Wednesday’s 3/1 Champions League Accumulator Tips

Real Sociedad will welcome Austrian outfit RB Salzburg to the Reale Arena as these two sides face off in this Group D clash.

Real Sociedad have already qualified for the knockout round of this year’s competition following their 3-1 victory over Benfica on matchday four. The Spanish side are unbeaten in the group having amassed 10 points from their four games and will be joined by Inter Milan in the last 16 as they sit first and second respectively. Imanol Alguacil’s outfit are incredibly strong on home soil having only lost twice here in the entirety of 2023, one of which was a slender 1-0 defeat to Barcelona where they conceded with the last kick of the game.

Despite having already progressed, the home side will want to qualify as group winners so will be fired up to collect all three points here, before heading to Italy to take on Inter Milan in a couple of weeks. Attacking forwards Mikel Oyarzabal and Takefusa Kubo have been in excellent form of late and will provide problems for any defence in the latter stages of the competition, let alone the visitors in this one.

RB Salzburg arrive here with their fate already sealed, but they will, however, want to continue a European adventure in the Europa League by finishing above disappointing Benfica. Therefore, Gerhard Struber is likely to set his team up to have a real go here, as it’s almost a free swing before they are likely to go head to head with the Portuguese side in the last group game. That could certainly leave them open to the counter-attack and a strong defensive display is needed against the quick and agile attacking threat of the hosts.

The away side are top of the Austrian Bundesliga, but with respect, a trip to an in-form Spanish side represents an altogether more difficult challenge than they typically face domestically and they’ll have to significantly raise their standards if they are to upset the odds here, especially as they were soundly beaten in the reverse fixture with home advantage. Karim Konate is the danger man, but will need support if RB Salzburg are to prevail.

Real Sociedad should have more than enough to collect all three points in this one, especially after how the reverse fixture played out. A home win is the strong fancy.

The Estadio Santiago Bernabèu will play host to this eagerly anticipated Group C match between Real Madrid and Napoli.

The hosts comfortably secured their safe passage to the knockout stages with a routine 3-0 victory over Braga, and they’ll certainly believe a 15th Champions League title is a real possibility this year. As a result, Carlo Ancelotti may opt to rest some of his key players for this tie, which could provide an opportunity for some of the squad to come into the fold and make an impression. Despite losing Karim Benzema during the summer, Los Blancos have remained lethal in the final third, helped in part by how quickly Jude Bellingham has settled into life in the Spanish capital.

The home side have scored 31 goals in their 14 La Liga games this season and have scored 9 in their European campaign, and we can expect more of the same here against a Napoli side that have been low on confidence of late, especially defensively. Rodrygo has been scintillating this term, taking on a more senior role at the club and he’s fancied to have a big game up front for the hosts.

Napoli recently parted ways with manager Rudi Garcia after a disappointing start to their season, replacing him with former boss Walter Mazzarri, albeit on a seven-month contract. That change appeared to galvanise the squad as they recorded an impressive 2-1 away win at in-form Atalanta at the weekend, and they’ll be looking to follow that result up here. However, confidence will still be fragile given recent results and last season’s quarter-finalists still have questions to answer in order to qualify from the group.

The visitors are likely to come here looking to be positive and on the front foot as they look to secure the points needed for progression, especially with what could be a pivotal fixture against Braga on matchday six. That could make for a very open and expansive game of football, similar to the one that played out in Naples in the reverse fixture where Real Madrid ran out 3-2 winners in what was a pulsating end-to-end match.

This one should be an explosive encounter, with goals at either end a likely outcome, however, siding with over 2.5 goals is the most sensible selection.

Portuguese side Braga will entertain Union Berlin in Group C as the Estádio Municipal de Braga takes centre stage .

Braga are aiming to progress from the group stage for the first time in their history having failed in their previous two attempts, and they have a great opportunity to do so in what looked an impossible task when the draw was made. Artur Jorge knows that a win here, coupled with Napoli failing to win away against Real Madrid would see his side go head to head in a straight shootout against the Italian club on the final game in a few weeks, albeit away in Naples.

That should provide plenty of motivation for his players, so expect a fast start to this one. The home side have plenty of reasons for optimism having won four of their previous five encounters against German opposition as well as being unbeaten on home soil, having lost just once here in the last five competitive matches. African forward Simon Banza will lead the line, and despite not finding the net in this season’s competition, he does have 10 domestic goals to his name and is sure to be a handful upfront.

After a fairy-tale spell as manager of Union Berlin, Urs Fischer parted company with the club by mutual consent following the 4-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, with Croatian Nenad Bjelica announced as his successor this week. Braga will have to be wary of a new manager bounce, but it will take something extra special for the new man to motivate a side that have lost 13 of their last 15 matches in all competitions.

That run has mainly been down to the lack of firepower and composure in the final third as the visitors have failed to score in six of their last eight games, only managing to find the net twice during that abysmal run of form. If they are to gain anything from the game, they may look to on loan Chelsea frontman David Fofana as he bagged one of their recent goals in the away game against Napoli. However, this one certainly looks like a difficult start to life in the dugout for Bjelica and with Braga fired up, it could be a long evening.

With the home side going all out for the win, there is every chance they prevail against a struggling Union Berlin side, therefore, Braga are taken in the double chance market.

The Emirates Stadium will host this crucial Group B fixture as Arsenal take on French side Lens in what should be a thriller.

The Gunners come into this fixture as heavy favourites, and rightly so. Mikel Arteta knows that if his side avoid defeat here, it will be enough to see them progress to the knockouts, however, the Spaniard won’t accept anything less than a really strong performance from his team, especially on home soil. The hosts also have a score to settle having lost the reverse fixture 2-1 in France back in early October and will use that as motivation to get the required result here.

Arsenal have been formidable at home this campaign, winning seven of their nine games in front of their supporters, scoring an impressive 24 goals in the process. With Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli all fit and firing, we could see a few goals once again, while at the other end it would be no surprise to see the visitors get on the scoresheet with the continued uncertainty around Arteta’s first choice goalkeeper an unwanted distraction, but a home win is fancied.

Having qualified for this season’s Champions League in sensational fashion, pushing Paris Saint-German all the way in the race for last season’s Ligue 1 title, Franck Haise’s side started this campaign poorly in comparison. However, with just one loss in their last 12 matches, Lens are flying once again and this upturn in results has really got them firing, so there is every reason for them to arrive here full of confidence.

One of the main reasons for their recent success is an improvement defensively, with the visitors keeping four clean sheets in as many games domestically. However, those results came against the likes of Nantes, Lorient and newly promoted Clermont Foot, therefore, that apparent solidity at the back needs context. Arsenal will certainly pose more of a threat for Haise’s side in the final third than those teams did and if Arsenal start fast, as they tend to do at home, this one could be over very quickly indeed.

Despite a resurgence in form for Lens, Arsenal should have enough to win, and we should see a few goals in the process. Arsenal and over 1.5 goals is the play.