LYON v BARCELONA
Champions League
Tuesday 19th February 2019
Kickoff: 2000hrs
Pick: Lyon AH+1
Bookmaker: Marathonbet
Odds: 1.71 (odds taken at 12:21 GMT, 18 Feb 2019)
The other first leg of the round of 16 in the Champions League being played on Tuesday night sees French club Lyon taking on Barcelona as the betting tips continue at the Groupama Stadium with the hosts looking for a seventh win in eight matches in all competitions.
Champions League Betting at Marathonbet
Lyon Prediction
Lyon head into this important first leg encounter with home advantage behind them and the hosts are in pretty good nick as they’ve won six of their last seven matches in all competitions, with their one defeat during this period being a 1-0 defeat away at Nice in Ligue 1.
Home form has been generally steady as Lyon have lost just twice in their last 14 matches in all competitions on home turf, while in the Champions League they finished runners-up in the group stage to winners Manchester City in Group F, remaining unbeaten throughout the group stages.
Lyon took four points off Manchester City during the group matches with a 2-1 win away at the Etihad Stadium along with a point in a 2-2 draw against the favourites in the competition, and with the remaining five matches ending in draws, Lyon have proven themselves a hard team to beat at this level.
They’ve also drawn their last four Champions League ties at home on the trot as well, so it’s worth keeping the draw on-side here. Forward Fekir (8 goals) is missing but the likes of Dembele (7 goals), Traore (6 goals) and Depay (5 goals) should keep the hosts in the game tonight.
- Lyon have won 6 of their last 7 matches in all competitions
- Lyon remained unbeaten throughout the group stage with 1 win and 5 draws
- Barcelona have won just 3 of their last 10 away matches in the Champions League
Barcelona Prediction
Barcelona are unbeaten in their last six matches in all competitions which includes a 6-1 thrashing of Sevilla in the Copa del Rey but it’s on with the serious business of the knockout stages of the Champions League with a tough first leg trip away in France on Tuesday night.
The visitors finished top of Group B in a four-team group that consisted of runners-up Tottenham, 3rd placed Inter Milan and bottom team PSV, with Barcelona also remaining unbeaten in the group campaign with almost identical home and away records of two wins and a draw.
Away from their Camp Nou ground though, Barcelona haven’t been the dominant force that we’ve grown accustomed to over the past few years as the Spanish giants have managed to record just three wins from their last 10 away trips in the competition.
Those wins were at Sporting CP 1-0, Tottenham 4-2 and PSV 2-1, beating the -1 asian handicap line just once in these 10 matches. They’ve also drawn four and lost three, so even if Barcelona manage to win tonight, it seems unlikely they’ll win by 2 goals or more.
Betting Tips Verdict
Lyon are a decent side at home and have already given Manchester City a run for their money, while Barcelona are yet to really convince away from home in this season’s Champions League to date.
