THE ULTRA TUESDAY: The Ultra previews the return of the Champions League on Tuesday night with the focus on Athletic Bilbao v Arsenal and Tottenham v Villarreal, both with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
ATHLETIC BILBAO V ARSENAL
5.45pm The Champions League is back on Betdaq Betting Exchange, and we have a cracking week ahead! We have fixtures to enjoy on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. Everyone is used to the new Group format now, and we kick off the week with Athletic Bilbao hosting Arsenal. Being in the Champions League is a dream come true for Athletic Bilbao, and you have to say that they have an excellent chance at staying here too given that fourth spot in La Liga is wide open. It’ll be interesting to see how they cope with the challenge of Champions League football, and they have a very difficult start here. Their fixture list isn’t too bad all things considered though; they will fancy their chances of getting through! Arsenal come into the Champions League as one of the favourites in a very open betting heat; only Barcelona and Liverpool are shorter than Arsenal to lift the trophy this season. Lifting trophies hasn’t been a regular thing for Arsenal recently though, and the pressure is building on Arteta to deliver some success. They’ve played some excellent football for a number of seasons now, but have nothing to show for it.
As you would expect, Arsenal come into the game as the favourites. They are just about trading odds on at 1.97 with Athletic Bilbao 4.3 and the draw is 3.7 at the time of writing. Arsenal had a routine win at the weekend at home to Nottingham Forest, and so far they have been ticking all their boxes in the Premier League bar a loss away to Liverpool – and a draw probably would have been a fair result there. Athletic Bilbao started La Liga with three wins, but they suffered a shock 1-0 loss at the weekend here against Alaves. It was just one of those games – they had the higher possession and higher xG figure but lost to an own goal. Bilbao are exceptionally solid at home – in La Liga here last season they only lost to Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. It’s hard to see past a very close game here; I know Arsenal are very strong at the back too so Under 2.5 goals is a tempting bet at 1.84. However, from a value point of view I like the Arsenal lay at 1.97. I just feel with Bilbao’s home record we’re going to see a closer game than the odds suggest here.
The Ultra Says:
Two points lay (liability) Arsenal to beat Athletic Bilbao at 1.97 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/AthArs
TOTTENHAM V VILLARREAL
8pm Next we have Tottenham hosting Villarreal, and this should be a very interesting game. It’s quite easy to pick holes in both sides here to be honest, and this fixture might give us a good guide on who might get through to the next round. Spurs are back in the Champions League thanks to their Europa League win, but they were all over the place last season. A 1-0 loss at home to Bournemouth before the International Break shows that they still aren’t reliable – that came after beating Manchester City away from home too! Classic Spurs. I do feel that the Champions League draw has been very kind to them though – on paper their toughest fixture is PSG away obviously, but other than that fixture they don’t really have an exceptionally difficult fixture. The goal is open for Spurs to get to the knockouts in my opinion. Much like Athletic Bilbao in the above game, getting to the Champions League is a cracking achievement for Villarreal – they are here thanks to the extra spot in La Liga too as they finished fifth. Villareal went ten years without Champions League football between 2011 and 2021, but they are back in the top flight for the first time since then.
Spurs come into the game as the odds on favourites at 1.88 with Villarreal 4.6 and the draw is 3.8 at the time of writing. It’s hard to argue with the odds here because Spurs should really be getting the job done with home advantage against Villarreal. However, it’s hard to trust Spurs and the 1.88 doesn’t exactly jump off the page as great value. Obviously a lot has changed for Spurs during the summer, but at times last season they were absolutely woeful. Villarreal will be well organised and they had the fourth best attacking figure in La Liga last season too. I’m happy to stay out of the match odds market here, and I feel we’ll see an entertaining game. Over 2.5 goals is trading 1.84 with Both Teams To Score at 1.79 – with only five ticks between the bets, I couldn’t put anyone off either to be honest. I do feel we’ll see an end-to-end game however, and I marginally prefer the bigger price on Over 2.5 goals at 1.84.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Over 2.5 goals at 1.84 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/TotVil
