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In The Mixer is FST’s weekly column where we catch up with our team of football betting experts and get their opinion on the hot topic of the week.
The Champions League returns for gameweek five on Tuesday and Wednesday and we have asked our panel of experts a simple question: What’s your best bet this week?
Take a look at their choices below!
Back our 63/1 In The Mixer accumulator here!
Phil Agius
Red Star Belgrade are living in a twilight world this season in which they have been far too good for their domestic opponents but well short of the standard required in the Champions League.
That pattern could continue when they host Stuttgart on Wednesday. Red Star are unbeaten and 11 points clear of the pack in Serbia with two games in hand, but have yet to take a point from four league phase matches, losing at home to Benfica and Barcelona.
Those are tough challenges but so too is facing a solid Bundesliga team such as Stuttgart, who have already made their mark in this competition with a 1-0 away win against Juventus.
Liam Flin
Bologna have somewhat stabilised in Serie A but they still look a shadow of the team they were last season and have fallen flat in the Champions League.
Their opening four European matches have produced defeats to Liverpool, Aston Villa and Monaco as well as an underwhelming 0-0 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk.
They are short of attacking firepower and could come unstuck at home to Lille, who have recorded wins over Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid before a solid draw against Juventus.
Spearheaded by the ever-impressive Jonathan David, Lille have the greater attacking threat and are worth a bet to win at the Renato Dall’Ara.
Jamie Griffith
A run of six away defeats in a row will worry Borussia Dortmund but a convincing 4-0 victory over Freiburg on Saturday will have boosted confidence in the BVB camp and they should build on that in Croatia on Wednesday.
Dinamo Zagreb have taken a respectable seven points from four games in the Champions League but their mid-table position is somewhat false, with their wins coming against bottom-seven sides Salzburg and Slovan Bratislava.
Dortmund are much closer in quality to Bayern Munich, who beat Zagreb 9-2 in September, than they are to those struggling sides and there is just about enough juice in their price to warrant backing Nuri Sahin’s men.
Matt Ireland
The step up to the Champions League has been punishing for both Sturm Graz and Girona, who have mustered one win and seven defeats between them over the first four matchdays.
That said, I like the look of the Spanish outfit at a shade of odds-against for their trip to Austria on Wednesday.
They’ve won four of their last five in all competitions, scoring four times on three occasions in that run, and played some excellent football in their 4-1 home demolition of Espanyol on Saturday, when they scored all of their goals within 27 minutes.
Another fast start could pave the way for a second European win of the season.
Will Maxwell
Young Boys have failed to make much of an indent in Europe this season and they could be in for another tough night at the office when they host an Atalanta outfit in impressive form.
The Swiss champions have lost each of their opening four continental fixtures so far and have only managed to score one goal – in a 2-1 defeat to Shakthar Donetsk in early November.
La Dea meanwhile have not lost since late September and have won each of their last six. With Atalanta yet to concede in this season’s competition, they should cruise to victory.
Tom McGarry
Brest have enjoyed a fantastic start to life in the Champions League and sit above Barcelona in the standings ahead of their trip to Catalonia, but they could be brought back down to earth with a bump on Tuesday.
Since surprisingly losing to another French team, Monaco, on Matchday One, Hansi Flick’s side have registered three wins from three in Europe, scoring a staggering 14 goals in the process.
Barca are the leading scorers in this season’s Champions League and with Brest perhaps feeling they have done their hard work over the opening four matchdays, this could end in a convincing and high-scoring home win.
Aaron Rogan
While Benfica have won five of their last six games, their struggles in Europe are a concern. The Portuguese side have lost to Feyenoord and Bayern Munich in their last two Champions League matches, leaving them in a fight to qualify for the next round.
Monaco are flying high in the new-look competition, claiming 10 points from 12 games. They’ve beaten Barcelona and Red Star in their two home matches, while the Ligue 1 outfit have won three games on the spin in all competitions. Take them to extend that good form at odds-against.
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