Tuesday September 15, 19:45
Live on BT Sport Extra
Kayserispor and Trabzonspor picked a fine time to explore their boring side, as the visitors' 1-0 win sunk our Over 2.5 Goals bet. At least I had some fun, as I was dancing to "Save Water, Drink Beer" at a Chris Young gig when the final whistle went, but that's no consolation to y'all.
To Spain then, and if you want to bellow out the Champions League anthem, now's the time to do it. Finished? Good.
Sevilla have become the first ever team to qualify for Europe's top competition by winning its unloved little brother the Europa League, and over the past couple of seasons Unai Emery's men have proved to be relentlessly consistent in continental competition. They have won the Europa League in each of the past two seasons, and they have won their last nine European games at the Sanchez Pizjuan.
Among those nine consecutive victories was a 1-0 win over tonight's opponents Borussia Monchengladbach, as Sevilla knocked the German outfit out in the last 32 last term. Since then both teams have lost key players (Sevilla's annual sale of stars is now almost a quaint local tradition), but the damage done to Gladbach appears to have been greater.
The Foals are bottom of the Bundesliga after four matches, having collected no points whatsoever. Friday's 3-0 home defeat to Hamburg was the nadir. The defence was shambolic, the forwards ambled around ineffectively, and the lack of confidence throughout the side was painful to observe.
The return of loan star Christoph Kramer to parent club Bayer Leverkusen has robbed the Gladbach midfield of drive and solidity, while the invention of forward Max Kruse has been sorely missed since he defected to Wolfsburg. To make matters worse, captain and defensive leader Martin Stranzl's return from a six-month injury lay-off on Friday saw him get his eye socket fractured by one of his own players.
With Kramer departed and Granit Xhaka suspended, there is a gigantic hole in the Gladbach midfield, and even though Sevilla have made a disappointing start to their La Liga campaign, I just can't see them failing to overcome a patched-up and beaten-up Foals team. The price of 1.62 for the home win is pretty generous, but you can boost it to above evens by giving the hosts a goal handicap.
Recommended Bet
Back Sevilla -1.0 on the Asian Handicap at [2.05]
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