Champions League Betting – CSKA Moscow at Man. United

CSKA Moscow (+650) at Manchester United (-222), Draw (+320)

Currently tied for second with CSKA Moscow in Group B, Manchester United can’t afford a slip when they host the Russians in the fourth fixture of the UEFA Champions League Group Stage next Tuesday (November 3) at Old Trafford (2:45 PM Eastern).

United could have taken some pressure off of next week’s game with a better result from their visit to Moscow two weeks ago, but they only managed a 1-1 draw, leaving the door open for an upset in the rematch.

Despite not getting the full three points, United manager Louis Van Gaal liked most of what he saw from this team. “We played at a higher tempo. We switched the ball from side to side more, and that’s also why we got the goal and created more chances and didn’t give too much away,” said Van Gaal about his team’s performance in Russia.

Group B is the most tightly contested through three fixtures, with all four teams boasting at least one win. Vfl Wolfsburg leads the pack with six points (2-0-1), followed by United and Moscow with four (1-1-1), and Dutch side PSV Eindhoven with three (1-0-2). In addition to their draw with Moscow, United suffered a surprise setback to PSV, but topped Wolfsburg, something that will undoubtedly come in handy down the road as they compete with the Germans for first-place in the group.

Domestically, United are coming off of a penalty-kick loss to Middlesbrough in the Capital One Cup during the week. In EPL action, they rebounded from a 3-0 setback at Arsenal with their own 3-0 win over Everton, and then managed a nil-nil draw against the league-leading Citizens in the Manchester derby. Sitting on 20 points, they remain two back of City (and Arsenal) in the EPL table.

On Tuesday, United will be facing a Moscow squad that has dominated the Russian Premier League. They haven’t lost a match through 13 fixtures and are already six points clear of second-place Lokomotiv.  The team will be looking to build off its first win in English territory during last year’s UCL season, when they stunned Man. City (2-1) at Etihad.  That upped their overall record in England to 1-3-2.

CSKA managed to pick up a point the last time they visited Old Trafford back in 2009, playing United to a high-scoring 3-3 draw.

This game won’t be easy for the Red Devils, but playing in front of their fans should help.  Take United to win by a goal.

Pick: Man United (-222).

(Photo credit: Austin Osuide [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)