5 Tips for Tuesday’s Champions League Action - 7/12/21

On Tuesday night, FC Porto and Atletico Madrid face off at the Estadio do Dragao in a battle of second versus fourth in Group B, with the home side just one point better off than Atletico having managed five from five matches.

Diego Simeone’s men have a good record of qualifying from Champions League groups, but they will understandably have a lot of the emphasis on them, as even if they win, they aren’t guaranteed a place in the knockout stages if AC Milan defeat Liverpool, as the Italians would go through on the head to head record.

The last meeting between these two sides finished 0-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano where both sides accumulated just three shots on target between them, signifying that this should be another tight encounter, as Porto have scored no more than one goal in any of their five Champions League matches, whilst Atletico’s only win in this year’s competition was a narrow 2-1 victory over AC Milan at the San Siro via 84th and 97th-minute goals by Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez.

Suarez will certainly be a player to look out for here as the Uruguayan has a track record of scoring in big matches across his career The 34-year-old has scored eight goals in 20 appearances so far this season and is priced at 13/5 to score in an Atletico win away at Porto.

In Group D, Shakhtar Donetsk host Sheriff Tiraspol in a match that can only be deemed as a chance of redemption for the Urkanian’s who can’t finish any higher than fourth in this season’s group stages.

The last time these two sides met, the Moldovan outfit beat Shakhtar 2-0 at home via goals from Adama Traore and Momo Yansane, despite the Ukrainian champions having 20 shots and 75% possession.

Shakhtar will be expected to win this game, as since Sheriff’s shock 2-1 win against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, they haven’t picked up a single point, whilst the hosts were narrowly beaten 2-1 and 2-0 by both Real Madrid and Inter Milan in their last two group games and can come into this match with confidence having thumped Lviv 6-1 at the weekend in their domestic league.

The next tip also comes from Group D as Real Madrid host Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu in a top of the group clash, with Los Blancos leading their opponents by two points in the standings.

Real edged out the last meeting between these two as Rodrygo scored an 89th-minute goal at the San Siro. Carlo Ancelotti’s side have shown at times this season that they can be prone to conceding goals, as they were beaten 2-1 by Sheriff and beat Shakhtar 2-1, but, Real have turned into a winning machine again of late, as they have won all four of the Champions League matches around the shock loss to Tiraspol, as well as sitting eight points clear at the top of La Liga.

Meanwhile, Inter have scored eight goals in five Champions League matches and travel to the Santiago Bernabeu knowing that they will have to win to finish top of the group and potentially get themselves an easier tie for the Round of 16, so they will be forced to attack, hence for the tip of Real Madrid to win and both teams to score.

Borussia Dortmund take on Besiktas in what is effectively a dead rubber match in the Champions League group stages, as the German Bundesliga side were knocked out of the group stages via having an inferior head to head record against Sporting Lisbon after their 3-1 loss to the Liga Nos outfit last time out.

Dortmund are guaranteed to finish third in the group which in turn qualifies them for the Europa League, whilst Besiktas are yet to score a point in this season’s group stages and have leaked 14 goals in five outings.

The last time these two sides faced each other, Dortmund finished 2-1 winners in Turkey via goals by Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland on matchday one.

The Norwegian is a player to look out for here, as his injury absence was heavily felt by the Black and Yellows as they faltered in qualification for the knockout rounds

Haaland has scored 11 goals and created eight assists in eight matches for Dortmund this season, seeing him priced at 13/8 to score first against Besiktas.

The final tip on this list comes from AC Milan versus Liverpool, a repeat of the 2005 and 2007 Champions League finals, with the hosts needing a result in a similar vein to the latter mentioned match.

AC are third in Group B on four points, just one point behind Porto and level with Atletico, whilst Liverpool have already qualified for the knockout stages and may opt to use a rotated side in order to keep their players fresh for their Premier League fixture against Aston Villa at the weekend.

A player who scored against Liverpool in his time at Manchester United, Zlatan Ibrahimovic could play a huge role for Stefano Pioli’s sides chances of advancing through to the knockout stage, as the 40-year-old Swede has scored six goals and created two assists in nine matches and was rested for Milan’s 2-0 home victory over bottom of the table Salernitana in Serie A at the weekend.