It’s been some start for our new football pundit GREG WALKER who made it three from three on Sunday.
Greg has now made three picks and his profit is now 7.54 points.
Greg is BETDAQ’s spokesperson and has plenty to say on the subject of football. Each week he brings his recommended BETDAQ bets across a range of matches but with focus on his area of expertise – European and International football.
You can find out more about Greg by reading his profile – CLICK HERE
He now previews tonight’s Champions League clash between Barcelona and Celtic
FC BARCELONA V CELTIC FC
It’s match day three in the group stages of the Champions League 2012-13 season and the games are coming thick and fast for players and punters alike!
Many of these Champion’s League international players have probably bought more airport duty free in these three weeks than most of us would buy in a year!
1.08 NOT for me:
When you first look at FC Barcelona hosting Celtic FC at Camp Nou in a crucial Champions League game then your natural instinct maybe to look at the prohibitive odds on the home side(1.08 to back) and think “no, not for me, can’t have a wager here” however, look a little deeper and you may think differently. There is no doubting that, with the exception of the goalkeepers, player for player Barcelona are a better team than Celtic, add the Messi factor plus Celtic’s woeful away record in this competition and the 1.08 backers should draw a profit. For most of us, backing these odds is not an option (& no fun!) so I feel and hope I have come up with a winning alternative.
Centre Half Crisis!
Having already highlighted in my recent column, FC Barcelona have a serious problem in the defenders department i.e. they have none!!(well ,expect Jordi Alba). It was expected that first choice centre-half, Gerard Pique, was to return from injury for tonight’s crucial clash however he has failed to recover in time. Do not underestimate the impact of Pique’s absence from this game. Coach Tito Vilanova was desperate to have him back and will be gutted and nervous that he is forced yet again to play the extremely shaky centre half pairing of Song & Mascherano. At this stage the Barca boss may have lost his patience with the crazy Mascherano and may replace him with Adriano but unlikely in my opinion. We all know about the magical Messi and what Barca can do in the offensive mode so there is no need for analysis here.
Confident Celtic:
Celtic FC are obviously in a much weaker national league than their Spanish hosts so coming into this game off the back of five in a row SPL league wins shouldn’t count for much in the context of this game but this winning run will certainly have the Celtic players in a confident mood. In their opening two group games they played out a dire draw, 0-0, at home to Benfica but more significantly secured their first away win in this competition with an impressive 2-3 defeat of Spartak Moscow. Whilst Barcelona are going through an injury ravaged few weeks, the Celts coach, Neil Lennon, arrives at the Nou Camp with a fully fit squad plus the added bonus of having rested some of his key players this past weekend. The returning James Forrest, Scott Brown, Kris Commons and Moscow hero Georgios Samaras are all back in the squad. FCB’s superstar Messi has been banging in the goals lately but Celtic also have their own goal machine in the form of Gary Hooper, who comes into this game with eight goals from his last five matches.
Patience Please:
Like all games at the Nou Camp, Barcelona will have most of the possession and the away side will defend in numbers and try to catch them with the odd break away. Barca’s offensive style will always give their opponents goal scoring opportunities and with their current dud defensive duo I feel Neil Lennon will have his ‘bhoys’ ready to make the hosts pay. One other factor to remember is that FCB had a very physical and energy sapping away victory to Deportivo just three days ago and have had a very short recovery time. The Catalans should have to much individual skill for their visitors however I don’t think it will be as straight forward a victory as many would have us believe. Both Barcelona and Celtic scored five at the weekend however I will be happy with just one from each tonight.
Betting on BETDAQ-Greg’s Picks:
BACK 1.5 points ‘Both Teams To Score’ @ 2.50
LAY 1 point ‘Barcelona To Win Both Halves’ @ 1.7
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