Dan Fitch is expecting goals when Atletico Madrid play Manchester United at Old Trafford, as he creates Bet Builders for Tuesday’s Champions League ties.
Ajax 1.422/5 v Benfica 7.87/1; The Draw 5.85/1
20:00
Live on BT Sport 3
Ajax will be looking to make home advantage count when they host Benfica in the second-leg of their last-16 Champions League tie.
In the first-leg Ajax twice went ahead, but on both occasions Benfica managed to level the scores and the match ended 2-2. This ended a run of 10 consecutive wins for Ajax and in their next game they lost 2-1 away at Go Ahead Eagles in the Eredivisie.
Since then, Ajax have bounced back with three consecutive victories in the Dutch top flight. They remain top of the table, but PSV are only two points behind them.
Benfica are third in the Primeira Liga, but are 12 points behind the leaders Porto. Having lost in the final of the Taca da Liga and been knocked out of the Taca da Portugal by Porto, a deep run in the Champions League is one of the few achievements that might keep caretaker manager Nelson Verissimo is a job.
Under Verissimo, Benfica’s form has been erratic (P14 W6 D5 L3), though they are are least unbeaten in their last seven games (W4 D3).
We have to suppose that unbeaten run will end against Ajax, who have played extremely well in the Champions League this season. We’ll start our Bet Builder with a home win at odds of 4/11 on the Sportsbook.
To that we’ll add over 1.5 first-half goals at 10/11, which has landed in four of Ajax’s last five games, which includes the first-leg, which saw three goals before half-time. Sebastien Haller scored in that first-leg, taking his tally to 32 goals in 33 games this season, with eleven of those coming in seven Champions League matches.
With such a record, a price of 8/11 for Haller to score looks generous and creates a treble at odds of 3.41.
Goals should flow as in-form Portuguese forwards meet
Manchester United 2.265/4 v Atletico Madrid 3.814/5; The Draw 3.39/4
20:00
Live on BT Sport 2
Manchester United will be hoping that Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to form will give them the edge against Atletico Madrid.
In the first-leg the teams drew 1-1 in Madrid. It was Atletico who took an early lead through Joao Felix, before Anthony Elanga scored a late equaliser to level the scores.
United drew at home to Watford and were thrashed 4-1 away at Manchester City, in the two games that followed the first-leg. At the weekend they got back to winning ways with a 3-2 home victory against Spurs, that saw Ronaldo score a hat-trick.
If Ronaldo is the danger-man for United, then it’s Felix who could be Atletico’s match-winner. Ronaldo’s young compatriot has now scored five goals in as many games and found the net at the weekend in a 2-1 home win against Cadiz, that leaves Atletico in fourth place in La Liga.
With both teams having forwards that can make the difference and defences that are now far from reliable, there should be goals in this.
Both teams to score looks big at 9/10, at a time when neither side are keeping clean sheets regularly.
Over 2.5 goals can be added at 23/20 and has landed in seven of Atletico’s last eight away games. In all eight of those games there were goals in both halves, which is available at 5/6 and makes a treble of 2.747/4.
Source: Betfair Champions League
