Reigning Champions Chase Vital Points in New Title Bid
Published January 24, 2021 by Florin P
Bayern and Juventus expected to crush competitors in another title bid, while Club Brugge play a Belgian derby for the first place with Genk.
Playing at home is less important in 2021 since the stadiums are devoid of fans and there will be nobody cheering the hosts from the stands. Even so, some of the reigning champions of top European football leagues and the current leaders are optimistic about their chances. Club Brugge face rival Genk at home, while Bayern Munich travels to take on Schalke 04, a team they crushed in recent years regardless of venue. Atletico Madrid and Juventus prepare for what should be uneventful home wins in the afternoon.
Club Brugge Face Genk in Title Deciding Match
Club Brugge and Genk are the two teams that will ultimately fight for the trophy in the Belgian first division. The former are the reigning champions and they have a seven-point advantage over the runners up, so this match is essential for them. If the home side wins, as expected by bookmakers who offer odds of 7/10, they will be too far ahead to be overtaken. Genk won just one game in the last five and that’s why punters are rewarded with massive odds of 7/2 if they are willing to take a leap of faith with the visitors.
Bayern Munich Prepare for another Rout of Schalke 04
Bayern Munich pulled away from the pack of chasing teams and has a three-pointer advantage with the game in hand. A victory on the road against Schalke 04 will give them more breathing space and past performance suggests that they are well capable of achieving this. They have absolutely destroyed this team, with victories in 9 of the last 10 matches and no defeat since 2010. If odds of 3/20 on the visiting Bayern seem low that’s because they scored 8 unanswered goals in the last match against them.
Juventus goes All Goes Blazing against Bologna
This is the worst season in a decade for Juventus who trail the leaders by 10 points and won just half of the matches played so far. In spite of investing heavily in new players, the reigning champions are likely to fail in their quest of defending the trophy. In order to keep their fading hopes alive they need to win the match against Bologna in a convincing manner. 888 Sport expect them to succeed and offers odds of 2/5, while being perfectly happy with giving 7/1 to punters willing to trust the visitors to win.
Atletico Madrid Play a Shineless Derby with Valencia
Atletico Madrid is the best defensive team in Europe, at least among those playing in the top divisions. They conceded just two goals at home and are undefeated in nine matches, which makes them favorites to win on Friday. A match against Valencia would have been a derby some years ago, but in 2021 the traveling team is a huge underdog. There is such a discrepancy between these two contenders that Valencia are priced at 7/1 by bet365 Sports, while the home side gets 2/5 to prevail.
Disclaimer:
The odds mentioned here were accurate at the featured bookmakers at the hour the article was written, respectively on Wednesday, January 20 at 6 pm UK time.
