European Competitions - To bet or not to bet?

[jasper_77]

Do you bet on the first legs of these sorts of competitions? Personally, I tend to leave my betting until the second leg of each round, when teams know what they have to do. I am a bit wary of backing what look like they should be dead cert home wins (e.g. Ejsberg tonight) when, if things go a bit wrong, they end up settling for a draw thinking that they can sort it out in the second leg. What's your view?

[crowie]

In a word, yes.

I would rather take 1.20 on an Esjberg side tonight knowing that they will want to get the tie over and done with than 1.60 on them in the away leg, a 5-0 lead and question marks over motivation.

If they did make an arse of it when expected to win tonight then I would have serious doubts about backing them in the away leg next week.

I understand where you are coming from aa with waiting to the 2nd leg in many cases but at least when you look at the first leg you know that its a "level playing field". I always have the feeling that the 2nd has an added hinderance in that not only do you have to analyse team news etc but you also have to factor in the first leg score to your thoughts. Its almost a "handicap" I feel and can make a serious difference to the way both sides would approach the 2nd leg.

In fact, I am probably more likely to look at first leg betting and tend not to get as involved in 2nd leg betting.