William Hill Sites

Sports Vegas Live Casino Bingo Poker Promotions

Media And Support

Podcasts Betting & Casino Apps Help Centre
Football

Champions League preview: Man United host Villarreal and Chelsea travel to Juventus

2 years ago
| BY News Team

The Champions League group stages continue on Wednesday night with another eight clashes to look forward to.

Ahead of the action, we’ve previewed Manchester United’s hosting of Villarreal and Chelsea’s trip to face Juventus.

Man United looking to bounce back

After an encouraging start to the season for Manchester United, things have suddenly started to look a little shaky. Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Aston Villa was the third defeat in four games for the Red Devils, making Wednesday night’s Champions League game at home to Villarreal a huge one. Given United started their Champions League campaign with a shock 2-1 loss to Young Boys earlier this month, it makes it even more important for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men to get the three points in this Group F clash.

Solskajaer’s record in the Champions League isn’t quite what he’d like it to be. Since taking over at United, he’s lost seven of his 11 games – a win rate of just 36%. The Norwegian will be eager for a win here then, and his side are the 1/2 favourites for the victory despite their patchy recent form. Would you like to work out your potential winnings? Try our online betting calculator.

That Young Boys defeat did see Cristiano Ronaldo get on the scoresheet, and he’s generally had a strong start to life back at United with four goals in four games since re-joining in the summer. Ronaldo to score first was priced at 5/2 but enhanced odds of 3/1 are now available. One United player who will be eager to get back on the scoresheet is Bruno Fernandes after his last-minute penalty miss in the defeat to Villa. Fernandes to score, United to win and both teams to score is available at the enhanced odds of 5/1.

While Villarreal are currently struggling in La Liga, languishing in 11th, and are the underdogs for the win here at 11/2, it was just a few months ago that Unai Emery’s side defeated United in the Europa League final, so they will be confident of repeating that trick at Old Trafford and will be tough opposition.

Chelsea face testing trip to Turin

Over in Group H, we’re all set for Champions League thriller in Turin on Wednesday night as Juventus welcome Chelsea to the Juventus Stadium. The hosts, without Ronaldo following his move to Old Trafford, have been struggling big time domestically so far this season and already find themselves 10 points off Serie A leaders Napoli. A much-needed 3-2 win over Sampdoria at the weekend did at least haul them into the top half of the table, though.

Chelsea, meanwhile, have, for the most part, looked excellent this season, with Romelu Lukaku’s arrival bolstering an already very talented squad. The Blues did, however, experience their first real setback of the campaign on Saturday when being outplayed and defeated 1-0 by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. Thomas Tuchel’s men will be looking to bounce back quickly with a result in Turin.

Despite Juventus’ home advantage, their poor form this season means they are the 3/1 underdogs, with Chelsea the 19/20 favourites and the draw priced at 5/2. With both of these teams opening their campaigns with victory, a win for either side on Wednesday will put them in a commanding position in the group.

Lukaku scored the winner for Chelsea in the Champions League last time out as they beat Zenit St. Petersburg 1-0, and the Belgium international will be looking to do the same in Turin. Lukaku to score first is available at enhanced odds, having been boosted from 14/5 to 7/2.

Check out all the latest football betting odds at William Hill

More Football articles you may like

View all Football