NJ's Champions League Preview

From a betting point of view, there is not much of interest in the first round of matches in the CL, so we will look to some ante post bets to boost our bank.

Group D sees Liverpool as justifiably strong favourites to qualify to the next round, but Atletico Madrid, PSV Eindhoven and Marseille are relatively evenly matched teams and will probably be fighting for second place. Therefore, it is quite surprising to see Atletico Madrid at odds-on to qualify from a tight group. They were knocked out by a lowly Bolton side in last season's UEFA Cup in the Round of 32, and as such they have no God-given right to qualify into the CL knock-out phases.

Bayern Munich return to the Champions League this season, where they are surprising favourites to win Group F. For my money, Lyon are the stand-out team in this group, and they have an outstanding recent track record in the group phases, having topped their group in four of the past five seasons. With only Fiorentina and Steaua Bucharest to make up the numbers, Lyon offer some excellent value here.

To Group H, where I strongly fancy Zenit St Petersburg to go deep into the tournament. After lifting the UEFA Cup last year, they comprehensively outplayed CL winners Manchester United
to lift the Super Cup last month. Such results show that Zenit are currently one of the top teams in Europe, and yet they are being under-estimated by the bookies. Real Madrid, Juventus and
minnows BATE Borisov make up the rest of the group, and while Real Madrid have proven pedigree in qualifying from the group phases, Juventus have rather fallen away in recent years. Back
Zenit to qualify from the group at odds-against for some stand-out value.


NJ's Bets:

Lay Atletico Madrid to qualify from Group D - lay for 3.5pts liability @ 1.7 (Betfair )

Back Lyon to win Group F - 3pts @ 2.88 (Totesport)

Back Zenit St Petersburg to qualify from Group H - 5pts @ 2.2 (Totesport)