Champions League: Game Week 3 – Copybet
It’s Game Week 3 of the Champions League with plenty of top games to look forward to across Tuesday and Wednesday.
Premier League sides Arsenal, Newcastle, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea are all in action, while Barcelona and defending champions Paris Saint-Germain are among the other big guns aiming for important victories as the league phase continues.
We have a trio of selections for this week’s matches.
Barcelona vs Olympiakos
Barcelona host Olympiakos on Tuesday night in a game that looks set to be full of goals.
Barca began their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win over Newcastle before suffering a 2-1 loss to PSG and ten of their 11 games this season have featured over 2.5 goals.
In total, there have been 40 goals in Barcelona's 11 matches, averaging 3.63 per game.
Hansi Flick’s men are clearly superior to Olympiakos, but the Greeks showed they do carry some threat when playing with credit in a 2-0 loss to Arsenal on matchday two and they may be able to contribute to a high-scoring contest.
Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid
Another set-piece goal saw Arsenal down Fulham 1-0 on Saturday, but it’s worth noting that the Gunners had a strike ruled out and a penalty award overturned by VAR.
Mikel Arteta’s side will be expected to cause Atletico Madrid’s defence plenty of problems and Eberechi Eze could provide the guile the Gunners need in the final third.
The former Crystal Palace star opened his Arsenal account in the League Cup tie at Port Vale last month and Eze was on target for England in the international break.
The 27-year-old is likely to get a run of starts in the Arsenal side with Martin Odegaard injured and he might be the man to provide the breakthrough against an Atletico defence which has shipped nine goals in their last seven matches.
Newcastle United vs Benfica
Benfica head to Newcastle on Tuesday night, and while a home St James’ Park crowd will be expecting three points, they could be silenced by the Eagles.
It’s only four wins in 11 in all competitions for the Magpies this season and Eddie Howe’s men were second best when losing 2-1 to Brighton in the Premier League at the weekend.
Newcastle registered only three shots on target in the defeat on the south coast and the Toon Army do look a little short of attacking quality following Alexander Isak’s departure to Liverpool.
Benfica lost 1-0 at Chelsea in their most recent Champions League contest, but Jose Mourinho’s men spurned numerous good opportunities to take the lead in that tie and were unfortunate to not get at least a draw.
The level of Benfica’s performance at Stamford Bridge suggests that they can be very competitive against Newcastle and look good value to claim an eye-catching away win.