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Today, Wednesday, February 23rd, the first set of games of the UEFA Champions League knockout stage are due to be played with Arsenal facing Barcelona and Juventus going up against Bayern Munich.
Tomorrow, the action continues with two more games and we’ve got the game previews and predictions just below…
Manchester City vs Dynamo Kiev
- Time: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 2:45 PM ET
It’s been a while since Dynamo Kiev has been to the this point in the competition. In fact, it’s the first time in 17 years that they’re made it this far and they’ll undoubtedly be wanting to put a dent in Manchester City’s plans of making it any further.
Betting on Manchester City
It’s already been announced that a new head coach will take Manchester City’s reigns next year. Manuel Pellegrini will be leaving and Bayern’s Pep Guardiola will take the helm in hopes of ending MC’s drought of success in the Champions.
Although Manchester City did make it through the group stage at the top of Group D in a relatively easy way, the English squad still faces some difficulties on the field though showing clear signs of improvement. They ended up winning four of six games, including wins against Monchengladbach 4-2 and Sevilla 3-1 away from home.
On the positive note for Manchester City, they have their star forward Sergio “Kun” Aguero back in the fold. After missing most of the games in the group stage due to injury, he’s now back and will play a major role in the team’s strategy. Kun has scored 10 goals in 11 games throughout all competitions this year.
Betting on Dynamo Kiev
Dynamo Kiev is enjoying a good run. In fact, they haven’t lost since Nov 4th, when they fell to Chelsea and then went on a six-game winning streak which included victories over Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Porto to top Group G.
Though the Ukrainian team might be somewhat sluggish and rusty after not playing due to the break in their league, playing at home might give them some motivation to kick things off well to please the crowd.
Dynamo is a good defensive team and has enjoyed success against English teams. They managed to hold Chelsea to a 0-0 draw when the English team visited Kiev during the group stage. They’ll undoubtedly be relying on the talents of forward Andriy Yarmolenko who has two goals in five Champions League games and 8 in 15 league games.
The Ukrainian football team also beat City in the Europa League in the Round of 16 of that competition, winning 2-0 at home.
Free Predictions: City will be a tad more prepared and in form. Though Dynamo Kiev has the home pitch advantage, City will silence the crowd and win 2-1.
Atletico Madrid vs PSV Eindhoven
- Time: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 2:45 PM ET
For the first time in close to 10 years, the Eridivisie leader, PSV Eindhoven will host Atletico Madrid on their home pitch. And, though hobbled and without their lead scorer, the Dutch champions have their work cut out for them. Keep reading for more…
Betting on Atletico Madrid
Atletico won four of their six group games and their passage to the knockout stage wasn’t at all too complicated at the top of Group C.
Head coach Diego Simeone has been instrumental in steering the team towards success in the Champions where they’ve even reached the finals back in 2014 when they eventually lost to Real Madrid.
Atletico is a good defensive team, which undoubtedly gives them the advantage over PSV that’s without their main striker. So far, they’ve only given up 11 goals in 25 La Liga games this year and PSV will be far-stretched to make it through their stern defense.
They also have the talents of Antoine Greizmann up front, which could crack through the Dutch’s team defenses and find the back of the net on more than one occasion.
Betting on PSV Eindhoven
Knocking out Manchester United from the UEFA competition sent ripples throughout the football world. That they won both games against MU in the group stage, including the 2-1 shocker in England, added insult to injury.
Yet, now they have to look ahead as they get ready to face the Spanish giants Atletico Madrid as the heavy underdogs. And, matters are even more complicated for the Dutch team in missing their top-scorer Luuk de Jong due to yellow card accumulation. De Jong is key to PSV’s attack and without him, it’s going to be hard to score against the solid Atletico defense.
Regardless, PSV is still riding on the success of an eight-game winning streak in the Eredivisie, which should give them some confidence to defend their pitch at the Philips Arena.
Free Predictions: PSV is somewhat hobbled without much punch in their attack. This will open up scoring opportunities for Atletico. Atletico wins 2-1.
Remember to follow all the action of the UEFA Champions and take advantage of the early betting opportunities.
