iBet: Porto may look to keep things tight against stuttering Spaniards

Champions League

Malaga V Porto, kick off 7.45pm, Sky Sports 4

Lay over 3.5 goals at 3.2 to one with Betfair

Anyone who watched the first leg will know that it was not the most entertaining of encounters and there’s a decent chance this second leg could follow the same pattern. The game finished 1-0, courtesy of a goal that was definitely offside, although in fairness Porto bossed it, winning 11 corners to Malaga’s two and having six shots on target to the Spanish side’s nil. And that’s not really unrepresentative of what’s been going on at Malaga of late. Although impressive in their Champions League group phases and undoubtedly doing well in La Liga, things might be catching up with them. Malaga have only won four of their 14 games in all competitions in 2013 and in their last five games have only troubled the scorer twice. Second legs are usually more open than first legs as one team has to chase the game, but while they lead 1-0 on aggregate Porto are likely to sit back and play on the counter here, and they have showed that they are strong defensively, conceding only twice in their last five games.

Advices
Pont Alexandre has been backed into 6/4 favourite for tomorrow’s Neptune Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham, but although mighty impressive and with the stable in form, the stats suggest Willie Mullins’ five-year-old may be a lay. Oddschecker confirm that in the last ten years only two favourites have triumphed, and the shortest priced winner in that period was 2/1. Four out of the last six runnings have been won by six-year-olds.

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