Elite Football Clubs Wrap up January with Home Games
Published January 26, 2018 by Florin P
Top European teams have home pitch advantage this weekend as they continue their race for trophies and a Champions League berth.
In the last week of January, the English Premier League is on recess, but all other major European competitions are underway. Most of the best teams play at home against average opponents, which presents punters with a golden opportunity to pick out winners. There are a few high profile matches scheduled on Saturday and Sunday, with great odds at 10bet Sportsbook and 888 Sport.
Valencia and Real Madrid Fight for a Place on the Podium
Valencia lost on the road at Las Palmas, in a match that they were expected to dominate. A red card proved to be critical as the home side rebounded after conceding an early goal. They still have five points ahead of Real Madrid and need at least one point to stay ahead of the former champions. Valencia lost a single match at home the entire season, so there’s a lot of value in the odds of 7/2 at 10bet Sportsbook.
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla all play at home on Sunday and are expected to dominate these matches. They can field the best starting formations and don’t have to rest players, since European competitions only resume mid-February. Players who fancy accumulator bets can enjoy even odds by wagering on all of them to win at 888 Sport.
Marseille and Monaco Play the Derby of the South
In the French first division, Marseille has emerged as one of the hottest teams and it has a strong claim at a place on the podium. There are just one point ahead of Monaco and meet in a match of critical importance that will be played at the Stade Velodrome. The visitors have returned to form and scored three goals in the last match, but they are regarded as underdogs in this fixture. Players can expect odds of 2/1 on Monaco to win and even odds on Marseille at 10bet Sportsbook.
PSG has suffered its second defeat the season but it was particularly frustrating because they lost to Lyon. They conceded a goal in the last minute of overtime after Mbappe suffered an injury in the first half and had to be replaced. Now they return home for what looks like another easy match against Montpellier, while Lyon travels to Bordeaux. 888 Sport prices them at 11/10 to win on the road and the hosts get 5/2.
Home Match Weekend for Top German Teams
All but one of the best five teams in the Bundesliga will play at home this weekend, with Schalke 04 being the exception. They have squandered a perfect opportunity to claim all three points against Hanover and now travel to Stuttgart. It is going to be much more difficult to prevail here and that’s why 10bet Sportsbook offers the same odds of 13/10 to both teams to win. The draw is priced at 23/10.
Leipzig and Dortmund play at home against Hamburg and Freiburg, with the bookie giving them odds of ½ to pick up all three points. Bayern is a heavier favorite, despite the fact that it plays against a better team, when Hoffenheim comes visiting. That’s because they haven’t lost yet at home, while the visitors have a mediocre track record. Leverkusen also plays an easy game at home on Sunday against Mainz.
AC Milan and Lazio cling to European Cup Places
In the Italian Seria A, Juventus and Napoli continues what appears to be a solitary race for the trophy. Separated by a single point, the two Italian giants are likely to consolidate their position at the top of the hierarchy. That’s because they play against Chievo and Bologna and have no injury concerns ahead of these fixtures. AS Roma failed to win against Inter Milan last week but has an excellent chance to pick up three points at home against Sampdoria. The same goes for Inter Milan which plays on the road at SPAL.
By far the most exciting match of this round of Serie A is the fixture between AC Milan and Lazio. The home side scrapped a hard-fought victory on the road and will try to build on this momentum at home. Lazio is the second best traveling team, which explains why 888 Sport sees this match as perfectly balanced. Both the home side and the visitors get odds of 13/10 and the draw is priced at 11/5.
