Football betting: Champions League - Liverpool vs Inter
Loyal readers of this column will know that virtually every week Inter Milan find their way into the weekend accumulator. The Italian champions are taking Serie A by storm yet again this season and with the Scudetto already pretty much in the bag, they are determined to go the distance in a competition - the Champions League - in which they have perennially underachieved. Click here for a free $600 welcome bonus when you join Paddy Power Poker The Nerazzurri celebrate their centenary this year and don't be surprised if they do so by clinching the Champions League this time around. Roberto Mancini's side stretched their league lead to 11 points with a 2-0 win against Livorno on Saturday and are likely to be equally convincing against out-of-sorts Liverpool on Tuesday. Inter have become one of the strongest sides in Europe and have built a squad with incredible strength in depth that has coped with injuries to key players this term such as Patrick Vieira, Luis Figo, Dejan Stankovic, Marco Materazzi and Douglas Maicon. With the exception of Materazzi, all of these players are available for selection again and Mancini's only headache will be who to select to face the Reds. While Inter's stock is rising, Liverpool's is going through the floor and Rafa Benitez can only hope that the good fortune that has seen them go so far in this competition over recent years, will be with them again against an Inter side, whose best result in recent years was a semi-final finish back in 2005. The defeat to Barnsley on Saturday, although decidedly unlucky, has taken the Reds to new depths and now the pressure is mounting higher than ever on Benitez as this is the only trophy left he can possibly win. Barring some sort of Italian catastrophe, there can only be one winner here. Once known as being Italy's serial bottlers Inter are solid in every department from Julio Cesar in goal to Cristian Chivu in defence, Esteban Cambiasso in midfield to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Julio Cruz up front. Liverpool fans will hope Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres can deliver the goods, but put your faith in Inter - who have what bit takes to go all the way this year. They will probably size the Reds up before breaking through, so the half-time/full-time bet makes for excellent value at 11/2. Verdict: 3pts Inter to beat Liverpool @ 15/8; 2pts Draw/Inter @ 11/2 (Paddy Power)Already recommended: 2pts Inter e/w for the Champions League @ 10/1 (Paddy Power) Click here for a free $600 welcome bonus when you join Paddy Power Poker