2009 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BARCELONA VS CHELSEA BETTING TIPS

You're not going to get nearly 4/1 outright on Chelsea very often, but the bookies seem very confident in Barcelona for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final and they've installed Barca as the odds-on favourites at 4/6. I'm really interested to see how this one pans out because there's a substantial amount of profit-making opportunities on this fixture. I think Guus Hiddink is a big-game manager who knows how to get a result when the odds are stacked against him. I think his Chelsea side are not as good a team as Barcelona, but their man-to-man quality matches up fairly closely. I predict a much more competitive tie than others are predicting. In fact, I actually think Chelsea are very likely to snatch an away goal. In 4 of the past 6 contests between these two sides, there has been more than 3 goals scored. Chelsea sit at 19/5 outright with the draw listed at 11/5. Chelsea's price on a draw no bet pays out at 13/5 and that's solid value in my opinion. The bookies favour goals in this match with over 2 goals listed at 4/6. Barcelona are listed at 6/5 to win to nil and if you're betting against Chelsea, that's a solid bet. It's not for me though, as I have confidence in Chelsea's strikes and midfielders and I think Drogba or Lampard will factor into this match. Again, if you're betting in Barcelona's favour you should look at their odds to win both halves- a generous 7/2.Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi are all the preferred goalscorers in this match with anytime odds of 5/4. Any of those three to score first or last pays out at 5/1 individually. I like Iniesta's odds of 11/4, but he will likely be a substitute. Chelsea have given up a number of goals from set pieces this year and that's why I'm looking twice at Rafa Marquez' 12/1 odds for an anytime goal. Didier Drogba to score anytime pays 11/4 with 8/1 to score first or last. Lampard is 10/3 to score anytime with first and last at 9/1. PREDICTION:I like 2-1 for Barca and I also like 2-1 for Chelsea. You can back that scoreline each-way at 15/2 (Barca) and 16/1 (Chelsea). A 2-2 draw would also blow the tie wide open and you can back that at 14/1.