It's the time of year when all of the elite of Europe start dreaming of glory. Porto proved in 2004 that you don't have to have a multi multi million pound squad in order to be the best in Europe at a given time, but it does help a hell of a lot!
With sixteen matches spread over Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, it is pretty difficult not to find some good bets when you consider just how many markets there are to select from.
The matches that catch my eye most are Chelsea v Bordeaux and PSV v Athletico Madrid on the Tuesday night, and Dynamo Kiev v Arsenal on the Wednesday night.

CHELSEA V BORDEAUX, 19:45
GMT Tuesday 16th September

This match is somewhat of a no-brainer really. In each and every department of the pitch, Chelsea are superior to their French counterparts and they arrive at fortress Stamford Bridge probably not holding out much hope of pulling off a shock. A best price of 1.29 tells a story all by itself and as daft as it sounds, that ridiculously small price is probably good value! Of course it won't be a recommendation of mine however because there is better value elsewhere.
Didier Drogba is suspended for the match because of his sending off in last season's final against Manchester United but Michael Ballack has a good chance of laying some part which is always a boost to an already star studded line up.
The Asian handicap mark widely offered is 1.5 and given the gulf in class between the two teams, I personally would have been veering more in the 1.75-2 region. Gratefully accept Canbet's price of 2.04 on Chelsea to win by at least two clear goals.
Frank Lampard is always a good chance of scoring for Chelsea because of his natural attack-minded attitude from the centre of the park. He likes to shoot at regularity and has a terrific goalscoring record for a midfielder. Against one of the weaker opponents that Chelsea are likely to face, he has got to be worth a punt in the anytime goalscorer market.

RECOMMENDATIONS - 3 Points on Chelsea -1.5 @ 2.04 (Canbet)
1.5 Points on Frank Lampard anytime scorer @ 3.25 (Betfair )

PSV EINDHOVEN V ATHLETICO MADRID
19:45 GMT Tuesday 16th September

PSV are pencilled in to qualify for the Champions League every season so it seems having reached the group stage at least for the past eleven years running. Same old, same old.
Having sold off Jefferson Farfan and Gomes (of clown show hilarity in goal for Spurs last night), PSV were left with a bit of a hole in their line up. New coach Huub Stevens has brought plenty of players into the squad, but to say that they are a little mediocre in top European footballing terms may be being too kind. Nothing about this team leaps out at me and tells me that PSV will be a threat to win the Champions League this year.
I have completely different views about their visitors for today. Having spent years in the doldrums, Athletico Madrid is a club well and truly on the up and not even the sale of Fernando Torres to Liverpool last season has halted their ascent.
Signing Tomas Ujfalusi, Gregory Coupet, Florent Sinama Pongolle, Paulo Assuncao and Johnny Heitinga. Perhaps most exciting of all was bringing in Ever Banega, the 20 year old Argentinian International midfielder who is on loan for the season from Spanish rivals Valencia.
The much maligned Diego Forlan will be a big goal threat and must not be underestimated or else it could be fatal!
I think that PSV will be surprised by the skill level that will be shown by Athletico, and perhaps one or two pundits may be also.
It will not be a huge shock by any stretch of the imagination but I do fancy Athletico for this match and think that as slight underdogs for the matchup they are very backable. My only issue with recommending them is that PSV may try to stifle them if they got dominated in early exchanges and as such I advise caution in that using the 'draw no bet' market may be more fruitful.
A lot of matches of this kind are not expected to have many corners in because there are often large periods of play where the ball is kept in the middle of the park, but I think that the mark of 10 on corners is light. I expect the game to be played at a slightly higher tempo than expected and I am sure that neither team will be scared to go out wide if required, so for me, overs is the play.

RECOMMENDATIONS - 3 Points on Athletico Madrid (Draw No Bet) @ 2.1 (VcBet)
2 Points on over 10 corners @ 2 (Bet365)
 
DYNAMO KIEV V ARSENAL
19:45 GMT Wednesday 17th September

Arsenal on their travels in Europe is a dangerous territory for punters. Over the years we have seen some extremely toothless attacking displays from the Gunners away from home and yet still, the money keeps rolling in for them.
There is no doubting that the quality of the two sides on paper is not comparable, Arsenal play at a higher standard of football and with a higher standard of players. Since when has a match ever been won on paper though?
Travelling to a hostile Kiev for a match where they will potentially be physically outmatched is not a situation where I would want to be putting money on a sometimes unreliable Arsenal team.
There is no point in staking huge amounts of money on this match because there is always a minor chance of a vintage Arsenal display but I very much doubt it so still a play on Kiev +0.5 could reap rewards.
This type of encounter has a habit of being quite tedious on occasion (remember Arsenal in Prague last year for the bore draw or Moscow the previous season), so there is value in backing under 2.5 with Canbet at a nice price of 1.86.

RECOMMENDATION - 2 Points on Dynamo Kiev +0.5 @ 2 (Bet365, VcBet)
2.5 Points on Under 2.5 Goals @ 1.86 (Canbet)

Should be a fascinating set of midweek fixtures so do enjoy and stay lucky!