Football Bet of the Day: Entertainers Bayer to serve up another treat

Bayer coach Roger Schmidt likes his team to attack

Kevin Hatchard dips his toe into the hallowed waters of the Champions League this evening, and expects goals between Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen.

Monaco v Bayer Leverkusen
Tuesday 16th September, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports Interactive

So we were right about Sonderjyske being too short to beat Hobro at 2.26/5, but sadly a 1-1 draw stopped us making profit from that conclusion, as we plumped for Draw No Bet. A push to start the week, and we go again.

Today's selection is a bit more high-profile than usual, and I have to get something out of the way early.

THE CHAAAAAAAMPIONNNNNNS! BA-BA-BA-BAAAAAH!

Right, now that's done, let's focus on Monaco against Bayer Leverkusen, as the Champions League group stage begins. Monaco must surely be regretting booting out Italian tinkerer extraordinaire Claudio Ranieri in favour of Portuguese coach Leonardo Jardim, as the latter has had a nightmarish start to the campaign. Les Rouges et Blancs are second from bottom in the Ligue 1 standings after losing three of their first five games. Star players James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao have flown the coup, and established names like Joao Moutinho and Ricardo Carvalho have been well below par.

Conversely, Bayer Leverkusen have made a storming start to the season. Die Werkself are top of the Bundesliga after three games, although their Harlem Globetrotters approach to defending saw them held 3-3 at home by Werder Bremen last Friday. New coach Roger Schmidt has made good on his promise to play attacking football, and Bayer have smashed in 22 goals in six matches.

Schmidt has a dazzling array of attacking talent at his disposal. Targetman Stefan Kiessling has been a regular source of goals for years, and he's getting excellent support from Heung-Min Son, Hakan Calhanoglu and Karim Bellarabi. It says a lot that Josip Drmic, who scored 17 Bundesliga goals for Nurnberg last season, can't even get into the side.

Bayer are 2.285/4 favourites to win the match, and that's tempting given Monaco's rotten displays, but I'm going for Over 2.5 Goals at a generous 1.9420/21. That bet has paid out in five of Bayer's six matches, and it's worth considering that Monaco have scored at least once in all five of their games so far, but have kept just one clean sheet.

Recommended Bet

Back Over 2.5 Goals at 1.9420/21

2014 P/L (1pt per bet)

Points Staked: 22

Points Returned: 21.12

P/L: -0.88 points