Man United are a top priced 8/15 to win their Champions League game against Olympiacos at Old Trafford tonight (7.45pm KO, Live on Sky Sports 1), but in their current form cannot be backed with any confidence to do so.
David Moyes’ men go into the second leg of this tie 2-0 down following a woeful disaply in Greece and were humiliated at the weekend when getting thrashed 3-0 in the league by Liverpool on their own patch.
They now face the daunting task of having to win by three clear goals to progress in a competiton which now offers them their only chance of silverware this season.
Moyes is a manager now under severe pressure, yet he was suprisingly upnbeat in the press conference ahead of this game.
I really don’t understand why, as his team are currently a shambles, lack passion and don’t want to seem to play to his tactics.
The Scot seems to be convincing himself, and nobody else, that his side are not playing that badly.
But when you get players like Wayne Rooney saying that Sunday’s defeat againt Liverpool was one of his “worst days ever” you know that things are far from right at Old Trafford.
As far as the stats are concerned, United should be able to win tonight.
They have won all 11 meetings against Greek opponents while Olympiacos have lost on all 11 occasions they have visited Britain.
United are also three from three at home this in the Champions League so they should, in theory, be able to win this.
Whether they can win by the required margin is another question, although I would dearly love them to prove all the doubters – incouding me – wrong.
The only bet that does appeal to me in this encounter is backing Rooney in the goalscorer markets.
He is a standout 5/1 with Ladbrokes to score first and can be backed at a best of 7/5 with 888sport to net anytime. Both look worth a punt.