Champions League Group F betting

Group F Champions League odds and tips

Premier League title winners Chelsea recorded their best ever finish in the 2007/08 Champions League season when they were beaten in the final by Manchester United. Penalty kicks were their downfall that night at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and this year they face another trip to the Russian capital when they do battle with Spartak. French champions Marseille and Slovakian newcomers Zilina make up the rest of Group F.

Group F winner odds

Carlo Ancelotti guided old club AC Milan to the Champions League in 2003 and 2007 but will be hoping to lead the Blues to their maiden European success this time when they kick off their campaign in Zilina. The West Londoners won the Premier League by the narrowest of margins last season from United but realise they need to add the Champions League to their honours list before they can be considered true European greats. But their double winning season has seen them installed as third favourites at 6/1 (SkyBet) to win the competition outright and should finish as runaway leaders in Group F but are unbackable at 3/10 (Boylesports) to do so. They will get off to the perfect start away to Zilina on September 15 and can reward punters at 7/4 (Victor Chandler) by being the British team to progress furthest. The longshot wager regards the Stamford Bridge club comes in the highest scoring group market, 6/1 (Stan James) says Group F clubs net more than any other. This seems overpriced considered Chelsea’s emphatic start to the new Premier League season which has seen them bag fourteen goals in just three games.

Olympique de Marseille finally clinched the French title for the first time in eighteen years and can boast winning the Champions League in 1993. The club from the Stade Velodrome are the only French winners of the competition thus far and will enter this years in buoyant mood and have a serious chance of progression in the group. While they may have to settle for second placed, reaching the last 16 will be an achievement in itself. Manager Didier Deschamps a Champions League winner with Marseille in ’93 will lock horns with his former employers in Chelsea aiming to put one over his old club. They can be backed quite easily at 7/10 (Bwin.com) to qualify through Group F pipping Spartak Moscow to the runners up spot. They kick off with a home tie against the Russians and this represents a good early chance to get points on the board.

Spartak manager Valery Karpin has transformed the clubs fortunes of late and will be hoping his side perform well in the competition with the help of new signing Aiden McGeady from Celtic. It could be a battle between them and Marseille for second placed and the sides are no strangers to each other in Europe. The pair met in the semi-final of the 1990/01 Champions League with Marseille running out 3-1 winners in Moscow. Spartak will need to prevent a repeat scoreline when they travel to France for the opener and bookies SkyBet list them at 6/4 to go further than the group stages.

Little is known about Slovakian side Msk Zilina and had to book their place the hard way disposing of Birkirkara, Litex Lovech and Sparta Prague in qualifying. Zilina have won five Slovakian championships since the start of the league in 1993 and are the current holders. Their squad consists of many of those who starred for Slovakia in the 2010 World Cup but they will struggle in Group F. They face stiff competition in Chelsea, Marseille and Spartak who will prove just to strong for them. Destined for an early exit as justified by the 10/1 (Bet365) just to qualify through the group.

Recommended bets: Chelsea to win the group at Stan James who have the best odds of 3/10 – Free £25 bet for new customers

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