Schalke vs Lyon – Lyon do not like progressing as group winners
Published:Lyon have not won their Champions League group in the last three seasons and they will struggle to do so again if they fall to defeat at Schalke.
The German hosts have won both of their Group B home games so far and will jump above Lyon in the standings with a victory, which is available at 11/8.
Lyon also lost in Germany in the Champions League last season, when suffering a 1-0 loss at Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.
In Lyon’s favour is that they defeated Schalke in their opening Group B clash and they are 2/1 to complete the double.
With both teams not wanting to jeopardise their chances of qualification, a tight game may be expected and it is 12/5 that no more than a single goal is scored.
This may be especially true of Lyon, who have qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League in each of the last eight seasons.
In the other Group B encounter, Benfica’s Argentinean double act of Pablo Aimar and Javier Saviola should prove too much for Hapoel Tel Aviv.
The Israeli hosts will have gained some confidence from their draw with Schalke in their last group game, while they also gave as good as they got in their first group meeting with Benfica in Portugal, despite losing 2-0.
However, Benfica should have too much going forward and are 8/13 to beat Hapoel again and leave the hosts still waiting for their first ever Champions League success.
The first goalscorer market could offer better value and with Aimar pulling the strings, Saviola looks a big price to break the deadlock at 11/2.
Meanwhile, Oscar Cardozo scored in the first clash with Hapoel and is 9/2 to strike first against them this time.
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