Manchester United v Otelul Galati Champions League Betting & Preview – 02.11.11

Champions League Betting

It should be a pretty easy night for Manchester United in the Champions League on Wednesday night, as they look to turn over Romanian side Otelul Galati again. United picked up their first win of this season’s Champions League with a 2-0 victory in Romania on Match Day Three, and the Red Devils are firm favourites to double up on that result. It took two penalty kicks from Wayne Rooney in the second half though to break down the Romanians in Bucharest. It has been a very understated Champions League campaign against by Manchester United, who were held to a draw away at Benfica, and then needed a late equaliser at Old Trafford to secure a point against Basel. But no matter, just as they did last season when they barely raised an effort in the group stage of the competition, Sir Alex Ferguson’s men will get through in the end. A home fixture against the group outsiders should offer up another three points for United, who will be sure enough challenging for top spot in the group come the end of the matches. They are trailing Portuguese side Benfica by one point at the moment. It was that 3-3 draw home draw against Basel which was really the biggest surprise of the group so far, and showed some frailties at the back for the Red Devils. Of course, Sir Alex Ferguson likes to chop and change his personnel for the Champions League, generally putting out less inspiring sides than you will see in the Premier League. Manchester United responded well last weekend with an away win at Everton, following their humiliation at the hands of their rivals Manchester City. But we see the clear difference here of United’s experience in this competition, so much so, we see them sit back so much through the group stages and essentially just do enough to book passage through to the next round. That is what they will do here, and while they haven’t looked very impressive, a win could send them to the top of the group if Benfica fail to beat Basel. So they make it through without trying really, and with two of their remaining three matches at Old Trafford, they’ll be in the knockout stage.

Olelul Galati, Romanian debutants in the competition, have only managed one goal in the tournament so far, an away consolation against Basel in their first match. It is highly unlikely that they will hit Old Trafford and suddenly win their first game, it is unlikely to happen. Manchester United, even putting gout a weaker side, have a great record at Old Trafford in the Champions League. The Red Devils have now lost just one match in the last 33 played at home in the Champions League. That run stretches all the way back to 2005, but they did come so close to losing against Basel earlier in the tournament. United have played Romanian opposition just once before, Dynamo Bucharest back in the 2004/05 Champions League, winning both the home and away fixtures. Otelul had never faced a team from England before (until their first match against United), so this will be their first journey to English soil. Doesn’t much tougher really. Throughout their history, the Romanians have played just 11 away matches in Europe, scoring two wins, two draws and seven losses. So Otelul Galati are unlikely to get anything out of this venture, so it will be worth looking at winning margins for your Manchester United v Otelul Galati Champions League betting. It should be United’s big banker match, and a win would set them up nicely for a run at securing top spot in Group C. Don’t expect too many drama’s at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. We could talk about the scenarios of United falling behind Benfica if they don’t win and the Portuguese do, but it is highly unlikely that we are going to be faced with that situation.

Manchester United v Otelul Galati Champions League Betting Odds
Man Utd to win: 1/10 at Totesport
Draw: 9/1 at Bet365
Otelul Galati to win: 28/1 at SportingBet

BetFred are running a betting promotion for Man Utd v Otelul Galati, offering you that chance at some lost stake refunds. If Otelul Galati score two goals or more against Manchester United on Wednesday, and let’s no forget how leaky their defence has been lately, then BetFred will pay out lost stake refunds on First Goalscorer, Last Goalscorer, Correct Score and Scorecast markets. So there is a bit of coverage to take from the bookie if you want to go fishing in those markets, where for example, Wayne Rooney is 9/4 favourite to open the scoring in the First Goalscorer Market. Online bookmaker BetFred offer a free £50 bet for new customers registering an account with them. The bookie will match the value of your first bet, with a free bet up to the maximum value of £50, giving you some good free cash to work with!