UEFA Champions League: Lyon v APOEL FC Odds and Betting Preview

LYON, FRANCE - Rémi Garde’s Olympique Lyonnais side take on Champions League minnows APOEL FC tonight in a match which is likely to prove pivotal for the rest of their season now that the hosts are well and truly out of the Ligue 1 title race.

Lyon go into the match as strong favourites with the bookmakers, and the top price on a home win is 1/2 (bet £100 to make £50 profit on your bet) with Paddy Power and Bet Victor. A draw would be a great result for the visitors at 7/2 with Boylesports, but was trimmed into 3/1 by most firms on Monday. An away win for the Cypriots is at a high of 8/1 with Betfred.

Les Gones have had a pretty good start to 2012, having made it through to the League Cup final against Marseille in April and also progressed past Bordeaux in the Coupe de France. However it is the money-spinning Champions League that chairman Jean-Michel Aulas will have his eyes on, especially considering their favourable draw. Finishing runners-up in a tough group behind Real Madrid, APOEL was the best possible draw for the French side, who will be delighted to have missed the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich. They are strongly fancied by Sporting Bet to qualify from the tie at odds of 3/10, and their record at home at this stage of the competition reads strongly in their favour: W4 D3 L1. The burden of expectation falls once again on the shoulders of Argentine striker Lisandro Lopez, with 19 goals in 45 Champions League appearances, although his team-mate Bafétimbi Gomis has scored nine goals in his previous 11 games. It is a slight worry for home fans that Lyon lost against the odds at home to relegation-threatened Caen at the weekend, but they will be hoping that the pressure of the Champions League brings about a reversal of fortunes.

APOEL FC come to France as the underdogs, but they proved last year that they are up to grinding out results away from home, having taken draws from their travels to Zenit, Shakhtar and Porto. Ivan Jovanović’s side can be backed at 3/1 with Stan James to make it through to the next stage of the competition, which looks like a price worth taking if you think that Lyon are over-bet. They may have the fewest goals and shots on target of all the sides still left in the Champions League, but APOEL never tend to get the job done the pretty way. However it is a slight concern that they have only won four of their eight matches this year, and it is also a negative that they were not permitted to train at the Stade Gerland yesterday evening, as the UEFA delegates wanted to keep the pitch in reasonable shape for tonight.

A 1-0 win for Lyon is deemed the most likely scoreline by Blue Square and Betfred at 5/1, although if you fancy a slender home win you are better off taking the 9/2 with bet365 as they will refund losing correct score bets if the game finishes goal-less. 2-0 to Les Gones is 11/2 with William Hill, and would definitely mean advantage Lyon going into the next leg in Cyprus. 2-1 to Lyon would throw things up in the air somewhat at 15/2 with Sky Bet and bet365, whilst a 1-1 draw would be welcomed by the hundreds of travelling fans at 8/1 with Coral. 3-0 to Lyon looks unrealistic at 11/1 with 188bet, whilst an epic 1-0 for APOEL is at 16/1 with Irish firm Paddy Power.

All eyes will be on Lisandro when it comes to the first goalscorer market, and the Argentine is a 9/2 poke with Sky Bet. Gomis is also generally a 9/2 shot, and it is thanks to his haul of four goals in Zagreb that Lyon are still playing Champions League football. Jimmy Briand and Michel Bastos are both at the 7/1 mark to open the scoring for the hosts, whilst at bigger odds defender Cris could be worth a punt at 40/1 with Sporting Bet, having scored three goals in the competition throughout his career. APOEL’s best shot is through Ailton, who makes a bit of appeal at 12/1 with bet365.

Lyon are 6/5 with bet365 to lead the match at both half-time and full-time, but that looks slightly skinny. ‘Both teams to score’ is on offer at a stand-out 5/4 with Bet Victor and finally Gomis can be backed at 15/2 with bet365 to score two or more goals in the game.

The match kicks-off at 8.45pm local time on Tuesday 14 February, which is 7.45pm in the UK. It is live on Sky Sports 4.

Lyon v APOEL FC Match Odds

Lyon v APOEL FC First Goalscorer Odds

Lyon v APOEL FC Correct Score Odds

Lyon v APOEL FC HT/FT Odds