Football betting tips: Champions League
2pts PSG to win at 19/20 (General)
0.5pt Nuno Mendes to score anytime at 10/1 (Betway)
0.5pt Nuno Mendes 1+ assists at 7/1 (Betway)
0.5pt Marquinhos to score anytime at 16/1 (Betway)
When Chelsea shocked Champions League holders PSG 3-0 to win the Club World Cup final back in July, it was suggested such a statement victory could be just the beginning, could act as some kind of justification for how BlueCo had spent billions in tearing the club apart, could even lead to a new dynasty in west London.
Fast forward eight months and that evening in New Jersey proved to be the zenith for Enzo Maresca and may very well be as good as it gets under Chelsea's egoistic hedgefund manager owners.
Liam Rosenior has done a standup job steading the ship, but the fixture list has been kind in his opening 15 games. There have been only three truly difficult matches: all against Arsenal, all lost.
Had their recent trip to Aston Villa come several weeks ago it would have provided a very different challenge, but Unai Emery's side without first choice central midfield trio Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn and Youri Tielemans are no top quality team.
Rounding up the rest of Rosenior's time in the dugout there have been five meetings with clubs in the Premier League's bottom half - three of whom are in the bottom three - three FA Cup trips to Championship opposition, and Champions League ties with Cypriot minnows Pafos and a struggling Napoli team who had won once in six matches when the teams met.
If you're being fastidious enough to know that takes us to 14 fixtures, then all that's missing is a home win over Brentford that Chelsea were completely outplayed in.
Backing PSG TO WIN at 19/20 - they were 8/13 in the Club World Cup final - is therefore straightforward.
Despite being holders Luis Enrique's men were very unlucky when the league phase draw was made.
They beat Atalanta, Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen and Tottenham, scoring 18 goals in those four matches, and drew with Newcastle and Athletic Club. Defeats at home by Bayern and away to Sporting ultimately sent them into the play-offs, where they knocked out Monaco.
Given PSG's attacking prowess - they're averaging 2.6 goals per game in this season's Champions League - and Chelsea's defensive shortcomings - they've kept only three clean sheets under Rosenior, with two of those against Pafos and Hull - it's also worth backing some ANYTIME GOALSCORERS for the home side.
NUNO MENDES has 10 goal involvements this season (five goals and five assists) and can be backed at 10/1 to find the net, three points bigger than team-mate Achraf Hakimi who has scored the same number of goals.
Hakimi is also markedly shorter than MENDES for 1+ ASSISTS so the Portugual left-back is worth taking at 7/1 in that market too.
Finally PSG captain MARQUINHOS is backed TO SCORE ANYTIME at 16/1 as we look to capitalise on Chelsea's set-piece shortcomings.
The Blues sit top (or bottom) for xG conceded from set-pieces in the Premier League this season, something exploited twice by Arsenal recently as William Saliba scored for the first time in more than a year and Jurrien Timber also found the net.
Marquinhos has been a constant threat in this season's Champions League, scoring twice in eight matches, having seven attempts in total (1.35 xG) all from within 12 yards.
Odds correct at 15:40 GMT (10/3/26)
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