Champions League returns this week, with eight matches taking center stage on Tuesday's thrilling slate.
Soccer analysts Anthony Dabbundo, Avery Zimmerman and Brett Pund unveil their best bets on the docket, with their wagers coming in games featuring Dynamo Kyiv vs. Bayern Munich, Young Boys vs. Atalanta and Lille vs. RB Salzburg.
Check out below how our handicappers are playing these matches below and what kind of betting value they've found in these matchups.
Dynamo Kyiv vs. Bayern Munich
| Dynamo Kyiv Odds | +1000 |
| Bayern Munich Odds | -400 |
| Draw | +550 |
| Over/Under | 3.5 (+115 / -135) |
| Day | Time | Tuesday | 12:45 p.m. ET |
| How To Watch | Paramount+ |
| Odds via DraftKings. Get up-to-the-minute Soccer odds here | |
Avery Zimmerman: Althought Bayern Munich has already all but assured its spot as a seeded Champions League team in the Round of 16, it's still in a place of value when it travels to Ukraine for a battle with Dynamo Kyiv.
The German side has been in this position before, and it has shown that it's willing to intensely contest games despite the circumstances. In Bayern's last two appearances in the group stage, it has won three and drawn one of its final two games each year despite being in similar positions.
The Bavarians have also just been an incredibly impressive team in this iteration of the UCL as well. It has the second-highest away xG total across the competition and sits in the top five for road xGA, in addition to Bayern's home domination.
On the other hand, Dynamon Kyiv has done quite the opposite. It's in the middle of the pack when it comes to home xGA, but is sixth worst in xG on home soil. The side doesn't have much to break down Bayern to any extent.
Back the group's leader to continue on its commanding performances.
Zimmerman's Pick: Bayern Munich -1.5 (-130)
Young Boys vs. Atalanta
| Young Boys Odds | +320 |
| Atalanta Odds | -130 |
| Draw | +320 |
| Over/Under | 3.5 (+140 / -165) |
| Day | Time | Tuesday | 3 p.m. ET |
| How To Watch | Paramount+ |
| Odds via DraftKings. Get up-to-the-minute Soccer odds here. | |
Anthony Dabbundo: It's easy to look at an Atalanta road match against Young Boys and immediately think goals. La Dea won, 5-2, this past weekend at home against Spezia. They're notorious for their goal scoring at all costs approach. Young Boys have done well in attack in their two games at home in the UCL thus far as well.
That said, the first leg played between these sides in Bergamo is more what I'm expecting when the sides run it back Tuesday. Atalanta struggled to really generate much of anything going forward until the final 10 to 15 minutes of their 1-0 win at home. They finished the game with 2.1 xG, but almost all of it came toward the end when Young Boys tried to chase the result.
Despite his reputation as an attack-first and at-all-costs manager, Gian Piero Gasperini was quite pragmatic at the business end of the UCL group stage last season when his side earned a 1-0 win against Ajax. Young Boys are a better side at home, but they had almost no chances against Manchester United (prior to the red card) or against Atalanta in the first meeting.
In the aggregate, Atalanta's attack is down considerably from last season and I don't see them getting the easy margin required for this game to go over the three goals. I only have 2.91 projected goals, with my colleague, BJ Cunningham, only projecting 2.81 goals in this game.
Dabbundo's Pick: Total Under 3 Goals (-105)
Lille vs. RB Salzburg
| Lille Odds | +150 |
| RB Salzburg Odds | +190 |
| Draw | +230 |
| Over/Under | 2.5 (-130 / +105) |
| Day | Time | Tuesday | 12:45 p.m. ET |
| How To Watch | Paramount+ |
| Odds via DraftKings. Get up-to-the-minute Soccer odds here | |
Brett Pund: Group G leader RB Salzburg travels to France to take on second-place Lille in a match that should feature goals.
In the first match, the Austrian champion secured a 2-1 home victory and I think the total over 2.5 goals at -120 odds will cash again in the rematch.
Let’s start with analyzing the UCL matches involving Salzburg, which has averaged a combined 3.13 xG per game, according to fbref.com, and three of four matches have reached at least three goals. This is also a club that has played over this total in six of its last nine in all competitions.
If you look at Lille's last five fixtures across all competitions, the contests have finished with a combined 3.16 xG and the same bet cashed in three of them. In the Ligue 1 side's 8 matches overall, the total cleared 2.5 goals in 10 games.
This will be a very important game that decides who makes the surprising appearance in the knockout stage, and I’m expecting goals to continue here.
Pund's Pick: Total Over 2.5 Goals (-120)
