Chelsea hold a 1-0 lead over Atletico Madrid ahead of their last-16 second-leg Champions League tie at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday and look set to be pushed hard in their pursuit of a place in the last eight.
The Blues produced a strong showing to edge a victory in the first leg at the Arena Nationala in Bucharest on February 23.
They prevented Atletico from registering a single shot on target, with Olivier Giroud’s second-half strike enough to see them prevail.
That win in Romania extended Thomas Tuchel’s unbeaten streak at Chelsea to eight matches and he has overseen a further four games in the following weeks, continuing to avoid defeat and are 27/20
to win.
With the return leg set to be played out at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have home comforts to fall back on and should be full of confidence after a resurgent run under the German.
Tight Contest on the Cards
Tuchel has addressed their defensive worries and completely changed their style of play with a possession-based approach the new way forward.
The west London outfit have only conceded two goals in 12 games with the German on the touchline, keeping 10 clean sheets.
Another low-scoring affair looks the most likely outcome when Atleti come to town, especially when considering the Spanish side’s reputation for being strong defensively.
Los Colchoneros have the best defensive record in La Liga, conceding 18 times, and Diego Simeone’s men pride themselves on being tough to break down.
Under 2.5 goals has landed in each of their last five Champions League encounters and that can be backed at 10/17
, with a ‘No’ in the Both Team to Score Market 5/7
.
Bayern Back on Track
After they travelled to Qatar for their successful Club World Cup campaign, Bayern Munich’s campaign stuttered, failing to win their first two matches back in the Bundesliga.
A draw against relegation-threatened Arminia Bielefeld and a loss at Eintracht Frankfurt invited RB Leipzig into the Bundesliga title race. However, they have been back to their usual brilliant best over recent weeks.
A 4-1 triumph over Lazio in the first leg of the last-16 tie sparked a four-match winning streak and Bayern have since found themselves scoring for fun.
The defending European champions have struck at least three times in each of their last four, netting nine goals across their last two outings at home.
Another high-scoring victory looks the most likely outcome but there’s not a great deal of value in backing over 2.5 goals at 1/3
.
It could be worth going with Bayern to win and over 2.5 goals at 20/31
, but the best bet from this clash looks to be Bayern -2 on the Asian Handicap at 7/5
.
Lewandowski to Land Against Lazio
Robert Lewandowski’s potency in front of goal is no secret and you’ll never go far wrong when getting behind the Poland ace to register.
The 32-year-old hit the opener in the reverse fixture, taking his tally in this season’s competition to four, while he has notched on 32 occasions in the Bundesliga this campaign.
He goes into Wednesday’s clash in fine form, netting nine goals in his six appearances and is now tied for the second-highest scorer in Bundesliga history after registering in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Werder Bremen.
Lewandowski is available at 17/10
in the first goalscorer market, while 18-year-old midfielder Jamal Musiala, who scored his maiden goal in the competition in the first-leg, could be worth a punt in the anytime market at 13/5
.
*All odds correct at time of writing.