Feb 03 2009
Milan hot favorites to win the UEFA Cup
AC Milan are main favourites to win the UEFA Cup, heading the betting at a top 5/1 with Paddy Power, Betfred and Boylesports.
The Italians meet Werder Bremem in the last 32 and, if successful, will take on either Olympiacos or St Etienne.
Manchester City are second favourites to win the UEFA Cup after being drawn with FC Copenhagen in the last 32.
If City see off the Danes, they’ll play the winner of AaB Aalborg and Deportivo La Coruna in the last 16.
Mark Hughes’ men are as short as 7/1 with Sky Bet and a top 10s at Ladbrokes as the layers brace themselves for a flood of bets on the Manchester men if they spend big in the transfer window.
Aston Villa and Spurs, the other two English sides left in, are 2/1 with Stan James to meet in the last 16.
To do so, Villa must get past CSKA Moscow while Spurs will have to overcome Ukrainians Shakhtar Donetsk.
Villa seems to have the harder task as CSKA won this tournament in 2005 and were the only team in the group phase to win all four of their matches.
That’s reflected in the odds with Spurs at 16/1 and Villa being pushed out to 20s by Stan James.
However, Ladbrokes still seem to be pinning plenty of faith in Martin O’Neill’s men and have them as 10/1 joint second favorites alongside City and Valencia.
The last 32 ties will be played on February 18 and 19 with the return legs on February 26.
The final of the tournament takes place at Fenerbahce’s Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul on May 20.
