Chelsea are already assured of a place in the Europa League knockout stage but should still be fired up enough to see off PAOK Salonika at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have registered four straight workmanlike wins in Group L, scoring six times and conceding only once in those fixtures.
There is everything still to play for in Group G of the Europa League and we’re expecting a hard-fought encounter between Rangers and Villarreal at Ibrox. It was 2-2 when these teams met in Spain on Matchday 1 and they may again be impossible to split in the penultimate round of fixtures.
Rosenborg and Celtic are familiar foes and pretty evenly-matched on five past meetings in 16 months, but the Hoops should be hungrier for success this time. They are bang in contention to qualify from Group B of the Europa League, whereas their hosts are all but out after four straight defeats.
Liverpool have struggled on the road in the Champions League this season but we’re backing them to pick up a crucial point when visiting PSG. In an incredibly tight Group C, the Reds have six points alongside Napoli, with their next opponents a point back in third and waiting to pounce.
Brentford took a while to get over the departure of Dean Smith but now entertain Middlesbrough after showing much more promise of late. The Bees beat Millwall in their last Championship home game and have also impressed in defeat a couple of times on the road recently.
West Brom emerged from a mini slump in emphatic fashion when beating Leeds 4-1 and are fancied to follow up with another victory at Ipswich. The Tractor Boys have shown some encouraging signs since the arrival of Paul Lambert but this is a tough test for the Championship basement dwellers.
Brazil have rattled off five straight international friendly wins since the World Cup and are expected to extend that sequence by beating Cameroon in Milton Keynes. The Selecao did not concede a goal in any of those victories and another clean-sheet triumph looks on the cards.
Scotland are still in the hunt to secure promotion in the Nations League and can enhance their prospects by picking up maximum points in Albania. Alex McLeish’s side have only won one of their last six matches, but that was a 2-0 defeat of this weekend’s opponents at Hampden Park in September.
Brazil have secured four straight friendly victories since the World Cup and are fancied to extend that winning sequence when taking on Uruguay at Emirates Stadium. La Albiceleste seem less determined to do well in such matches, having lost 2-1 in South Korea and 4-3 in Japan last month.
Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have both been struggling to sparkle of late and we’re expecting a tense tussle when they meet in Dublin on Thursday. Each team is facing relegation in the newly-formed Nations League and scoring goals has been a real problem for these Emerald Isle rivals.
Chelsea eased past BATE Borisov 3-1 in a one-sided Europa League clash at Stamford Bridge and are again expected to come out on top in the return fixture in Belarus. However, BATE have scored in their last eight home matches in all competitions and could well register another consolation goal.
Rangers will have been frustrated to only draw with Spartak Moscow at home in the Europa League but a repeat of that result in Russia would be better received. Steven Gerrard’s side looked much the better team at Ibrox, are joint top of Group G and remain unbeaten in 11 games in this competition.
Celtic face an uphill battle to reach the Europa League knockout stages after two away defeats but can edge out RB Leipzig in Glasgow. Both teams made a number of changes when the Hoops went down 2-0 in Germany but Brendan Rodgers is expected to take the return fixture more seriously.
Cristiano Ronaldo enjoyed a winning return to Old Trafford by setting up the only goal as Juventus made it three successive wins in Group H at Manchester United’s expense. United, five points behind Juve at halfway, are now in a battle for second after picking up just one point from two home matches.