Another interesting round of league action awaits as the football season goes past the halfway mark. While clubs finalize their plans ahead of a busy transfer window deadline week, the best of league action continues and we bring you the likely betting tips and predictions to go with from all of the day’s action.
Straight Wins
Relegation-threatened Hertha Berlin take on the challenge of Bayern Munich at the Olympiastadion. While the champions continue to move towards another Bundesliga title, Hertha Berlin have been on a poor run of late and it has stemmed from their poor concentration at the start of a match. They have held their own in the latter part, where they have matched their rivals. Bayern have won their last five league games impressively, which has brought us to the conclusion that this would be an easy win for this side. The Bavarians have been ruthless on the road. It was evident against Stuttgart and Cologne as Die Rosen took the game away from their rivals. A win here today for Bayern Munich is certain. Bet9ja has 1.24 odds, Paripesa has 1.26 odds and 1xBet has 1.26 odds.
The Sunday clash between the current Ligue 1 pacesetters and relegation-threatened Reims takes place with 17 games remaining before curtains fall on the current season. PSG are out to extend their twelve-match unbeaten run in the league. Reims slipped from their five-match undefeated run with a dismal display last weekend. Reims have gone without defeat away from home in their previous five games across all competitions. The hosts are yet to record a loss from their last five games in all competitions. This statistic makes this an easy contest for this PSG side as they have won 4 out of 5 H2H against Reims. Bet9ja has 1.19 odds, Paripesa has 1.25 odds and 1xBet has 1.25 odds.
Just a few days after their exciting duel in Copa del Rey, Real Madrid and Elche will once again meet, this time in La Liga. When the two teams met a few days ago in Copa del Rey in Elche, we saw a close game that went to overtime. Eventually, Real Madrid progressed to the quarter-finals of the competition. We don’t expect to see such a close game again, mainly because Real Madrid will now play their strongest squad, which we believe will be enough for Real Madrid to win the game. Backed by a solid H2H record from previous matches this should be an easy game for Los Blancos. Bet9ja has 1.15 odds, Paripesa has 1.18 odds and 1xBet has 1.18 odds.
Napoli could go 2nd in Serie A this weekend if they beat the bottom of the table Salernitana and AC Milan drop points in their game. The visitors looked destined to go back down to Serie B this season as they are currently 8pts adrift of safety. The title race should be in the minds of all Napoli players and this would be the needed boost for them to take home the win here today. We’re backing the home side to secure all 3pts today just as they did when the two sides locked horns for their reverse league fixture in October. Napoli have won three of their last five league games, while Salernitana has lost four of their last five fixtures. Bet9ja has 1.10 odds, Paripesa has 1.14 odds and 1xBet has 1.14 odds.
Chelsea go up against a Tottenham side that they have already faced and beaten three times this season. Spurs head into the game on the back of a morale-boosting late win over Leicester. The Blues have won their last four competitive encounters with Tottenham, three of which arrived this season in the form of the two legs of their League Cup semi-final and the pair’s reverse Premier League fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Blues sit two places and 8pts clear of Tottenham in the Premier League table but have played four more games than their guests, so really, this is a game that Chelsea needs to win. Bet9ja has 1.73 odds, Paripesa has 1.78 odds and 1xBet has 1.78 odds.
Over 2.5 Goals
Union Berlin earned a respectable win at the Olympiastadion as four goals were scored in the second half of their Round of 16 meetings. Bayern Munich will surely give similar entertainment as Robert Lewandowski and co. pay struggling Hertha a visit. The Polish forward has scored seven goals in his last four outings, completing his hat-trick against Cologne with two in the second half. With Hertha conceding goals with regularity, we should have a goal-filled entertaining second half on our hands in this late Sunday fixture. Bet9ja has 1.33 odds, Paripesa has 1.36 odds and 1xBet has 1.36 odds.
Leicester have the chance to reduce the gap between themselves and their guests Brighton in the Premier League table this weekend when the two sides go head-to-head. However, Brighton arrive amongst an unbeaten run and could prove to be a tough nut for the Foxes to crack. At least three goals have been scored in four of the last five head-to-heads between Leicester and Brighton, and we’re expecting another action-packed 90-minutes between the pair this weekend. Five of Leicester’s last six matches have produced over 2.5 goals, while Brighton’s last two away trips have seen three or more goals scored. Bet9ja has 1.84 odds, Paripesa has 1.95 odds and 1xBet has 1.95 odds.
