Born in the south east of Ireland, Simon put his life-long love of football to good use when he started a successful independent blog in 2010. That opened up an alternative route to a career in journalism, and having had work published across a number of sites and publications, Simon joined the staff at Spotlight Sports Group in 2018.
Champions League and Europa League football is back this week with a full mid-week programme of games scheduled to be played across 3 evenings of action on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Across the continent, the respective competition’s expert goal-getters and poachers will be hoping that they can be the game-changers and difference makers in their teams’ pursuit of victory and qualification.
Let’s take a closer look at a few of the players worth keeping an eye on in the anytime goalscorer markets in the Champions League and Europa League this week.
Marco Reus – 13/10 – BORUSSIA DORTMUND vs Tottenham Hotspur – UCL March 5th
Borussia Dortmund have a number of exciting attacking players in their ranks, though their skipper Marco Reus is still the man who makes everything tick in the final third.
The Dortmund captain is the club’s leading scorer this season having netted 17 times in all competitions for Der BVB so far this term.
Reus comes into Tuesday’s game in sparkling form having registered in 4 of this last 5 games, and with Dortmund in desperate need of goals against Spurs in their Champions League Last 16 second leg tie, we’re backing Reus to rise to the occasion again.
Karim Benzema – 4/5 – REAL MADRID vs Ajax – UCL March 5th
French centre-forward Karim Benzema has been Real Madrid’s chief-goal getter this term, though the former Lyon star has saved some of his best work for the Champions League this season.
Benzema has scored 11 times in 25 La Liga starts for Real since August, averaging a goal every 189 minutes in the Spanish top flight, however, the 31-year old has scored once every 124 in the Champions League, hitting 4 goals in 7 starts overall.
Benzema broke the deadlock Real’s Last 16 first leg in Amsterdam last month, and we’re tipping the 4-times Champions League winner to get in on the act for Madrid again in the second leg.
Check out our Real Madrid vs Ajax match preview for more betting tips and predictions here.
Kylian Mbappé – 4/7 – PARIS ST GERMAIN vs Man Utd – UCL March 6th
World Cup winning superstar Kylian Mbappé has been in electrifying form for PSG this season. The rapid 20-year old attacker has scored an incredible 29 goals in just 26 starts for the Parisians this term, 4 of which were plundered in the Champions League.
Among that quartet of strikes was Mbappé’s goal at Old Trafford in PSG’s Last 16 2-0 first leg triumph in Manchester last month, and the former Monaco forward looks a great bet to repeat the trick when the teams meet again in Paris on Wednesday.
Mbappé has been in particularly red-hot form in the French capital of late, smashing home 8 goals in his last 6 appearances in Paris alone and we think United face a near impossible task to keep him off the scoresheet this week.
Click here to read our PSG vs Man Utd match preview with betting tips and predictions.
Moussa Marega – 21/20 – PORTO vs Roma – UCL March 6th
27-year old attacker Moussa Marega has been in scintillating goal-scoring form in this season’s Champions League for Portuguese giants FC Porto.
Marega has been posting modest goalscoring figures domestically for the Primeira Liga champions, scoring just 7 times in 18 Liga NOS starts for Porto, though the Mali international’s performance levels tend to spike when he features in the Champions League.
Marega has already bagged 5 goals in 6 Champions League starts for Porto in 2018/19, though he missed the first leg of the Dragons Last 16 tie against Roma last month through injury.
Porto’s Champions League goal scoring specialist is back in the team ahead of schedule however, and we’re tipping him to make an instant impact on his return against Roma this week.
Read our comprehensive Porto vs Roma match preview with predictions and 100% free betting tips here.
Wissam Ben Yedder – 10/11 – SEVILLA vs Slavia Prague – UEL March 7th
Sevilla’s leading marksman Wissam Ben Yedder has developed a real affinity for European club competitions over the past couple of seasons.
The French forward scored 8 times in 8 Champions League appearances for Sevilla last season and the 28-year old has carried that perfect strike rate with him into the Europe League this term.
Ben Yedder has registered 6 times in just 5 starts in this season’s competitions for Sevilla already and with Los Hispalenses expected to record a comfortable victory in the first leg of their Last 16 tie with Slavia Prague in Spain on Thursday, we expect Ben Yedder to get amongst the goals again.
Luka Jovic – 7/5 – EINTRACHT FRANKFURT vs Inter Milan – UEL March 7th
In-demand centre forward Luka Jovic’s reputation seems to be swelling by the week this season. The 21-year old has been consistently showcasing his prolific goal getting skills for a long list of suitors that includes Barcelona and Real Madrid this term.
Jovic has scored 15 times in only 16 Bundesliga starts this season, averaging a goal every 96.8 minutes in total during a highly productive individual campaign.
In the Europa League, Jovic has also impressed, scoring 6 times in 5 starts for Frankfurt, averaging a goal every 71.3 minutes overall on the continent.
On Thursday this week, Jovic will be keen to show the watching football world what he can do against Inter Milan, and the Serbian is priced fantastically to find the net against the Italian big-hitters.
