Football Passions Splits Major European Cities as Derbies Loom
Published December 8, 2017 by Florin P
English and Spanish football fans are in for a delightful weekend as derbies pit the title-chasing teams against each other in high-profile derbies.
The Champions League and Europa League group stage have concluded and virtually all the favorites have advanced to the next round. This means that the next three months will be dedicated to the domestic leagues, as reigning champions and ambitious challengers aim for the top. This weekend, there are dozens of exciting matches schedule all across Europe, but English and Spanish football has the best games.
All Eyes on the Manchester Derby
The moment that every Premier League fan has been waiting for is finally upon us. Manchester United welcomes its city rivals at Old Trafford for a match that can decide the winner in 2018. The visitors are eight points clear and a victory on the road would virtually seal the championship. There is tremendous pressure on the home side, but the Red Devils have a flawless track record with seven victories out of as many games. Manchester City has won just as many matches on the road but conceded more goals.
The two teams have prepared for this game and made sure that no new players were injured or suspended. 10bet Sportsbook regards the visiting team as favorites to win and offers odds of 11/10 on their victory. Difficult as it is to bet against Manchester City even their flawless track record, the team has struggled in recent games. On several occasions, they won the matches in the final minutes of overtime and luck eventually runs out. That’s why odds of 16/5 offered by 888 Sport on Manchester United are so tempting.
In the other city derby, Liverpool is overwhelming favorite to defeat Everton at home. Their city rivals are in awful form and were just eliminated from Europa League after a miserable performance. Elsewhere the big teams from London are expected to win their games with relative ease. Not surprisingly, 10bet Sportsbook and 888 Sport offer low odds on Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham to claim all three points.
Five Teams in the Race for La Liga
Barcelona avoided its first defeat at home this season but was unable to defeat Celta Vigo at Nou Camp. Real Madrid and Valencia couldn’t take advantage of their archrivals’ failure and still trail the leaders by many points. Atletico Madrid has returned to form and has the chance to win back-to-back games after being eliminated from the Champions League. Valencia can take advantage of an easier schedule and pick up all three points on the road at Eibar to stay within striking distance of Barcelona.
Sevilla is also surging, but they play against Real Madrid on the road and 10bet Sportsbook has odds of 3/10 on the host to prevail. They don’t have a great track record against Real either, but punters can expect a high scoring game and a pleasant one to watch. Barcelona travels to Villarreal, a team that won four out of six matches at home this season, lost one and allowed only four goals. They also managed to avoid defeat in the last two matches against the Catalans, so odds of 5/2 offered by 10bet Sportsbook on the double chance markets are tempting. By comparison, 888 Sport prices Barcelona at 7/10 to win.
Few Games of Interest in Italy and Scotland
Celtic continues its dominance run and hopes to go well beyond the 70 undefeated mark when it plays on the road against Hibernian. They have a commanding lead in the Scottish Premier League and in spite of only a seven-point difference, they are much better than the home side. Under these circumstances, even odds of ½ offered by 10bet Sportsbook on them to prevail are difficult to turn down.
In Italy, Juventus proved once again why it is the best team in Serie A by defeating Napoli on the road last weekend by the narrowest of margins. Now they need to replicate that performance at home against Inter Milan to stay within striking distance of the leader. Those who still trust the reigning champions can take advantage of odds of 7/10 courtesy of 888 Sport.
