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Champions League

Wednesday's Champions League predictions: Dortmund can see off Sevilla

Benfica and Paris St-Germain to put on a show in Group H

COLOGNE, GERMANY - OCTOBER 01: Jude Bellingham of Borussia Dortmund looks dejected while applauding fans following their sides defeat after the Bundesliga match between 1. FC Köln and Borussia Dortmund at RheinEnergieStadion on October 01, 2022 in Cologn
Jude Bellingham's Borussia Dortmund can get back to winning ways against SevillaCredit: Dean Mouhtaropoulos

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Wednesday's group matches in the Uefa Champions League.

Benfica v PSG

Where to watch

BT Sport 4, 8pm

Best bet

Both teams to score & over 2.5 goals
1pt 3-4 BoyleSports

Preview

Lionel Messi fired in a delectable free-kick and Kylian Mbappe slotted home late on for Paris Saint-Germain in a 2-1 win over Nice on Saturday, putting the capital club back on top in Ligue 1, and the team's fearsome front three can contribute to a high-scoring affair with Benfica.

PSG and Benfica have both won their opening two matches in Group H and a trip to Lisbon is set to be the toughest test yet for Christophe Galtier's men.

And rather than try to predict the match winner, punters are advised to go for goals with both teams to score and over 2.5 goals looking an attractive option.

Although imperious in attack, PSG have conceded against Nice, Maccabi Haifa, Juventus, Monaco, Lille and Montpellier this season and will not have things all their own way in Portugal.

Sevilla v Borussia Dortmund

Where to watch

BT Sport 7, 8pm

Best bet

Borussia Dortmund draw no bet
1pt 8-11 general

Preview

Jude Bellingham captained Borussia Dortmund for the first time on Saturday as they slipped to a 3-2 defeat against Cologne but they can pick themselves up in time for their group-stage tussle with Sevilla.

Defeat at Cologne made it three losses in four for Dortmund, who also suffered a shock 3-0 defeat at Leipzig before a respectable 2-1 Champions League reverse against Manchester City in which the German outfit were unfortunate not to claim at least a point.

However, while Dortmund have endured a minor wobble recently, Sevilla have gone off the tracks entirely with Saturday's defeat to Atletico Madrid meaning they have picked up one win in seven La Liga fixtures.

They look short of ideas in attack and have failed to score in either of their Champions League games this term. Back Dortmund draw no bet in Andalusia.

Real Madrid v Shakhtar Donetsk

Where to watch

BT Sport 6, 8pm

Best bet

Real Madrid to win & both teams to score
1pt 8-5 bet365, BoyleSports, Hills

Preview

It is already shaping up to be a strong season for Real Madrid, who have won both of their Champions League games against Celtic and Leipzig and are keeping the pace with Barcelona at the La Liga summit.

And while they should again justify favouritism at home to Shakhtar Donetsk, hypercritical observers may point out Los Blancos have looked more susceptible at the back than last season.

Carlo Ancelotti seems unsure of his best centre-back combination, rotating between David Alaba, Eder Militao, Nacho and Antonio Rudiger in recent matches, and they have kept only one clean sheet in their last four contests.

Shakhtar, meanwhile, put six past Metalist Kharkiv on Saturday and they won 4-1 away to Leipzig in their Group F opener. They know where the goal is and can nick a consolation in the Spanish capital.

Juventus v Maccabi Haifa

Where to watch

BT Sport 8, 8pm

Best bet

Juventus to win to nil
1pt 23-20 BoyleSports

Preview

Juventus have been slow starters in this season's Champions League, falling to defeats against PSG and Benfica in their first two matches, and they cannot afford another slip-up at home to Maccabi Haifa.

This is a game Juve have to win if they have genuine hopes of making the knockout stage and complacency is unlikely to set in at the Allianz Stadium.

Consistency has been a problem for the Old Lady this season but they have not been completely hopeless, conceding only five goals in their first eight Serie A matches this season.

On Sunday, they put in a polished performance to beat Bologna 3-0, restricting their opponents to only a single shot on target as Filip Kostic, Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik did the damage at the other end. A win to nil for Juve looks the way to go in this one.

Salzburg v Dinamo Zagreb

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 5.45pm

Best bet

N Okafor first goalscorer
1pt 5-1 bet365, Betfair, PaddyPower

Preview

Star names Erling Haaland and Karim Adeyemi have led Salzburg's attack in recent seasons and this campaign they are once again spearheaded by two of Europe's brightest young talents.

Benjamin Sesko, 19, and Noah Okafor, 22, are two seriously exciting prospects who are doing the business for the Austrians and both are unsurprisingly prominent in the goalscorer markets for this home contest with Dinamo Zagreb.

Although these sides are joined by Milan and Chelsea in Group E, the section is wide open and this could well be an end-to-end encounter.

Therefore a goalscorer bet could be a good way to approach the fixture and Okafor arguably represents better value than Sesko to bag the opener.

He has struck five times in the Austrian Bundesliga this season and scored for his side in each of their first two group matches against Milan and Chelsea.


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Liam FlinRacing Post Sport

Published on 4 October 2022inChampions League

Last updated 14:22, 4 October 2022

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