Wednesday 18th September 2024

In Across the Leagues today:

• Treble for tonight…
• The man to replace Mbappe?
• Eye-catching Each Way prices…

Back Bradley for the big breakthrough at 100/1…

We often talk about ‘backing the best’ and the ‘cream rising to the top’ in the Champions League…

Matchday 1 followed those themes last night, with all six pre-match favourites winning. Including a crazy 9-2 (NINE-two) win for our 12/1 trophy picks, Bayern Munich. With four goals for Harry Kane…

Kylian Mbappe also got on the scoresheet for his new club, Champions League holders Real Madrid.

All six of those match-winning favourites last night also ticked the box for the -1 Handicap: Juventus (3-1), Aston Villa (0-3), Liverpool (1-3), Bayern (9-2), Real Madrid (3-1), and Sporting Lisbon (2-0) – all winning by two or more goals. Something to keep in mind as the next Champions League fixtures roll on…

Treble for tonight…

This evening, a treble on Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, and PSG to all win pays 3/1. To add another phrase to back-the-best and cream-rising-to-the-top, let’s ‘keep it simple,’ too. We’ll take the 3/1 for this treble today (8pm kick-offs):

Club Brugge v Borussia Dortmund – Dortmund to win
Man City v Inter Milan – Man City to win
PSG v Girona – PSG to win

On the superstar strikers front, City’s Erling Haaland will be looking to steal some headlines back from Kane and Mbappe. Haaland is odds-on to score Anytime against Inter tonight, at 5/6 (1.83) at best. He’s around 13/5 (3.6) score First. And no more than 19/1 (Paddy Power & Betfair Sportsbook) to rack up what would be a third hat-trick in four games (!).

In the outright, Champions League Top Goalscorer market, Haaland is around 9/2 (5.5), with Mbappe the same, and Kane at 7/4 (2.75) after his opening blast of four goals. There’s a long, long way to go yet…

Barcola bursting onto the scene…

We deal in outsiders in markets like top scorer, and our man Ollie Watkins can still be backed at 66/1 Each Way today, with 1/4 odds for 1-4 places. Watkins was a bit unlucky to not open his account yesterday; one of those ‘it would have been given in my day’ VAR calls.

You could argue that it’s hard to make a case for anyone beyond the likes of Kane, Haaland, and Mbappe here. But the Champions League is not immune to an outsider popping up as a surprise package in the top-scorer charts. And with those four Each Way places and a quarter of the odds in mind, one exciting young player for us to get behind today and this season is Bradley Barcola…

The 22-year-old French forward has had the look of a rising star for a couple of years now. And with young Bradley now getting the chance to shine at PSG, with Mbappe moving to Spain. This lively attacker looks ready to grab his opportunity with both hands…

Barcola got his first Champions League goal last season. So far in 2024/25, in this new-look PSG outfit, the former Lyon man has chalked up four goals in four appearances in French Ligue 1. He’s in form, and should be raring to go in UEFA’s flagship club cup competition…

Fellow Frenchmen, 27-year-old Ousmane Dembele (three league goals so far this season), and 25-year-old Randal Kolo Muani (two goals) are also right up there in the ‘replace Mbappe’ stakes at PSG. But I’m most excited about the breakthrough prospects of the younger man this season…

Bradley Barcola is available at 100/1+ in the Champions League Top Goalscorer betting. At these prices, a finish in the Each Way places is worth a 25/1+ payout…

TODAY’S PICKS

See above for full details

UEFA Champions League 2024/25

Top Goalscorer – Each Way (1/4 odds 1-4 places):

• Bradley Barcola @ 150/1 Betway, 125/1 Bet365, 100/1 Skybet, William Hill, BetVictor, Boylesports

Tonight’s games (8pm):

• Treble: Borussia Dortmund, Man City, PSG to win @ 3/1 Ladbrokes, Coral, Bet365, Unibet, BetUK, BetMGM, LiveScoreBet, Betway

Time-saver: where possible, the bookie links above go directly to the matches/ markets in question.

I’ll be back on Friday with your weekend preview for the domestic leagues…

P.S
Want to get in touch? Email me at: oliver.upstone@oxonpress.co.uk

Enjoy the football…

Best wishes,

Oliver Upstone

Across the Leagues