Tuesday's Champions League Tips: Back Bayer Leverkusen at 4/1 and first-half goals at Newcastle | OneFootball

UEFA Champions League

Paul Higham's best bets for Tuesday's Champions League play-offs include 4/1 Bayer Leverkusen bet

Paul Higham has his best bets for Tuesday's Champions League play-offs, including Bodo to score in Milan, a fast start in Newcastle and 4/1 Leverkusen to finish off Olympiakos...

Goals galore in Madrid

Atletico Madrid v Club BruggeTuesday 24 February, 17:45 kick-offLive on TNT Sports 3 & Discovery+First leg: 3-3

What a game that was last week but after all that effort we're back to square one and down now to a one-game shootout, which may well be a shootout after Atleti scored another four at the weekend so are in hot form in front of goal - and naturally enough 4/11 homes favourites.

Brugge have scored 10 in their last four games though and have nothing to lose as 13/2 underdogs - who can look at Bodo/Glimt's win here last month for inspiration. If they score first that's be very interesting and the 4/1 draw is really tempting me here, but I just can't see a Diego Simeone team coming up short. I expect some fireworks here.

Home win but Bodo can get on the scoresheet

Inter v Bodo/GlimtTuesday 24 February, 20:00 kick-offLive on TNT Sports 1 & Discovery+First leg: 1-3

Nobody saw that first-leg result coming as Inter froze in the Arctice Circle, and now need their first ever three-goal victory in a Champions League knockout game to make the last 16. Defeat in Norway was Inter's only loss in eight, winning the other seven and looking in good form, which makes it even more of a puzzler - they're 2/9 to win the match but obviously that by itself is not enough.

It's 4/7 that Inter will win by at least two goals, and two exactly will force extra time, while they're 6/4 to get the turnaround done in 90 minutes with a three-goal margin of victory - but it will take some doing against this surprise package, who may be 9/1 match outsiders but won't care about that as long as they get the job done. A 13/2 draw will do very nicely.

And Bodo are well rested and have been able to dedicate thesmelves to this competition since the Norwegian league finished in November - they've only played four competitive games since but having followed a draw at Dortmund with wins over Man City, Atletico (away) and then Inter they're the real deal. I've no doubt Inter will win the match but I think Bodo will score here which could be enough to pull off the almighty upset.

Leverkusen to take their time

Bayer Leverkusen v OlympiakosTuesday 24 February, 20:00 kick-offLive on TNT Sports 2 & Discovery+First leg: 2-0

A Patrik Schick brace from the first leg should be enough - they often say 2-0 is a tricky lead but only two sides have ever lost the tie having won the first leg by two goals away from home in the Champions League. Add to that just two home defeats in 18 European home games for Bayer and they can feel pretty confident. They're 4/5 to win this second leg which seems perfectly reasonable.

Kasper Hjulmand's side did lose at the weekend though and an early Greek goal could provoke some jitters - Olympiakos are 3/1 to win the game but  even then that may not be enough. They may not be too many goals, just two of Bayer's last 10 and two of Olympiakos' last 12 have seen both teams score, and with the Germans being a second-half team (scoring 10 of 15 in the second half) then expect the half-time draw to land at 13/10.

I quite fancy Leverkusen to come on strong again though with their second-half prowess helping to kill-off the tie with a goal, and a victory.

Magpies to bag a few first half goals

Newcastle v QarabagTuesday 24 February, 20:00 kick-offLive on Amazon PrimeFirst leg: 6-1

It's job done for Newcastle after that first half display last week, so it's just a case of how Eddie Howe wants to win this. He'll likely make changes and base his selection on fitness with big games in the league and FA Cup coming up. They're still 1/8 here with Qarabag 18/1 to win the match - could that be a value price if the visitors come to play for pride against a much-changed Magpies?

Stranger things have happened you know, but it's a forlorn Qarabag side returning to England - where they lost 6-0 to Liverpool on their last visit - so I don't think there'll be much excitement for them here. This is really down to how Newcastle want to play it, which I think will be to go out and score a few quick goals and then ease down to a stroll  into the next round.

Recommended bets

Back first half most goals in Newcastle v Qarabag @ 15/8

Back draw/Leverkusen in the half-time/full-time market @ 4/1