THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Last 16 continues on Wednesday as Manchester City travel to Schalke. Daniel McCulloch (@DMcCulloch1984) shares his betting thoughts.
Schalke v Manchester City | Wednesday 20th February 2019, 20:00 | BT Sport
This is the first instalment of the Anglo-German club rivalry in the Last 16 of the Champions League and bookies certainly expect it to be the most one-sided. That City are as short as 3/10 to win in Germany is no surprise given that Schalke currently find themselves 14th in the Bundesliga.
The Gelsenkirchen side probably over-achieved in qualifying for this competition last season and finishing second in a group featuring Lokomotiv Moscow, Galatasaray and Porto has done little to suggest that they can compete with free-flowing City.
Pep Guardiola's side are still going on all four fronts and complacency is perhaps their greatest obstacle in this tie. They should win and they should win relatively comfortably, which is why I like the look of a City win and Over 2.5 Goals to be scored at 3/4 with Boylesports. The Citizens have won 32 games this season and 26 of these have seen Over 2.5 Goal scores.
Additionally, I like the look of backing the 2-1 and 3-1 scorelines. In 33 matches across the Champions League and Premier League, City have won 2-1 on five occasions and 3-1 just as frequently. That might seem like a relatively small sample size so I looked at their complete record under Pep.
In 127 matches in these two competitions, they've won 2-1 19 times, suggesting 6/1 would be a fair price on such an event. BetVictor are offering 17/2 on such a result, which seems huge, to me.
City have also managed 16 3-1 victories during Pep's time so the 10/1 with Bet365 also seems big. As attractive as City are to watch, they still love to concede a single goal so both bets look value, to me.
Best Bets
Schalke v Manchester City – Manchester City to win and Over 2.5 Goals (3/4 Boylesports)
Schalke v Manchester City – Man City to win 2-1 (17/2 BetVictor)
Schalke v Manchester City – Man City to win 3-1 (10/1 Bet365)
