Champions League Midweek – Football & Racing News – Star Sports

Star Sports Football ambassador ALEX CROOK previews the pick of the midweek Champions League action…

????????  MONACO v ASTON VILLA ????????????????????????????
Tuesday, 5.45pm

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Aston Villa travel to millionaire’s playground Monaco on Tuesday bidding to move a giant step closer to the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Monaco have shown a lot of defensive frailty during a run of one win in their last six league games.

They have gone from potential title contenders to fourth place in the table – 15 points behind leaders PSG.

Monaco have also lost their last two Champions League games against Benfica and Arsenal.

Unless they can drastically improve their recent performances, this feels like a great opportunity for Villa to continue their impressive European form and take a stranglehold on the top eight and an automatic spot in the last 16.

Unai Emery has proved time and again he knows his way around continental competition and has already masterminded an impressive 1-0 win over Bayern Munich and a 0-0 draw with Juventus this season.

The visitors to win at 9/5 with starsports.bet looks overpriced.

Villa’s success in the competition has been built on a stubborn defensive, conceding only three goals.

Ollie Watkins scored a fine goal in the dramatic 2-2 draw at Arsenal on Saturday when Emery’s men fought back from 2-0 down, but in Europe so far it’s been all about Jhon Duran, who has come up with some big moments.

A build-a-bet on Villa to win, both teams to score no and Duran to score at any time returns around 10/1 with starsports.bet.

????????  PSG v MANCHESTER CITY ????????????????????????????
Wednesday, 8pm

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You would have got huge odds at the start of the season on these two European giants being 25th and 22nd in the Champions League heading into matchday 7.

It means neither have any margin for error ahead of Wednesday’s showdown in the French capital.

The Parisians managed a meagre three goals in their first five games before a much-needed 3-0 win at RB Salzburg last month.

Despite PSG’s seemingly bottomless budget it is hard to make a case for them finally getting their hands on the trophy the Qatari owners crave above all others.

They simply do not possess the superstar names they had in the recent past, particularly since Kylian Mbappe’s summer departure to Real Madrid.

City are going through a transitional period of their own and look like being the biggest spenders in this January transfer window, which is highly unusual and highlights how disappointing their season had been.

They have turned a corner in recent games though and simply blew Ipswich away in Sunday’s 6-0 demolition job at Portman Road.

The return to form of last season’s Premier League Player of the Year Phil Foden has coincided with that revival and the England man has netted braces in each of his last two games.

I am backing City to win, albeit it with PSG getting on the scoresheet and Foden to score the first goal, which returns 7.53/1 with starsports.bet as a build-a-bet.

I also like the look of City to get the much-needed victory at 13/8 with starsports.bet.

You can also back an Aston Villa, Manchester City and Celtic treble at 8.38/1 with starsports.bet.

RECOMMENDED BETS
BACK Aston Villa to win 1pt at 9/5 (⭐️

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Build-a-bet: Aston Villa to win, both teams to score no and Jhon Duran to score at any time 0.5pts at 10/1 with starsports.bet
Build-a-bet: Manchester City to win, both teams to score and Phil Foden to score the first goal 1pt at 7.53/1 with starsports.bet
BACK Manchester City to win 2pts at 13/8 (⭐️

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Treble: Aston Villa, Manchester City and Celtic 1pt at 8.38/1 with starsports.bet

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