Champions League
2009-09-15 - Besiktas vs Manchester United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: Europe, UEFA Champions League 2009/2010
Tuesday 15th September 2009 - Kickoff 19:45
Besiktas (Turkey)
This is a big test for the Turkish side as they entertain Manchester United in the first game of the Champions League. They have one of the loudest home support in Europe and will be hoping to use their fans as the 12th man.
The setting for this game is beautiful, with the stadium sitting in a position where you can see Asia on one side, and Europe on the other.
They have not made a good start to the defence of their title going 1-3-1 from their first 5 games which leaves Besiktas in 11th spot in the division. They are 1-1-0 at home, scoring 2 goals and yet to concede.
They come into this match off the back of a 3-0 loss at city rivals Galatasaray. Besiktas have not scored in their last 3 matches at home and away.
The Turkish side have made this stage of the competition 5 times previously, but are yet to get past the group stages.
Manchester United (England)
Manchester United have made strong start to their defence of the Premier League title and will be confident of making a strong start in the Champions League after their impressive 1-3 win at Tottenham at the weekend. This may be the best way to finally put the misery of Rome to rest as a new Champions League campaign begins.
United sit in 2nd spot in the Premier League and are 2-0-1 in away games this season, where they have scored 8 goals and conceded just 2. United have won their last 2 away games.
Even the loss of Ronaldo and Tevez hasnt seemed to have slowed United down too much at the moment and they will have a lot of confidence considering they are unbeaten in their last 12 away games in Europe. Last season, United were 3-3-0 in their away games in the Champions League.
There are bound to be some changes to the United line up considering they played on Saturday and there is a Manchester Derby coming up over the horizon. I can see the likes of Gary Neville, Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia all to return to the side.
Head to Head
These 2 sides have not met previously.
Besiktas have played against English sides 6 times at home previously, but they have only won 1 of those games. They will have some memories of their last matches against English sides when they played Liverpool 2 years ago - they played Liverpool twice, beating them 2-1 at home before being thumped 8-0 at Anfield.
Manchester United do not have the best record in previous matches in Turkey, with only 1 win from 4 matches. However, they have only lost once in Turkey and that was in a dead rubber.
Prediction
Besiktas are the reigning Champions of Turkey but this is going to be a big test for them and they will likely be happy with any point they get, knowing that they will, most likely, get their points to qualify from the other 2 sides in the group.
Manchester United will look to continue with their winning run before the Manchester Derby at the weekend and will be confident of getting a victory here. I expect a strong line up as Sir Alex Ferguson will know that a win could almost set them up to qualify from the group as he will expect to win all their home games.
I was quite surprised that United are the price they are as I thought they might be a bit longer, although not by much. United's 3 away wins last season in this competition all came after they were leading at half time, and I think they will be looking to get an early goal here to take the crowd away from the action.
United to win is the main bet, but I will also play them to be leading at half time and going on to win.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Besiktas 0-2 Manchester United
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take to Manchester United WIN (main bet)Consider Manchester United HT - Manchester United FT as s bet that pays out at 7/5 (2.40) at Victor Chandler
