5 Tips for Tuesday’s Champions League Action – 14/9/21

On Tuesday night, Premier League leaders Manchester United kick off their Champions League campaign hoping to erase last season’s memories by advancing from a group that they will be expecting to qualify from.

The Red Devils beat Young Boys twice the last time they were paired with them in the Champions League group stages back in the 2018/19 season, following a 3-0 win away from home which saw Paul Pogba score a brace, as well as Anthony Martial getting on the scoresheet, whilst they beat the Swiss champions 1-0 at Old Trafford via a stoppage-time winner from Marouane Fellaini in what was the crossover season where Jose Mourinho was sacked and replaced by then, caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who was on loan from Norwegian side Molde.

Solskjaer’s men impressed at the weekend in their 4-1 victory over Newcastle United at Old Trafford where Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace on his second debut for the club. United will be hoping that Ronaldo can add to his tally against the Swiss champions having managed a staggering 134 goals in European club football’s biggest competition, as well as 115 headers across his career in general.

Sevilla host Red Bull Salzburg at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, with the hosts coming in as favourites in this game due to managing to retain their key players in the summer transfer window.

The La Liga outfit have played three matches in the league, winning two and drawing one, scoring just five times and conceding just once, with one of their wins coming via a 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1 scoreline, in a 1-0 victory over Getafe in late August thanks to a stoppage-time winner from former Tottenham Hotspur man Erik Lamela.

Inevitably, Red Bull Salzburg are top of the Austrian Bundesliga with seven wins from seven, scoring 21 and conceding four, seeing the sit seven points clear of second in the league Sturm Graz at present. However, they will have their work cut out against a Sevilla side that managed to nine points off La Liga champions Atletico Madrid with a tally of 77 points last season and conceded just 33 times.

Barcelona and Bayern Munich will go head-to-head with one another in the Champions League for the first time since the Bundesliga outfit hammered Barcelona 8-2 in the quarter-finals in 2020.

Surprisingly, Robert Lewandowski only managed one of Bayern’s eight goals the last time these two sides met and the Pole comes into this campaign having managed 41 goals in 29 league matches last season, the most of anyone across Europe’s top five leagues. So far this campaign, the 33-year-old has shown no signs of slowing down, scoring six in four league matches.

Meanwhile, Barcelona will be looking towards summer signing Memphis Depay to carry their attack in what was a shock summer for the Nou Camp club, who lost Lionel Messi on a free transfer to PSG, as well as loaning Antoine Griezmann back to Atletico Madrid with an obligation to buy, whilst signing Luuk De Jong on loan from Sevilla. Depay has managed two goals and an assist in three La Liga appearances to add to the 32 goals contributions he had in 37 Ligue 1 matches for Lyon last season.

The reigning European champions, Chelsea host Zenit St Petersburg at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night and will be expecting nothing but a win from this game.

Thomas Tuchel’s men have started their league campaign in impressive form, earning 10 points from a possible 12, following two 3-0 victories over Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, as well as beating Arsenal 2-0 and drawing 1-1 with Liverpool at Anfield.

Zenit currently sit at the top of the Russian Premier League, managing 17 points from seven matches, although what is promising for the hosts is that Sergei Semak’s side have conceded eight goals in those seven matches.

Romelu Lukaku is a player to look out for when these two sides meet, as the Belgian has started life well at Stamford Bridge, scoring the opener in the Blues 2-0 win at Arsenal, as well as managing a brace last time out against Villa at home. Lukaku, who was signed from Inter Milan in the summer having inspired his side to their first league title since 2010, scoring 24 and assisting 10 in 36 matches is priced at 13/5 to score a brace against Zenit.

The final game on this list sees Malmo take on Juventus at Eleda Stadium, with the away side coming in as favourites despite their poor start in Serie A.

Malmo who are managed by former Newcastle United and AC Milan striker Jon Dahl Tomasson currently sit in third place in the Swedish Allsvenskan with 34 points from 18 matches, scoring 38 and conceding 22 times.

On the other side, Juventus are 16th after three league matches, having managed just one point following a 2-2 draw with Udinese on the opening day, before losing 1-0 to Empoli and 2-1 at Napoli. This is a match that Juve will expect to dominate with the quality of players that they have at their disposal, with the likes of Juan Cuadrado, Alex Sandro and Paulo Dybala all expected to return to their starting line-up having played in the South American World Cup qualifiers, consequently missing their loss at Napoli.