We’re expecting a thoroughly entertaining 90-minutes in Serie A this weekend when Empoli, who have been the surprise package of the season, play host to Jose Mourinho’s Roma, who are in the race for the European places. Empoli have conceded an eye-watering 13 goals in their last three Serie A contests and the side with the division’s third-worst defensive record could suffer again when a dangerous Roma outfit visits. Jose Mourinho’s charges have notched at least three times in four of their last eight matches and they have enough quality in the final third to run up a big score at Empoli on Sunday. Bet9ja has 1.44 odds, Paripesa has 1.47 odds and 1xBet has 1.47 odds.
Buoyed by their progression through to the League Cup final in midweek, Liverpool makes the trip to the capital to face Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday. The Eagles will be looking to cause an upset and certainly have goals in them but the Reds have a fantastic recent record against their hosts and will arrive full of confidence. At least three goals have been scored in five of the last six league meetings between these two clubs, and we’re expecting more of the same on Sunday. Five of Palace’s last six outings have produced over 2.5 goals, while three of Liverpool’s last five fixtures have also witnessed at least three goals scored. Bet9ja has 1.70 odds, Paripesa has 1.80 odds and 1xBet has 1.80 odds.
The last game of this La Liga round is the Alaves vs Barcelona duel. The last week has been eventful for Barcelona, but not in a good way. The team was first eliminated in the Spanish Cup semi-finals by their fierce rivals Real Madrid. Then, a few days later, Barcelona was also eliminated from Copa del Rey by Athletic Bilbao after losing the game after extra time. Blaugrana are in desperate need of a good result now and the fans are hoping that Alaves will pay the price. Three of the last five head-to-head duels between Alaves and Barcelona have gone over 2.5 total goals and we expect the same thing to happen in their upcoming match as well.
On top of that, Barcelona averaged 2.70 goals per game in the league this season, while Alaves averaged 2.38 goals per game in La Liga until now. Bet9ja has 1.75 odds, Paripesa has 1.85 odds and 1xBet has 1.85 odds.
Anytime Goalscorers
Benzema
Karin Benzema has been a dominant force in the attack for Real Madrid this season. With 17 goals already, he has proven to be a vital part of this squad. After all, you can always bet on Benzema to score at any time, which he has done a lot of. In any case, the French striker already scored 24 goals in 27 games for Real Madrid this season, in all competitions. Bet9ja has 1.55 odds while Paripesa has 1.40 odds.
Vlahovic
He has been the talisman in an impressive season for Fiorentina and as he has scored the most goals this season in Serie A. Dusan Vlahovic is continuously linked with moves away from Florence yet the Fiorentina star continues to score the goals week in, week out. Vlahovic has scored 17-goals in Serie A this season and has netted 8-goals in his last 10 appearances for the club in all competitions, so you can see why we’re backing the Serbian striker to score on Sunday. Bet9ja has 1.85 odds while Paripesa has 1.65 odds.
Tammy Abraham
Tammy Abraham has made a decent start to life in Italian, netting 8 league goals in 21 starts for Roma. We’re backing the England international to score against Empoli on Sunday as he has netted 8-goals in his last ten games for his club in all competitions. Bet9ja has 2.20 odds while Paripesa has 2.10 odds.
Mbappe
The French international striker is the top goal scorer for PSG with 19 goals this season. We expect the in-form striker to get onto the score sheet when these teams clash on 23/01. The hosts were the better side in the last fixture. They beat Reims 2-0 away from home. In the last encounter, Mbappe was on the score sheet. The visitors only kept one clean sheet from the last five games in Ligue 1. Bet9ja has 1.70 odds while Paripesa has 1.57 odds
Lewandoski
Coming off the back of winning the FIFA best player award we are sure to see a stellar performance from the polish striker today. He is already miles ahead of his peers in goals in all competitions and this team here today would not be able to stop him when he gets on his stride. We expect a confident performance from him filled with goals and he would surely be on the end of them. Bet9ja has 1.40 odds while Paripesa has 1.36 odds
Football Lover. All-round junkie of the beautiful game. Could be found watching football most of the time. If not he’s writing about them or making some punditry you don’t agree with. A certain bias for Arsenal and Santos FC.
