Gameweek 2 of the Champions League kicks off today as the best teams in Europe once again go up against one another.
Our man Danny Archer, fresh from landing 5 winners from 5 selections in Arsenal's match last night, has analysed 4 of tonight's biggest games...
APOEL Nicosia vs Tottenham Hotspur - APOEL 17/2, Draw 19/5, Tottenham 2/5 (All odds with Unibet - get your first bet of £30 risk free)
Mauricio Pochettino would be disappointed if his side could not come away from Cyprus with three against who really should be the whipping boys of a tough group. Beaten 3-0 by Real Madrid in Gameweek 1, Apoel reached the group stages courtesy of a 2-0 aggregate victory over Slavia Prague. Apoel have lost 10 of their past 12 Champions League games, have failed to score in 10 of their last 13 matches and have never kept a clean sheet at home in the Champions League group stages. Apoel have reached the knockout stages of the competition once from three attempts but their lack of firepower could find them out here.
Spurs have been marvellous away from home in the Premier League and held on bravely to beat West Ham on Saturday despite going down to 10 men. An excellent 3-1 win at home to Borussia Dortmund in Gameweek 1 of this competition is a major confidence booster for Spurs and they will be keen to gain 3 points here before taking on the reigning champions Real Madrid in Gameweek 3. Tottenham have never won their opening two games of a Champions League event but have a striker in fine fettle in Harry Kane who scored twice against Dortmund at Wembley. Spurs are without Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, Jan Vertonghen, Mousa Dembele, Danny Rose, Victor Wanyama and Erik Lamela tonight but they should still prove too strong here and I fancy Kane to fire the North Londoners to three points.
Archer's Selections -
Both Teams To Score No - 8/11 (Unibet)
Spurs/Spurs (Half Time/Full Time) - 49/50
Over 2.5 Goals - 3/4
Harry Kane first goalscorer and to score anytime - 23/10 and 7/10
Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid - Dortmund 9/5, Draw 29/10, Real Madrid 29/20
The other game in Group H looks an absolute humdinger as Dortmund host the reigning champions. The German side have scored 14 goals in their last three games in the Bundesliga, which included a 6-1 thrashing of fellow Champions League team Borussia Monchengladbach at the weekend. They will be looking to get their first points of their European campaign tonight having defended very poorly against Tottenham at Wembley. Real Madrid have never won at Dortmund and the home side will take solace from that stat.
Real Madrid have not found things so easy domestically this season and lost at home to Betis on last Wednesday but did get back on track with an away win at Deportivo Alaves at the weekend. Cristiano Ronaldo and Toni Kroos could both return to the side having missed that victory, but the Galacticos remain without Marcelo, Karim Benzema and Kovacvic. A comfortable 3-0 win at home to Apoel in Gameweek 1 was needed but this is an altogether tougher test and there should be plenty of goals here as both teams recognise the need to get points in what is arguably the toughest group this year.
Archer's Selections -
Both Teams To Score - 4/11 (Unibet)
Over 2.5 Goals - 4/11
Manchester City vs Shakhtar Donetsk - Man City 1/5, Draw 7/1, Shakhtar 7/1 (All odds with Unibet - get your first bet of £30 risk free)
This should be a mere formality for Manchester City who are playing some wonderful stuff at the moment. 6-0 and 5-0 wins over Watford and Crystal Palace in the Premier League sees the Blue side of Manchester heading the table. A 4-0 victory over Feyenoord in Gameweek 1 sees City also top of Group F and whilst Shakhtar should not be underestimated, City should have too much firepower. Manchester City are unbeaten in their last nine Champions League home games and interestingly in 37 group games in the Champions League, no match involving City has ended goalless.
Shakhtar remain a decent side and upset the odds to beat Napoli in Gameweek 1. However, they have lost their past four away games in the Champions League, whilst no Ukrainian club has ever won away from home in this competition against an English club with Skakhtar tasting defeat in their matches in England.
Archer's Selections -
Man City/Man City (Half Time/Full Time) - 11/20 (Unibet)
Over 2.5 Goals - 7/25
Spartak Moscow vs Liverpool - Spartak 5/1, Draw 16/5, Liverpool 3/5
Spartak drew 2-2 with Anzhi Makhackala on Saturday and could only muster a draw with Hungarian side Maribor in Gameweek 1 of the Champions League. Successful in just two of their 17 home games and five of their last 36 games in the competition, it looks like the Russian side will have it all to do against a potent Liverpool strike force.
Liverpool arrive in Russia on the back of a 2-2 draw with Sevilla at Anfield in Gameweek 1 where the Reds' leaky defence again cost them. Their inconsistent start to the season in the Premier League must also be a major worry for Kloop. However, Liverpool go into tonight's game as strong favourites despite a poor Champions League record in recent years with Klopp's side not registering a victory in their past six games in the European competition. Their strike force will be boosted tonight however by the return of Saido Mane and they look worthy favourites.
Archer's Selections -
Liverpool to win - 3/5
Archer's Longshot Champions League Acca: £30 Returns £219 with Unibet
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Tottenham, Manchester City, Monaco, Napoli, Sevilla and Liverpool all to win
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