Champions League: Hernandez can fire Man Utd into knockouts
Published:Despite getting off to a less than brilliant start to their Champions League campaign, Manchester United head into their fifth Group C game knowing a win would guarantee them progression to the knockout stages.
They face Benfica at Old Trafford this Wednesday and are big 4/9 favourites to overcome the Portuguese and, based on their recent form, it’s easy to see why.
Following their 6-1 hammering against Manchester City, United have won all five of their games and have not conceded a single goal in any of those clashes
They have played Benfica four times on English soil in their history and have won all the encounters.
With United losing just twice at home in the Champions League since 2005, it’s hard to see beyond a win for the home team – backing United to win to nil looks tempting at 5/4 considering their vastly improved defensive record.
Meanwhile, backing Javier Hernandez – who has scored two in his last three starts – to find the net first is worth a look at 10/3.
The other game in Group C sees Basel travel to Otelul Galati, with the hosts yet to pick up a point in the Champions League.
Basel are the 5/6 favourites and look well worth backing with the Swiss team losing just one of their previous 16 games in all competitions.
They defeated Otelul Galati 2-1 in their first game in this season’s competition and another win for the Swiss by the same score can be backed at 7/1.
However, a more intriguing bet may be to back under 2.5 goals at 10/11 – Otelul Galati have shipped just two goals in their previous four games and both of those came against Man Utd.
