Tuesday Champions League betting preview with free bets
BSC Young Boys v Tottenham Hotspur, 7.45pm
Spurs have got a plum tie as far as qualification for the Champions League group stage is concerned, with Blue Square - £10 free bets going 1/5 that Harry Redknapp’s team qualify at the expense of their Swiss opponents.
The manager will have been delighted that his team avoided the likes of Braga and Dynamo Kiev in the play-off draw and their performance against Manchester City on Saturday suggests that they should have few problems beating modest opposition. Stan James – £25 free bets offer a best price 5/6 that they win Tuesday’s first leg.
Indeed, Spurs wiped the floor with City and would have been out of sight if it hadn’t been for Joe Hart’s excellent goalkeeping. A repeat performance could see them comfortably win this tie with bet365 - £200 free bets going 7/4 that the visitors lead at half-time and full-time.
However, Redknapp will be preaching caution when his team travel to Berne to face a team that finished second in the Swiss Super League last term. One should also note that Young Boys beat Fenerbahce in the previous qualifying round and will fancy their chances of an upset in this match. Ladbrokes bookies go 4/1 that they draw first blood and set up a potentially nail-biting second leg at White Hart Lane next week.
The visitors are likely to continue with Jermain Defoe (5/1 Stan James bookies) and Peter Crouch (6/1 Ladbrokes) in attack, although there’s probably better value to be had from backing Gareth Bale at odds of 12/1 (Boylesports bookies). The Welshman is playing in left midfield at the moment and he hit the post against Manchester City and also missed a tremendous chance to score.
Ledley King will not make the trip due to injury, although the priority will be to keep things tight, with the draw on offer at 13/5 (William Hills) and Under 2.5 Goals available at 17/20 (bet365).
Dynamo Kiev v Ajax, 7.45pm
Andriy Shevchenko might not be remembered fondly by the Chelsea supporters, although the Ukrainian is worth his weight in gold to Dynamo and he’ll be hoping to help them through to the group stages of the Champions League. Sheva is 6/1 (Ladbrokes bookmakers) to open the scoring against an Ajax team that made heavy weather of qualifying for this last play-off round.
They drew 1-1 at home to PAOK FC and needed a 3-3 draw in Greece to go through on away goals. Martin Jol will be looking for a tight first leg in the Ukraine and the Dutch side are 10/11 (Stan James bookmakers) to go through to the group stages.
However, it’s Kiev who are even money favourites (Victor Chandler bookmakers) to establish some kind of first leg advantage and their 6-1 aggregate victory over KAA Gent in the previous round was impressive. Sporting Bet offer 17/20 that they go through at the expense of their opponents and Paddy Power offer 9/4 that they win to nil during this first leg encounter.
