Champions League Football: Tuesday

Celtic take on Manchester United at Celtic Park in the pick of Tuesday's Champions League games (live on ITV1 at 7:45pm). They both lost last time out in Europe with Celtic taking a 3-0 beating away to Benfica whilst Manchester were complacent against Copenhagen in Denmark and consequently suffered a narrow defeat, which they wouldn't have been expecting. Both sides will be looking for improved results and performances this week and both could do with the points in order to further cement their positions in their group. Man Utd only need a point to guarantee their progression through to the next stage and Celtic can qualify themselves if they win and the other game in group F ends in a stalemate.

The home side should welcome the return of striker Kenny Miller who is now fully fit and defender Bobo Balde, who could replace Gary Caldwell at the back to make just his third appearance of the season against the English Premiership leaders. Manchester Utd have no injury worries ahead of this tie as Gabriel Heinze is now available which means manager Alex Ferguson has an embarrassment of riches to chose from in this potentially thrilling encounter.

Although Celtic are 15 points clear at the top of the SPL and their domestic form is fantastic, their form in Europe is something of a mixed bag. They are poor away from home, but on home turf they are a totally different prospect; they have won eight out of their last eleven games and in their six previous home games against an English opposition they have won three times and lost only once so this will be a tough one to call. The bookies have Manchester United as the narrow favourites at very reasonable odds against (11/10 with UK Betting and Total Bet). Celtic, despite being the home side are the slight underdogs at a best available 16/5 with expect.com – good value considering most firms are offering between 5/2 and 3/1. The draw is likely and should be backed with Ladbrokes as they offer the best price at 9/4.

As previously mentioned Kenny Miler returns for The Bhoys so he could be worth a punt for the first goal. He has scored more times in Europe than he has in the league and all of his European goals have come at home – he is 8/1 with Bluesq and Stan James for the first goal and 100/30 with extrabet to score at any time in the game. Louis Saha and Wayne Rooney lead the betting market overall for first scorer, they are both priced at 6/1 with expect.com whereas twinkle toes Christiano Ronaldo is priced at a reasonable 9/1 with Bluesq.

Arsenal who currently lie in second place in group G host the bottom club Hamburg at the Emirates Stadium in a game that they should comfortably win. They will be without William Gallas though who has picked up a thigh strain, which means an opportunity has arisen for Philippe Senderos or Johan Djourou to deputise. Freddie Ljungberg and Gilberto are also both back available for selection for this game.

The top three sides in this group are divided by just a point so a win here should elevate the Gunners into a powerful position to qualify from this group. Arsenal have good form against German sides; they have lost just once in the nine occasions they have hosted German opposition and in their last four home games against German opposition they have won all four. However, Arsenal haven't scored in their last two Champions League games so its possible that Hamburg may be given some sort of chance in this game but they will have to at their very best if they are to get anything from this fixture. Their very best has been somewhat lacking of late though as they have only managed two wins in total this season and have only won once in their last 21 matches – a pitiful run of form. Arsenal also easily beat Hamburg in their opening Champions League fixture this season in the Hamburg Arena; - yet another bad sign for the German side.

Understandably, the betting for this game is very one-sided and heavily weighted towards Arsenal as they are the huge 2/9 favourites with bet direct and Sky Bet. Hamburg are given very little chance by the bookies; they are priced at a best available 14/1 with extrabet and UK Betting, whereas the draw is long odds at 5/1 with Bet365. The game will be shown live on ITV4 so why not have a stab at some of the in-running markets available on many sites including bet365 and Betfair. There are also some interesting first goal scorer markets with many firms; Betfred are offering a fairly generous 3/1 on Thierry Henry to bag the opener with his Dutch strike partner Robin van Persie having shaken off a weekend injury not too far behind in the betting at 9/2 with Ladbrokes. Young English star Theo Walcott may get a chance in this fixture so he may be worth a punt at 9/1 with extrabet. If you fancy there to be an early upset then Boubacar Sanogo is Hamburg's best chance of opening the scoring – he can be backed at 16/1 with Ladbrokes and extra bet.

Below is a full list of Tuesday night's fixtures along with the kick-off times and best available prices in brackets.

AEK Athens (39/11) v AC Milan (1/1) Draw (9/4) 19:45
Arsenal (2/9) v Hamburg (14/1) Draw (5/1) 19:45
Benfica (8/15) v FC Copenhagen (27/4) Draw (16/5) 19:45
CSKA Moscow (11/10) v FC Porto (13/4) Draw (9/4) 17:30
Celtic (16/5) v Man Utd (11/10) Draw (9/4) 19:45
Lille (8/13) v Anderlecht (23/4) Draw (14/5) 19:45
Real Madrid (11/10) v Lyon (14/5) Draw (9/4) 19:45
Steaua Bucuresti (11/13) v Dynamo Kiev (39/11) Draw (12/5) 19:45

Good luck with your selections!

Ed note: You'll collect a free £100 bet bonus when you open a new account at Bet365

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