nd selection
Over 2.5 goals
3rd selection
At 21/10 a £10 bet would return £31!
Napoli vs Barcelona Bet Builder
Internazionale Milano vs Atletico Madrid betting tips
Switching our attention to Tuesday, this tie might just be the most interesting of this mid-week’s quartet.
Internazionale Milano, having finished second in their group, will host this first leg, but their red-hot form means many are making them favourites to advance.
Simone Inzaghi’s side are nine points clear at the top of Serie A, with a game in hand, following Friday’s 4-0 thumping of Salernitana, their sixth victory in succession, while their most-recent defeat came in September.
In the Champions League, I Nerazzurri were unbeaten in the group phase, winning three and drawing three, but failure to defeat Real Sociedad twice saw them miss out on top spot by virtue of goal difference.
Nevertheless, Inter did still reach the final of this competition just last season, hoping for another deep run.
Atlético Madrid meantime did manage to finish first in Group E, above Lazio, Feyenoord and Celtic, but won only one of their three games on the road, this coming at De Kuip.
Away form has been a problem in general for Diego Simeone’s side, who’ve accumulated a measly four points from their last seven La Liga games on the road, their sole win since mid-October coming at Granada.
At the Metropolitano, across La Liga and the Champions League, los Colchoneros are unbeaten, winning 15 of 16 fixtures, but need to stay in the tie at San Siro first and avoiding being blown away by in-form Inter.
Internazionale Milano to win
1st selection
Both teams to score NO
2nd selection
Lautaro Martínez to score anytime
3rd selection
At 5/1, a £10 bet would return £60
Internazionale Milano vs Atlético Madrid Bet Builder
PSV Eindhoven vs Borussia Dortmund betting tips
Last mid-week’s four fixtures produced just eight goals between them, a goal-per-game ratio that could be significantly improved by the two legs of this particular encounter.
PSV Eindhoven had to come through two rounds of qualifying just to get into the group phase, but victories over Lens at home and then Sevilla away saw them secure second spot in Group B with a game to spare.
So, this is Rood-witten’s first appearance in the knockout stages since 2015/16, with the 1988 European Champions now aiming to get through to the last eight for the first time in 17 years.
Domestically, things couldn’t be going much better for Peter Bosz’s team, currently ten points clear at the top of the Eredivisie, remarkably winning 20 of 22 matches, following Friday’s 2-0 victory over Heracles Almelo.
Across all competitions this season, PSV have scored 96 goals already, an average of 2.74 goals per 90, so can they keep up this ratio here?
Borussia Dortmund meantime, against all expectations, managed to top the group of death in this tournament, beating Newcastle both home and away, as well as AC Milan at San Siro, ending up with 11 points.
Meanwhile, after a rough end to 2023, Edin Terzić's team are currently unbeaten in eight Bundesliga matches, albeit half of these have been draws, so they face a battle to cling onto fourth place.
The only time die Schwarzgelben have previously visited Eindhoven was in 2002, leaving 3-1 winners, before the pair played out a 1-1 draw at Westfalenstadion three weeks later, both in the group phase.
While it’s hard to pick a winner 22 years on, this clash at Philips Stadion should guarantee goals.
PSV Eindhoven to win
1st selection
Both teams to score
2nd selection
Luuk de Jong to score anytime
3rd selection
At 5/1, a £10 bet would return £60
PSV Eindhoven vs Borussia Dortmund Bet Builder
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