Club Brugge v Porto: Hosts set for another disappointing defeat
The Champions League provides plenty of potential betting opportunities for punters and one of the better selections with regards to the upcoming ties appears to come from the Belgian city of Brugge. The home side have been dismal domestically this term and even worse on the European stage.
A 1-0 defeat to Sporting Charleroi on Friday night was Brugge’s fourth league defeat in just 10 games and they have been roundly outclassed by both Leicester City and FC Copenhagen in their opening two Champions League clashes.
With that in mind the 7/2 (4.50) quotes from Paddy Power about a home win look distinctly unappealing but the chance to oppose a team who have been on the end of a 7-0 aggregate scoreline in their first two group games certainly looks to be a potential slice of value.
Porto sit second in the Portuguese Super Liga and come into this game off the back of a 4-0 win over Nacional plus a 3-0 victory at home to Boavista before the international break, followed up by a 3-0 cup victory at the weekend.
17/20 (1.85) with Paddy Power certainly appeals on an away win considering not only the contrasting league form of these two teams but their European pedigree in recent times.
Furthermore, this season’s struggles on the big stage are no anomaly for the hosts, they have lost six of their previous seven Champions League ties, conceding 19 times in that run. This team are no strangers to coming out on the wrong end of defeats by a significant margin when it comes to the world’s premier club competition.
Granted Porto are not the team that won the trophy under Jose Mourinho in 2004 but they appear a class above Brugge, especially on the back of a very narrow defeat at the King Power Stadium in the previous match day where the Portuguese side will feel they were unlucky not to take at least a point.
That said, because Tuesday’s visitors have only garnered a single point from their opening two group games, there is no doubt that a comprehensive victory will be the aim here to ensure they are at least on par with their rivals going into the second half of the group matches.
Leicester and Copenhagen have both racked up the goals against Michel Preud’homme’s side already this season and Porto have the weapons to do likewise. Bolder punters can take an industry best price of 23/10 (3.30) on the visitors -1 on the European handicap.
This pick will be settled a winner if Porto win by two or more and looks to be a shrewd way of siding with the favourites in what could be another one-sided Champions League tie. 6/1 (7.0) could be worthy of a small stakes investment on the -2 handicap market. This looks a mismatch and taking a chance on some of the longer prices available could allow bettors to take advantage.
Visit Paddypower for the best football betting odds here
