Tonight see's 2 potentially cracking ties in the Champions League as the last 16 stage draws to a conclusion. Man City travel to Barcelona needing to score at least 2 goals to progress while Dortmund host Juventus, trailing 2.1 from the first leg in Turin and while Barca are strong favourites, the tie in Dortmund is finely poisted and should be a cracking contest between 2 evenly matched sides. There are another 2 more games from the Championship tonight as free scoring Forest who done me at the weekend (thanks boys) by drawing their first blank in 10 games host struggling Rotherham while Fulham have a vital game in their battle to avoid relegation as they welcome Leeds to Craven Cottage. Here are the previews for tonight's action. 20:45 - Barcelona v Man City - Prediction 2.1- Best Bet - BTTS and over 2.5 goals @5/6
So which Man City are going to turn up tonight then? If it's the one that succumbed so meakly to Burnley then we can assume the outcome will be straighforward for the Catalans but you would have to imagine that they had this game in the back of their minds at the weekend and while that does not justify such a rank display, surely tonight they will put up a much better performance for their travelling support. City desperately need a good display to aid their ailing season and the general consensous is that boss Pellegrini is in danger of losing his job, especially if tonight's performance even vaguely resembles the shambles at Burnley on the weekend. It is surely asking too much of City to come and win this game and knock out Messi, Suarez, Neymar et al but you would have to expect an improved but ultimately fruitless performance tonight. I think City are capable of scoring and I like the the looks of BTTS @ 8/13 and also a combination of BTTS and over 2.5 goals @ 5/6 City will improve from what we saw at the weekend but there is a big difference between Burnely and Barca and while we should see a response from the Citizens, I expect it will be the home support celebrating at the end. A repeat of the first leg score line could be on the cards so I am going with BTTS and over 2.5 goals at 5/6 odds. 20:45 - Dortmund v Juventus Prediction 1.1.- Best Bet - draw @9/4 Juventus travel to Germany with a narrow lead from the first leg in Turin 3 weeks ago and I expect a dramatic return at the wonderful Westfallen arena in Dortmund where 65000 spectators will fill an arena that can intimidate even the strongest of teams. I really don't think I can make any bets on this one because the tie is so finely poised that I do not expect over 2.5 goals (without ruling it out) and to coin a boxing expression, this is a pick em match up where the chances of either side getting the result they need is 50/50 or there or there abouts. If I had to put my neck on it, I would plump for Juventus who know how to defend and while Dortmund have improved significantly since their winter rest, they still couldn't break down Koln at the weekend in a 0.0 home draw and Juve would love something similar tonight and I think they might just get it. Under 2.5 goals could be the call but of course an early Dortmund goal could really open this tie up so I fancy watching it from a distance without making it a big part of my best bets for today. A draw is of course my favourite bet in a situation like this and I think Juve might just do enough to go back to Italy with a place in the quarter finals in the bag following a tense 1.1 draw. We shall see. 20:45 - Forest v Rotherham - Prediction 3.1 -Best Bet - Forest to win @4/5 and over 2.5 goals @ 7/10 Forest as we know have improved hugely of late and I think they have enough about them to beat Rotherham tonight. There have been over 2.5 goals in 9 of the home sides last 13 including the last 4 at the city ground while 7 of Rotherham's last 8 have gone over 2.5 and I fancy that to continue tonight again. 20:45 - Fulham v Leeds - Prediction -0.1- Best Bet - Avoid Leeds are in good form and will be confident of another win as they visit the Cottage in West London in what is a vital game for the home side who are being dragged into a relegation dog fight. The under 2.5 goals market is a possibility at 8/11 odds and while I think Leeds are the better side at the moment, the fact is that they do not have much to play for while the hosts know that relegation to League 1 is unthinkable for a club that were Premer League stalwarts for more than a decade. I'm going to leave this one out but under 2.5 and an away win would be my best selections here. Comments are closed.
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