WhoScored Tipster: Betting Tip Battle - North London Derby & Der Klassiker

We’re back in partnership with Bookmaker Ratings this week, with a special bumper edition of our betting tip battle focusing on the two massive matches in Europe this Saturday.

In the Premier League’s early kick-off north London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal go head-to-head under somewhat unfamiliar circumstances, with both very much in the title race with a little over two months to go. Later in the day it’s Der Klassiker between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern, which has all of a sudden taken on even more importance following the league leaders’ shock defeat in midweek.

This week I’m taking on European football expert Gabriele Marcotti, with a point awarded for each correct tip. The scores are tied after round one in last Sunday’s Capital One Cup final, with the fact that Sergio Aguero failed to bury any of his chances still frustrating me!

Marcotti’s tips

Tottenham-Arsenal - read more

I know it’s a derby, I know everyone is excited but the fact is this is the classic case where a draw helps nobody, especially with Leicester facing a manageable away trip to Watford later in the day. Given the midweek results, I expect both teams to be nervy. So I could see the first half being cagey, not by design, but by fear. Take under 0.5 in the first half at 3.00 with William Hill.

Borussia Dortmund-Bayern - read more

Borussia Dortmund have nothing to lose. They’re 15 points clear of third place. They aren’t normally the kind of side to vary their style based on the situation, but here you expect Thomas Tuchel to be even more attacking. They’re pretty much at full strength anyway, apart from Sokratis, whereas Bayern have the usual suspects out defensively (Boateng and Javi Martinez above all). The natural reaction is to back the over 2.5 goals. That’s 1.73 with William Hill, which isn’t great frankly. You’ll get better value looking at something like 2nd half over 2.5 goals which is 4.33 with William Hill (or, if that’s too much for you, go for over 1.5 goals in 2nd half, which is a more manageable 2.00).

WhoScored’s say

The chance of the North London derby being a nervy affair is indeed high, though that could go one of two ways. If those nerves are displayed by defenders I’d expect the attacking talent on display to be able to profit from any mistakes at the back, with Arsenal suffering from injury problems in key positions.

In Der Klassiker I agree that the second half will be higher scoring than the first as the game opens up. Both Dortmund and Bayern have tended to take time to break the deadlock since the turn of the year and with emotions potentially running high I’d expect some errors from both sides as the match wears on. Gabriele’s tip of over 1.5 goals in the second half seems a smart bet to me.

WhoScored’s tips

Tottenham-Arsenal - Match Preview

We start with the North London derby, with both sides desperate to bounce back following defeats that saw them fail to profit from Leicester’s slip up on Tuesday night. Tottenham’s 1-0 reverse at West Ham, who are now unbeaten in 12 matches at home in the league, was considerably less surprising than that of Arsenal, who fell to a shock home defeat to struggling Swansea.

Arsene Wenger’s men have now lost three consecutive matches and another at White Hart Lane would leave them with an unenviable task in their quest for the Premier League crown. The visitors morale will be at a low for the season and without the injured Cech and Koscielny, Spurs are primed to bounce back. Tottenham have picked up 7 more points than their local rivals since the turn of the year and with both teams scoring in a whopping 20 of the last 22 meetings between the sides at White Hart Lane, I’m going for a home win with goals at either end.

Borussia Dortmund-Bayern

For Saturday’s huge encounter in the Bundesliga, my tip may go against the grain but hear me out. With Dortmund able to move to within two points of Bayern at the top with a win, this game carries great significance. Thomas Tuchel’s men can’t really afford to lose and allow their visitors to re-open an 8-point gap, so while they will be keen to get on the front foot it’s likely to be a tense affair early on. For Guardiola, a draw wouldn’t be a bad result away from home, so he will also demand concentration from his makeshift defence in the opening stages.

As a result I’m backing a low scoring first half and sticking my neck on the line with a 0-0 scoreline at the interval. That may seem odd given the two have each scored 59 league goals this season but recently both have struggled to break teams down. Indeed, Bayern have scored just one first half goal in their last 5 league matches while Ramos’ opener for Dortmund in midweek was the first time Die Schwarzgelben have netted before the break in 6 Bundesliga matches.

Who's tips will you be taking in these two massive matches on Saturday? Let us know in the comments below

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