Soccer Pick #1: Chelsea vs. Schalke 04
Rating: 3 units - Single Dime Play
Pick: Chelsea (-1.5) @ -111 / 1.90 on Pinnacle Sports (OR -112 / 1.89 on 5 Dimes)
Detailed Write Up:
We can say that this is the “public play” of the day but it’s hard to go against Chelsea right now. They are playing an exciting style of football w/ Fabregas being the playmaker, while Diego Costa is indeed making a strong impression on the front. I expect Mourinho to make some changes and rotate his players. However their depth is tremendous and players like Cech, Felipe Luiz, Ramires, Willian and/or Remy are capable players.
On the other end, Schalke 04 is heavily struggling right now. Their domestic league performance is subpar w/ one draw & 2 losses in three games. Several first team players such as Farfan, Felipe Santana, Kolasinac are injured and out for today, and more recently, their captain and leader of the defensive line Howedes is OUT as well, so I don’t think that Schalke is going to offer much resistance to the Blues.
Soccer Pick #2: Bayern Munchen vs. Manchester City
Rating: 3 units - Single Dime Play
Pick: Manchester City (+1) @ -125 / 1.80 on Pinnacle Sports (OR -126 / 1.79 on 5 Dimes)
Detailed Write Up:
I feel that Manchester City is vastly underpriced for this contest. We are now dealing with an experienced team in UEFA’s competitions (something that they lacked some couple of years ago) and they certainly know how to play against this “tiki taka” style of football imposed by Guardiola, as they faced this Bayern team last season ,and then Barcelona in the knockout stage.
City’s head coach Manuel Pellegrini rested some players in the last weekend clash against Arsenal just to be ready for this contest. Yaya Touré was one of those players and I think that he will be a key factor for tonight’s game, because Bayern has several injured players in the midfield (Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thiago Alcantara, Javi Martinez and also Ribery is OUT as well). With Man City having good chances to at least give some fight in the midfield battle, I expect them to be a tough matchup and therefore, this +1 line is valuable in my opinion.
Soccer Pick #3: Ajax vs. PSG
Rating: 3 units - Single Dime Play
Pick: PSG (-0.75) @ -117 / 1.85 on Pinnacle Sports (OR -117 / 1.85 on 5 Dimes)
Detailed Write Up:
PSG is struggling to win games on their domestic league but Ajax is a great matchup for their style of football. Unlike the majority of the French teams, this Ajax team won’t play w/ a conservative mindset trying to secure 0-0 draw… no! They will try to impose their game, control the ball possession and assuming some offensive risks… the problem is that they will be vulnerable on the back and PSG’s forwards given some space… they are deadly!
Ajax lost probably their two best players at the end of the trade deadline as Blind went to Man Utd and Siem de Jong went to Newcastle United, so this is a limited squad on the midfield right now and PSG has too many talent on the front that in a wide open game will make the difference.
Soccer Pick #4: Porto vs. BATE Borisov
Rating: 3 units - Single Dime Play
Pick: Porto (-1.5) @ +101 / 2.01 on Pinnacle Sports (OR -101 / 1.99 on 5 Dimes)
Detailed Write Up:
After a terrible season, FC Porto is primed to make a strong bounce back in this new season as they made several good acquisitions. With a new head coach, their defense has been pretty solid to start the season while they had some problems to create chances to score especially when they field 3 central midfielders that don’t have proper creativity to create danger from the center of the midfield – I’m talking about youngster Ruben Neves, Casemiro and Herrera. However, I’ve just checked their starting XI for today and Porto will use only 2 of those players while inserting Brahimi on the center w/ Quaresma and Adrián on the wings. This is a potent offensive lineup and I really expect them to dominate BATE Borisov. BATE isn’t as strong as the last years versions and they failed to win on the road in the qualifying rounds against inferior class opponents. Playing at home is a completely scenario for them (they look much stronger) but this isn’t the case in here and therefore, I’m taking the hosts in this contest.
Soccer Pick #5: Athletic Bilbao vs. Shakhtar Donetsk
Rating: 3 units - Single Dime Play
Pick: Over 2.25 Goals @ -125 / 1.80 on Pinnacle Sports (OR -127 / 1.78 on 5 Dimes)
Detailed Write Up:
Like Benfica vs. Zenit from yesterday, I expect this contest to be wide open with both teams bringing a pro-active mindset to the field. The problem yesterday was that Benfica’s GK was sent off early on the game and this fact alone changed completely the dynamic of the game.
The Spanish team at home is a tough team to beat while their fanatic fans are a factor to intimidate the opposing teams. Bilbao plays an aggressive fast forward style of football so this contest will be fun to watch. I think that they are capable to score at least one goal in here. However, I also expect Shakhtar Donetsk to create some damage on the offensive end. The turmoil in Ukraine is indeed a factor, but note that the majority of the players of this team are Brazilians eager to shine in the Champions League… They want to departure from Ukraine and the Champions League is a great spot for them to “show” their skills…fortunately, they are all great technician players (Luiz Adriano, Taison, Alex Teixeira and Douglas Costa)!
Both teams will play w/ offensive mindset, both have quality on the front and therefore, I’m taking the OVER in here.
Soccer Pick #6: Maribor vs. Sporting Lisbon
Rating: 3 units - Single Dime Play
Pick: Sporting Lisbon (-0.5) @ -115 / 1.87 on Bookmaker
Detailed Write Up:
I rate the Portuguese team being better than Maribor, especially with their star defensive player Suler being OUT of this contest. Maribor will have some problems through the center of their defense because Sporting has a capable striker to cause some damage in Islam Slimani. Sporting is having some problems in their domestic league against inferior level opponents that are focused almost exclusively in defending and get a point from them. With some space to operate they are more dangerous and I expect Maribor to give some space by playing at home.