THE ULTRA THURSDAY: The Ultra previews another massive night in the Champions League with the focus on Manchester City v Napoli and Newcastle v Barcelona, both with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
MANCHESTER CITY V NAPOLI
8pm The Champions League action continues with another cracking night on Betdaq Betting Exchange! We will be back to our usually Europa League slot next Thursday, so enjoy it while it lasts! Once again, we have two superb fixtures to go through on Thursday as Manchester City host Napoli and Newcastle host Barcelona. There’s no doubt that most of the headlines with come from Pep Guardiola taking on Antonio Conte and that’s where we start the evening. Napoli have made an excellent start to Serie A with three wins from three games, and they were impressive at the weekend beating Fiorentina 3-1 away from home. Obviously a lot of focus will be Kevin De Bruyne returning to take on his old club, but Rasmus Hojlund has been a massive success since leaving Manchester United – and we all know the improvement Scott McTominay has found at Napoli too! Things pretty much couldn’t be going better for Napoli; their main challengers last season Inter Milan have already lost two of their three games as well. City are already on the backfoot in the Premier League however; two losses from four games means the alarm bells are already ringing for Pep Guardiola’s side – especially the fact they came at home to Spurs and then at Brighton from being 1-0 up.
It will be fascinating to see how City get on here against the Italian Champions. You know Conte will have them perfectly set up, and we should have a fascinating game ahead. I know City easily won the Manchester Derby at the weekend and that should give them a confidence boost but that United midfield is all over the place at times. Manchester City come into the game as the odds on favourites at 1.71 with Napoli 5.4 and the draw is 4.2 at the time of writing. I have to say I do feel that the 1.71 is too short on City here, and I fully expect a closer game than those odds suggest. Napoli have been superb for a number of seasons now – I know they finished mid-table in between winning titles, but they actually finished that season with the best attacking figure in Serie A – they just couldn’t convert their chances! City clearly haven’t been at their best at the start of the season, and it’s hard to get away from the City lay at the odds. I do feel Napoli will be happy with a draw here, so Under 2.5 goals looks a little big at 2.2, however the City lay offers more value in my opinion.
The Ultra Says:
Two points lay (liability) Manchester City to beat Napoli at 1.71 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/MciNap
NEWCASTLE V BARCELONA
8pm Next we move over to St James’ Park for another cracker as Barcelona are in town to take on Newcastle. Despite a very tough transfer market and summer for the Newcastle fans – there’s no doubt that the stadium will be absolutely rocking here. The 4-1 win here against PSG in 2023/24 doesn’t feel that long ago! Newcastle do have a massive task ahead of them here, and they haven’t exactly hit the ground running in the Premier League either. Obviously they have had all the Isak drama running in the background, but one win from four is a pretty poor return. They have had a reasonably difficult fixture list having had to start against Aston Villa and then Liverpool, but the 0-0 draw with Leeds was disappointing before they finally got their first win at the weekend here against Wolves. Barcelona were absolutely superb last season; they’ve dropped points in La Liga this season with a draw against Rayo Vallecano so they are two points behind Real Madrid but of course there’s a long season ahead! The Barcelona performance levels have been exceptionally good though; it’ll be interesting to see can Newcastle handle them here.
We have a reasonably open betting heat, more open than I expected to be honest. Barcelona are the favourites at 2.42 with Newcastle 2.98 and the draw is 3.85 at the time of writing. Barcelona have an average xG created of 2.37 in La Liga after four games, and they are conceding less than 1.0 too – pretty much the perfect stats! Newcastle have a decent level with an average xG of 1.46 and in fairness to them, they currently have the best average xG conceded in the Premier League at the moment. That’s impressive considering that they have had to play Liverpool already too. However, all things considered I still feel that the 2.42 on Barcelona is too big to ignore here. I’m happy to reduce stakes a little given Newcastle have been rock solid at the back and the fact that they have home advantage too, however in my opinion the 2.42 jumps off the page here and it’s a confident bet to finish the evening!
The Ultra Says:
Three points win Barcelona to beat Newcastle at 2.42 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/NewBar
