Matchweek two of the 2024/24 Champions League’s league phase brings two excellent opportunities to invest Italian defending, along with a nailed-on over 3.5 goals bet in a rerun of the 1982 European Cup final.
Champions League best bets
Inter to beat Crvena Zvezda to nil @ 1/1
Aston Villa vs Bayern Munich – Over 3.5 goals @ 6/5
Under 0.5 RB Leipzig goals vs Juventus @ 14/5
Bet on the latest Champions League odds at Betzone
Inzaghi’s City stoppers can add value for home win backers
Inter Milan are just 1/7 to beat Serbian champions Crvena Zvezda at Giuseppe Meazza but there has to be fair value about the Italian champions to win to nil at 1/1
The Nerazzurri proved their defensive strength by holding out for a 0-0 draw away to a full-strength Manchester City in matchweek one and they’ve kept clean sheets in eight of their last 13 home games including two of three this season.
Crvena Zvezda managed to bag a late consolation in their 1-2 home defeat to Benfica a fortnight ago but registered a xG per shot of just 0.06 in doing so – only two sides in the first round of games averaged lower.
Tip: Inter to beat Crvena Zvezda to nil @ 1/1
Goals galore to guild 1982 European Cup final Villa Park rerun
Over 3.5 goals backers were home and hosed within 49 minutes of Bayern Munich’s 9-2 match week one win over Dinamo Zagreb. The same bet may take marginally longer to cop when the Bavarian behemoth visit Aston Villa, but still looks a nice price at 6/5.
Five of Bayern’s seven games across all competitions this season have seen at least four goals netted, with Die Roten hitting three or more themselves in four of them.
Villa have managed just one clean sheet in eight matches this term and shipped more than once in four of those outings, but they also pack a goal threat having struck twice or more in seven of their eight games so far this season.
Tip: Aston Villa vs Bayern Munich – Over 3.5 goals @ 6/5
Borderline-impenetrable Juve rearguard can clip RB wings
The 2/1 about Juventus winning away to RB Leipzig has to come under serious consideration for one extremely compelling reason. Juventus are proving virtually impossible to score against in their first full season under Tiago Motta.
Juve have conceded just one goal in seven games across all competitions, with a PSV Eindhoven consolation scored with virtually the game’s final kick the slot blot on an otherwise perfect record.
Away wins are hard to come by in the Champions League of course, so it makes far more sense to take the bigger price about a clean sheet for the Italians at 14/5.
Leipzig are far from the most dangerous side in the Bundesliga, in fact eight teams in the German top flight have mustered more than their eight goals in five games this term.
