Sports Blog 26/09/2017: Football Preview – UEFA Champions League Group Stages, Tuesday 26th September 2017

Can Tottenham, Liverpool, and Man City pick up a trio of wins in a relatively kind 2nd week of Champions League group stage games?

Inarguably Spurs have the easiest job to do on Tuesday night – they host APOEL at 7.45pm on BT Sport ESPN. Though Wembley remains an issue – though they did pick up an impressive 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund a fortnight ago – on the road Tottenham have been electric. Most recently they beat West Ham 3-2, withstanding a Serge Aurier red card and a late comeback from the hosts to pick up all 3 points. Harry Kane scored a brace in that game, taking his season’s tally to 6; with a Super Mega PGM of 69-79 he’ll expect to add on a few more in Cyprus.



To be fair to APOEL, they only lost 3-0 to Real Madrid, at the Bernabeu. That may sound patronising, but given the group they are in the Cypriot champions need to look for the positives wherever they can find them. They’re likely going to struggle on Tuesday night, with Spreadex offering a Tottenham/APOEL (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 1.25-1.45 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.65-2.85.

Slightly more difficult – if only just – is Liverpool’s trip to Spartak Moscow, at 7.45pm on BT Sport 2. After a mid-week slip-up against Leicester in the EFL Cup, Liverpool returned to the King Power Stadium on Saturday seeking revenge. They almost messed up again; luckily, a missed penalty from Jamie Vardy allowed the Reds to keep hold of a 3-2 win. While their defensive issues remain, Klopp can be cheered by the pairing of Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho – at Super Mega PGMs of 30-36 and 23-28 respectively – the latter setting up the former for Liverpool’s first goal before nabbing the second himself.



While the Reds managed a respectable, if scrappy (and disappointing given Roberto Firmino’s missed penalty) draw against Sevilla in their Champions League opener, anything but victory in Moscow will be a disappointment. The Russians have really struggled this season, with just 3 wins in 11 league games, and could only manage a 1-1 draw against Group E minnows Maribor. Klopp will be expecting a big win, then, with Spreadex offering a Liverpool/Spartak Moscow (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 1-1.2 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.95-3.15.

Finally, Manchester City host Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donestky, at 7.45pm on BT Sport 3. After a very (very) slight wobble in August – scraped 2-0 and 2-1 wins over Brighton and Bournemouth with a 1-1 draw against Everton sandwiched in between – City have been absurdly strong. September has seen Guardiola’s side score 22 goals in 5 games in all competitions (5 of which came against Liverpool), their only goal conceded coming against West Brom in the EFL Cup.



Sergio Aguero has 7 in 7, and is now just 2 goals away from surpassing Eric Brook as City’s all-time top scorer. He heads into Tuesday night at a Super Mega PGM of 85-100, trailed by Garbriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling – both on 5 in 7 – at 68-78 and 31-37 respectively. Despite the Ukrainians proving their class with a 2-1 win over Napoli that kind of strike power is overwhelming, with Spreadex offering a huge Man City/Shakhtar Donestk Goal Supremacy spread of 2.2-2.4 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.75-3.95.