CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREDICTIONS: MANCHESTER UNITED VS RANGERS BETTING PREVIEW

There is a proper Battle of Britain happening today at Old Trafford with Sir Alex Ferguson’s side looking to start their 2010/11 Champions League Group Stage campaign off with a big bang as they take on Glasgow Rangers. It’s probably not a massive surprise to you that Manchester United are the distinct favourites here, but you can still lock in some tidy odds if you get a little creative with your wagers.
Wayne Rooney is obviously a big aspect of the build-up to this fixture, a fact that’s exacerbated by him being left out against Everton at the weekend. Rest assured that Wayne Rooney is favoured to start and favoured to score here.
We saw United deploy a 4-5-1 with Berbatov at the helm and you don’t expect them to stick with that, not at home anyway, so a reversion to 4-4-2 is likely here. Rooney will likely drop a bit deeper and look to pick the ball up with Berbatov trying to play just off the shoulder- a bit further advanced than he’s used to.
Expect to see Antonio Valencia deployed down the right hand side with Nani playing down the left. Bebe could factor into this match and we’ll be keeping our eyes open for his name on the teamsheet.
Rooney’s odds to score here are quite short and that’s understandable but you wonder just how many punters are willing to have a bash on him at a price as short as 1/2? He is 9/4 to open or close the scoring and 9/4 to grab two goals or more. A Rooney hat-trick is priced at 10/1.
Dimitar Berbatov is sitting at even money to score at any point in the match and he’s 4/1 to score first or last. You can back him at 9/2 to grab 2 or more and he’s 25/1 to grab a hatful of goals.
The bookmakers expect goals here with the over/under at 2.5 and the over getting the edge at 4/7. The under is trading at 13/10. You may prefer to back the over 3.5 margin at 6/4.
United’s odds to score in the first 15 minutes and win the first 15 minutes are priced at 11/4. A penalty to be awarded at any point in the match is priced at 11/4 and that penalty is 16/5 to be awarded and scored.
The favoured correct score draw looks to be a 2-0 victory, and that’s at 5/1 while a 3-0 victory is trading at 11/2. A 4-0 win is rewarding at 8/1. 5-0 for United is priced out at 18/1.