UEFA Champions League: Lille v Trabzonspor Odds and Betting Preview

LILLE, FRANCE - Despite sitting third in Group B before tonight’s kick-off, Lille are the favourites to qualify to the knock-out stages along with Inter Milan, but Rudi Garcia’s side will know full-well that any other result bar a home win against Trabzonspor will see them eliminated from the competition, and possibly even from the Europa League.

Nevertheless, Lille are strongly-fancied by the bookmakers to coast to a win against the Turkish outfit, having grabbed a 1-1 draw in Trabzon back in September. A home win is priced-up at 1/2 with Boylesports, Paddy Power and William Hill, which means that for every £20 that punters put on a Lille win, they stand to make £10 profit on their stake. A draw is priced-up at 10/3 with Coral, which would put both sides at risk to CSKA Moscow, whilst a famous win for Trabzonspor would secure their place in the last 16 at odds of 7/1 with bet365.

French champions Lille looked dead and buried as far as the Champions League was concerned, that was until they upset the odds to grab a much-needed success in Russia. That win now means they have matters back in their own hands, and probably have the easiest fixture of all six tonight, at least on paper anyway. They warmed up for the clash with a battling 3-2 win in Corsica over Ajaccio at the weekend, and in the process they also rested star players Eden Hazard and Moussa Sow for the first half. Les Dogues managed to beat Fenerbahce 2-1 the last time a team from Turkey came to town, which was in last year’s Europa League.

Trabzonspor are in the ideal position going into match, and their fans sense that they are on the verge of history as their ticket allocation was sold within four hours. If they can qualify at odds of 9/4 with bet365 and relive memories of their famous win at Inter Milan at the start of the group stage, it would be a massive result for Slovakian striker Róbert Vittek, who injured his cruciate ligament at the start of the season so had to be ruled out of the entire group stage. The former Lille striker will no doubt have some words of wisdom for his colleagues ahead of tonight’s clash, but much of the Lille side has changed since his time in Ligue 1. In Vittek’s absence, Turkish hopes will be pinned onto Halil Altıntop.

Despite having only won five of their 11 games at home this season, the favoured scorelines in the correct score market are all wins for Lille. 1-0 and 2-0 are at 11/2 and 6/1 respectively with William Hill, whilst CSKA fans will be cheering on the 1-1, which is at 15/2 with the same firm. 2-1 to Lille is 15/2 with Blue Square, whilst a 3-1 win trades at 12/1 with bet365, who will refund losing correct score bets on the match if it finishes 0-0. Sky Bet are 8/1 from 9/1 on 3-0 to Lille, but an epic 1-0 win for Trabzonspor is out to 16/1 with Irish firm Paddy Power.

In the first goalscorer betting, Moussa Sow leads the way for the home side at 4/1 with Labdrokes, and has a fair record in the competition with three goals from five Champions League appearances. Sow is likely to get the nod over Ireneusz Jeleń, who looks out of sorts at the moment with his new side, but he is still short in the betting at 6/1 with Coral. Belgian sensation Eden Hazard will be targeted by the Turkish midfield, but he remains of interest at the 6/1 mark with Ladbrokes, who are offering 7/1 on Joe Cole. Cole would love to make it through to the knock-out stages and play a British side, and the man who has played in 56 Champions League matches has the requisite experience to help his team-mates tonight. Trabzonspor’s best chance is through Altıntop - a 16/1 shot with bet365.

Finally Lille are 5/4 with Stan James to lead at both half-time and full-time tonight and 300/1 with Blue Square to win the Champions League in Munich next year. Over 2.5 goals is a 10/11 shot with Betfred.

The match kicks-off at 8.45pm local time on Wednesday 7 December, which is 7.45pm in the UK. It is live on Sky Interactive.

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