UEFA Cup
2008-05-01 - Zenit St Petersburg vs Bayern Munich
A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser
Analysis:The tie is delicately in the balance after it ended 1-1 in the first leg but Bayern Munich will still start as the favourites here, but the home side Zenit St. Petersburg will hope that their uneven and worn out pitch can tip the tie into their favour and get them the result to progress to the Final to meet either Fiorentina or Rangers.
Zenit coach Dick Advocaat went on record to state that the home side will have a slight advantage as Bayern could be unsettled playing on a rough uneven pitch at the Petrovsky Stadium. The Dutch coach was quoted as saying that they are more used to playing and will adapt more quickly than their Gemran counterparts.
Their pitch has been in a terrible poor state that since the start of the Russian season in March that league officials considered banning the stadium for domestic matches. However, after stadium officials promised major repairs in the near future, they were allowed to play in their own stadium this season.
The Russian Champions can be said to be fortunate to get the draw after Bayern’s Brazil defender Lucio scored an own goal giving Zenit a real chance to advance on aggregate now.
The home side will miss the services of Russia’s Andrei Arshavin, Czech winger Radek Sirl and Dutch midfielder Fernando Ricksen after they picked up yellow cards to miss this match. Crucially the absence of Arshavin, voted Russia’s best player last year will be most felt here tonight. Also Russia defender Alexander Anyukov is in a race to get fit after a foot injury kept him out of the first-leg.
As for Bayern Munich, they are a step closer to winning the Bundesliga after their 4-1 win over champions VfB Stuttgart on Sunday and are almost assured of winning the title now have focused immediately on Zenit now.
The visitors have been boosted with the return of Italian International striker Luca Toni after he served his suspension. He is the competition's top scorer with 10 goals and also tops the Bundesliga scoring charts with 21 goals.
Bayern Munich rested Club captain Oliver Kahn and defender Philipp Lahm against Stuttgart but they are back now which means they are at full strength now.
Take Bayern Munich to win this match by a one goal margin.
Cheers and good luck,
Cruiser
The Pick :
Bayern Munich to win 1-0
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take Bayern Munich to win here.
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take Bayern Munich and give the 1/2 ball away here.
