The Champions League returns this week, as the last 16 stage begins to conclude. We have second leg action from the first half of the knockout clashes across Tuesday and Wednesday night, while the Europa League is back on Thursday. With sides fighting for places in the quarter-finals of Europe’s two biggest trophies, just who is going to take a step towards the last eight in those two competitions? Both look more open than they have done in recent years, especially with English sides enjoying a resurgence in continental football.
This week features three Premier League sides in Champions League action, while Arsenal have a tricky test against AC Milan in the Europa League. Will it be another big week for the English teams, and could three progress to the quarters of Europe’s biggest competition? With the Champions League finally hitting the business end of the tournament, we expect to see plenty of entertainment across this week’s matches, with all four serving up plenty of goals in the opening encounter. Ahead of this week’s European games, you can see our both teams to score predictions for all the midweek action below.
Tuesday 6th March 2018
- Liverpool v Porto (8/11 with BetVictor) – The visitors need to go all out in order to restore some pride here, and we expect them to get plenty of joy away to the Reds, who are struggling defensively at home in Europe, with both Hoffenheim and Sevilla scoring.
- PSG v Real Madrid (2/5 with Betfair) – There should be no shortage of goals between these two European heavyweights, especially with PSG needing to turnaround this tie. Real will want to kill things off with an away goal, and we think these two star-studded sides will both score.
Wednesday 7th March 2018
- Tottenham v Juventus (8/11 with Coral) – Tottenham were great in Turin last time out, and now the Italians will need to come out on the front foot at Wembley. The Serie A champions have plenty of attacking talent, and we see them entertaining against a Spurs side who conceded home and away to Dortmund and Real in the group stage.
Thursday 8th March 2018
- CSKA Moscow v Lyon (4/5 with 888Sport) – Lyon have been going through a bit of a rough patch lately, and they are likely to concede against a CSKA side who impressed us in the Champions League group stage.
- Borussia Dortmund v Salzburg (8/11 with Betfair) – Dortmund have been poor defensively in Europe all season, conceding in every game. Meanwhile, Salzburg have 12 goals in their last eight Europa League trips. With that in mind, BTTS looks like good value.
- RB Leipzig v Zenit St Petersburg (5/6 with Ladbrokes) – Zenit were one of the most threatening sides in the competition, until Leipzig dropped down from the Champions League. However, the Germans have never kept a clean sheet in Europe, so we’re backing BTTS.