CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BETTING PICK - PARIS ST GERMAIN V DYNAMO KIEV

Champions League

2012-09-18 - Paris St Germain vs Dynamo Kiev

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Paris St Germain v Dynamo Kiev
Football: European Champions League
Tuesday 18 September 2012 - Kick Off 7:45pm
This game is live on TV

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Paris St Germain

Everyone knows who Paris St Germain are these days after the club continued their massive spending spree that almost saw them land the French Ligue 1 title last season. They may have missed out in the end, but that hasn't stopped them buying some more big name players in preparation for their first Champions League season since 2004.

They have opened up their domestic campaign by picking up 9 points from their opening five League games and have won their last 2 League games after starting the season with 3 straight draws. Dinamo Zagreb, Porto and Dynamo Kiev join PSG in the Group for the Champions League so the French Runners-Up are expected to be one of the teams progressing to the last 16.

PSG have only lost 1 of their last 16 home games in all competitions and that includes a 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League last season. In fact, Paris won all 4 of their Europa League games at home last season and they are 7-3-0 here over the last two seasons in European competition.

Dynamo Kiev

Dynamo Kiev are one of the more familiar names when it comes to participation in the Champions League, although they had to come through a difficult route in the qualifiers to reach the Group Stage this time around.

The team had to beat Feyenoord and Borussia Moechengladbach in consecutive rounds to reach the Group Stage and they have to be given credit for winning 3 of those games, including both away from home, although they did lose 1-2 to Moechengladbach. Dynamo are currently 3rd in the Ukrainian top flight, and trail Shakhtar Donetsk by 6 points after 9 games.

They have lost 2 of their last 3 games away from home, both in the League, although prior to that run they had won 7 of 9 away games in all competitions and only lost 1 of those games. Dynamo Kiev have won both away games in the Champions League this season, but had lost their previous 2 games in the qualifying stage. They also participated in the Europa League last season and went 2-2-0 in their away games.

Head to Head

This will be the fifth meeting between the clubs in European competition, the last of those coming in the 2009 Europa League Quarter Final.

On that occasion, Dynamo Kiev managed a 0-0 draw in Paris before winning 3-0 at home to progress to the last four.

Their only other visit to the Capital of France saw them lose 1-0 to PSG in the 1995 Champions League at the Group Stage.

Prediction

There looks to be a huge over-reaction to the spending of Paris St Germain this Summer as they look plenty short to win this game against seasoned campaigners Dynamo Kiev.

The Ukrainian side have never made it easy for teams, even on their travels, so I would be a little nervous taking PSG at short odds to open the Group with a win, especially considering their lack of experience at this level of European competition.

In saying that, I do expect Paris to win the game although it will be a battle for them. I am expecting Dynamo Kiev to score at least once after seeing their counter-attacking prowess in their 1-3 win at Borussia Moechengladbach in the final qualifying round for the Group Stage.

With that in mind, I am going to take the 2.87 being offered by Ladbrokes that Paris St Germain win this game and at least 3 goals will be scored in the match.

I wouldn't go overboard on the money you throw at that, but it looks a more productive way of backing the home side as I do think they will need at least 2 goals to win the game. I am going with my belief that Dynamo will score at least once in the game and the price is much more appealing than the sub 1.70 being offered on the home win.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :

I'll back Paris St Germain to win and at least 3 goals scored (Quatro) @ 2.87 (Ladbrokes)

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