Champions League Picks - 27 September 2011

Rob Alexander hunts out some value from this week's Champions League fixtures

The second match week of the Champions League group stage kicks off this Tuesday with a couple of real standout fixtures in the schedule.

Bayern Munich v Manchester City is the most talked about match on Tuesday, with both sides in excellent form domestically and Manchester City looking to prove themselves in Europe after struggling somewhat in the opening match at home to Napoli.

City's neighbours Manchester United will be confident of gaining their first three points of the Champions League campaign as they take on FC Basel at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.

The other stand out fixture on Tuesday sees two multiple European Cup champions in Ajax and Real Madrid take each other on at the Santiago Bernabeu. Real Madrid are clearly the superior side but will still face a tough challenge from the Dutch side.

Wednesday evening sees the two London clubs in action as Arsenal host Olympiakos and Chelsea travel to Valencia, with Juan Mata making a quick return to his former club.

FC Barcelona make the long journey to Belarus to play FC BATE Borisov in what promises to be a difficult encounter for the current Champions League holders.

Two Champions League winners from the 90's meet in the south of France as Olympique Marseille (winner in 1993, then the European Cup) play Borussia Dortmund (1997 winners) in a very important Group F match.

Tuesday Pick

Trabzonspor v Lille OSC

Trabzonspor shocked Inter Milan at the San Siro by picking up a 1-0 win thanks to Ondrej Celutska's 76th minute goal.

The Turkish side have a chance to prove that result wasn't a fluke as they take on French champions Lille at Huyseni Avni Aker Stadium. Lille gave away a 2-0 lead at home to CSKA Moscow two weeks ago to finish the match with just one point.

Lille are slight favourites to win the match and I think there could be some value to be had in the Asian Handicap market.

I think Lille are worth backing with a smallish handicap as Trabzonspor played a dismal, out of form Inter Milan side and are almost certainly in a false position at the top of Group B.

Lille's overall quality and determination to make up for their woeful last 15 minutes against CSKA and the chance to go top of the group finds me moving into their corner.

Bet 2 points on Lille -0.75 at 3.0 with bet365.

Wednesday Pick

Bayer Leverkusen v Racing Genk

Bayer Leverkusen will still be smarting after their 3-0 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich at the weekend. They have a chance to redeem themselves against a solid if unspectacular Racing Genk side, who held Valencia to a 0-0 draw in their opener.

Leverkusen will feel they need to win the match to have a good chance of qualifying for the next round as they are unlikely to pick up many points on the road in Group E.

Racing Genk will be hopeful of snatching a point in this match after their draw at home to Valencia proved they are not completely out of their depth in the Champions League.

I think backing Racing Genk at odds against with a decent headstart could be the value bet in this encounter. The way they set up will be to hit Bayer Leverkusen on the counter attack and protect their goal at all costs.

Leverkusen did create chances at Stamford Bridge last time out but have hardly set the world alight in the Bundesliga this season, with just seven goals from their opening seven games (two in three at home) Bayer Leverkusen are finding it tough to hit the back of the net.

Bet 3 points on Racing Genk +1.25 at 2.17 with Victor Chandler