Champions League Knock Out Round Betting Preview Part 1
- By Rex Dalton on January 23, 2013 15:55 GMT
It may seem hard to believe for many of us feeling mired in the middle of the winter months but January is nearly finished and we all know what that means – the Champions League Knock Out stages are almost upon us. There is a lot to look forward to in this next stage of the competition and there are plenty of betting opportunities out there for anybody willing to do their homework.
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One of the most interesting aspects of all this is the fact that the odds are still yet to take a lot of significant volume and you can expect plenty of movement prior to the big kick-off on February 12.
We'll be taking a look at some of the most important match-ups and trying to get a sense of just how things are expected to shape up. There are also some solid odds available in the lower-profile fixtures as well and sometimes you can put together some great value by locking in odds on matches that aren't taking the volume that others are seeing – this can be particularly profitable when you're working against the grain.
The Galatasaray vs Schalke fixture will likely have Turkish fans ruing the fact that that new signing Wesley Sneijder is cup-tied to Inter Milan. This one is very tight and the German side are getting the edge from the bookmakers to progress through the tie and to take the away victory here in the first leg.
Things are definitely close, but the Germans get a distinct edge at 7/5 while the Turkish side can be backed at 8/5.
The draw is rewarding at 21/10 and punters will be able to lock in a 4/11 price on Schalke to progress through to the next stages while Galatasaray are available at a solid 2/1 to head through to the quarter-finals.
Celtic are going to be one of the biggest upstarts in the competition at this stage, but after a pair of smash and grab raids against world's best side Barcelona – you reckon they'll feel capable of taking on anybody. They were handed a relatively tough draw against Juventus and they are a relatively lengthy 3/1 to get the result at home against the Italian side. Juventus trade at 8/11 for the victory while the draw sits at 12/5.
