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Tuesday Champions League betting tip

By Matt | February 15, 2010

Champions League football returns to our betting radars this week with the second round first leg matches – and our first Champions League betting tip of the new year comes from Milan’s San Siro, where AC Milan play Manchester United on Tuesday.

If you’ve been following our football betting tips you’ll know that at A Cunning Punt we’re great believers in swimming against the tide and getting the value that inevitably comes with opposing the patriotic pound. And Tuesday’s game between Milan and Man U is no exception.

United are favourites in a match for reasons that would be inexplicable but for the phenomenon of the patriotic punter. Yes, they’re within a point of the top of England’s Premier League; yes, they were the Champions League’s beaten finalists in 2009 and yes, they won the competition in 2010.

But those stark facts hide the reality that without certain key players this Manchester United team is all too frequently found wanting at the highest levels. And while Wayne Rooney is almost single-handedly doing the business in the League, without Cristiano Ronaldo the team lacks the out-and-out match-winner that would give them a real chance of getting a result at somewhere like the San Siro.

In contrast, Milan have them in spades, with Ronaldinho back to goalscoring form and the mercurial Pato banging them in for fun in Serie A. Like United, Milan are second in their domestic league but unlike Man U their recent form is testament to their quality throughout the team rather than wrapped up in the form of one player.

Milan’s defence may not be the impenetrable shield that it once was, but it’s hard to see players like Darren Fletcher and Nani unlocking it too often. Meanwhile, without Vidic United’s could be woefully exposed by Milan’s brilliant Brazilians, or the highly rated Dutchman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, or even David Beckham, a former Old Trafford hero.

With all this in mind its incredible that odds of almost 2/1 are available on a Milan win. Bet365 are offering 15/8, which looks huge and simply must be snapped up.

Champions League betting tip