Champions League Tips: Sporting Lisbon to aid Chelsea

Nani has scored two Champions League goals this season

Michael Lintorn expects Sporting Lisbon to give Chelsea a chance to extend their Group G lead by beating Schalke...

(All games are on Wednesday at 19:45 on Sky Sports Red Button)

Ajax v Barcelona

Match Odds: Ajax 9.08/1, Barcelona 1.412/5, The Draw 5.59/2

There are many reasons to believe that Barcelona are an attractive outright lay at 1.422/5: they have lost their last two games, they have won just once in four away matches, their prior two Champions League road trips ended in defeat and they were also beaten by Ajax in Amsterdam last November.

However, even more enticingly, it is possible to lay Barcelona with a -1 handicap at the odds-on price of 1.9620/21, meaning that the sole way that you can lose is if Luis Enrique's men prevail by two goals or more - something that has happened in only one of their previous nine trips abroad.

Recommended Bet: Lay Barcelona (-1) to win @ 1.9620/21

Bayern Munich v Roma

Match Odds: Bayern Munich 1.261/4, Roma 14.013/1, The Draw 7.06/1

You might find it difficult to buy into but Roma actually achieved something in the process of getting hammered 1-7 by Bayern Munich at the Stadio Olimpico 15 days ago: they halted the 2012/13 winners' eight-fixture clean-sheet streak.

Sure, they probably would have preferred not to have done it when trailing 0-5, though it at least had the impact of shaking Bayern's defensive confidence a bit. Pep Guardiola's side conceded in two of their three outings since, against Bundesliga relegation battlers Hamburg and Borussia Dortmund (heh).

Roma have fired one blank in their past ten Champions League encounters and have netted in all three to date this season, including away to Man City.

Recommended Bet: Back both teams to score @ 1.9620/21

Sporting Lisbon v Schalke

Match Odds: Sporting Lisbon 2.01/1, Schalke 4.216/5, The Draw 3.711/4

Sporting Lisbon might have lost in Gelsenkirchen two weeks ago, yet it was a hell of an effort as they charged back from 1-3 to 3-3 with ten men, only to be denied by a contentious 90th-minute penalty.

They unsuccessfully asked UEFA for a replay, and the sense of injustice should act as fuel in the return clash. A one-goal win in which they leak twice or fewer will afford them head-to-head supremacy over the German club, albeit with a further point deficit still to recover.

Schalke's travelling record is dismal this term, with five defeats suffered in seven games - one of them to third-tier Dynamo Dresden - and their one victory arriving at Bundesliga bottom team Werder Bremen.

Recommended Bet: Back Sporting Lisbon to win @ 2.01/1