Group E of this year’s Champions League has become a rather strange affair, and even now with two gameweeks remaining all four sides involved can still qualify for the knockout phase of the competition.
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Monaco are red hot favourites of course on eight points, but both CSKA Moscow (two) and Bayer Leverkusen (six) can join them in the last 16.
Betting Odds
The Russians have home advantage here, which should count for something – especially with temperatures expected to reach a low of -7˚ on game day. Clearly, they need to win this match; and that is something they have failed to achieve in eight attempts on home soil. Also, that remarkable run of 30 Champions League matches without a clean sheet indicates just how hard the task facing them is.
For Leverkusen, there is less urgency in picking up three points here, but with Tottenham travelling to Monaco they know that a positive result in Russia will greatly help their cause. So how will they fare?
It’s a difficult for fixture for the traders to price up this, and that is reflected in the odds: CSKA, at home remember, are available at 3.75 with bet365. Bayer Leverkusen can be backed at 2.15 with the draw an option at 3.40.
CSKA vs Bayer Leverkusen Betting Tips
The poor run that CSKA are experiencing in the continent’s premier competition simply cannot be overlooked, and while their performances haven’t been too bad this season the results have been slightly below par. A narrow 0-1 defeat to Spurs, and a 2-2 stalemate with group leaders Monaco, on home soil suggests that the Russians cannot be overlooked, and with low temperatures expected in Moscow they may just enjoy a small advantage.
But the theory that Eastern European teams have an advantage due to the conditions surrounding a match has been proven to be false, and while Leverkusen’s victory over Spurs at Wembley earlier in November was their first away win in eight attempts they showed enough to be taken seriously. Even so, both of these two sides are misfiring in their own ways at the moment.
But when it comes to predicting matches like this, you have to go with the flow and recognise the more likely victor. That is Bayer Leverkusen here, and they look every inch worthy of their 2.15 price.
We’ve mentioned Moscow’s proclivity for conceding goals in this competition, and that really is an extraordinary record, and a quick look at Bayer’s recent run suggests that they too are vulnerable defensively; conceding in six of their last seven Champions League encounters on the road. The Over 2.5 Goals market (1.95) appeals just as well as Both Teams to Score (1.75) but at a better price.
