Football betting tips: Champions League
1.5pts Ibrahim Mbaye 1+ assists at 27/10 (William Hill)
Aston Villa appear to have seen a repeat of their previous campaign in the opening exchanges of this season. A poor league start delivered no win in four but they're now unbeaten in three, with two of those being victories.
Focus on European competition and they've won both league phase contests. A home meeting with Norwegian outfit Viking will be viewed as a must-win in their quest for a top eight finish.
They did upset the odds by securing a 3-3 draw against Bayern Munich last time out - a game in which they held a 2-0 lead at one stage - but it must be noted that was played on the artificial surface in Stavanger and as Bodo/Glimt have shown multiple times, these aren't necessarily easy places to go to.
The away trip to Stuttgart ended in a 3-1 defeat and the 1/4 price on a home victory here suggests an even bigger scoreline incoming. Villa netting at least three is only 4/6 which is understandable given a clear gulf in quality between the sides.
That's not necessarily the worst selection to include in any Wednesday night accumulators. Only PSG (10) have netted more than Villa's nine across the opening two games and there's little to suggest this Viking defence will be able to keep them out given the displays against the pair of Bundesliga sides they've faced so far.
Even with some expected Villa changes, although there is some value by trying to work out who could be featuring for the hosts.
The player I am going to focus on is IBRAHIM MBAYE. The winger is yet to start in the Premier League but played 79 minutes of their 6-0 thrashing of Fenerbahce at Villa Park.
There's a best price of 27/10 for 1+ ASSISTS which is well worth taking, as is anything sitting at around 2/1 and above given he's shown more threat in terms of creating that taking shots himself.
That's not to say his shots count has been low but it's providing for others which has proven to be a greater strength - based on his showings so far anyway.
Mbaye returned an assist in their last European contest and that came from four chances created. He also secured one in their Carabao Cup victory over Coventry where, again, he created four chances.
Three of his four Premier League outings have seen a chance created and the game which didn't was the victory over Tottenham where he came on as an 84th minute substitute.
Despite having a mix of starts and sub appearances for PSG, Mbaye averaged 1.81 chances created per Ligue 1 outing last season. Given the level of opposition on Wednesday night, we should expect a start.
In a game which should be a comfortable home victory, there's a much bigger appeal in taking Mbaye to continue his creative streak.
Odds correct at 11:15 BST (20/10/26)
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