French underdogs Lyon produced a huge upset at the weekend by overcoming hot favorites Manchester City in their Champions League quarter final. Their reward, if that’s the right word, is a semi-final tie against Bayern Munich who swept aside Barcelona with a scarcely believable 8-2 scoreline (3pm ET Wednesday).
Lyon delivered at odds in excess of +1000 and they will have to do something similar if they are to edge past the German giants.
Lyon vs Bayern Munich Moneyline Odds
That average price of around +1000 for a Lyon victory remains while some outlets have pushed it to +1100. The draw is quoted at a general +600 while a win for Bayern Munich is down to -400 with some of the big sportsbooks. Those numbers are for the result in 90 minutes and exclude the potential for possible overtime. There is a separate ‘to qualify’ market where Lyon come in to +600 while Bayern shorten further to around -1000.
Having beaten both Manchester City and Juventus in the knockout stages, we cannot write Lyon off but, against Bayern, they are tackling the form team in world football. Since the German Bundesliga returned in May, the Munich men have gone on an incredible winning streak of 14 straight games. Hans-Dieter Flick’s side didn’t even drop a single point as they homed in on yet another league title.
There is attacking potency throughout the side and, while they can always concede at the back, Bayern’s simple philosophy is to score more than the opposition via their prolific strike force. As Lyon proved on Saturday night, shocks can still happen but we just can’t see beyond the favorites this time.
UCL Semi-Final Prop Bets
While Bayern Munich scored eight last Friday, star striker Robert Lewandowski didn’t find the net until the 82nd minute. It wasn’t, perhaps, the most surprising stat of the night but the prolific Pole has been in such good form that we would have expected him to hit the target much earlier.
For Wednesday night against Lyon, Lewandowski is the hot favorite to find the net first, ahead of teammates Serge Gnabry and Joshua Zirkzee. One man who could offer some value in this market is Bayern’s Thomas Muller who scored twice in the first half against Barcelona. Muller has been relatively quiet while Lewandowski has claimed the headlines but he is a consistent threat and looks tempting at best odds of +600.
Lyon’s main threat comes from Moussa Dembele who scored twice in their victory over Man City. The former Glasgow Celtic striker is under the radar of some top sides in the current transfer window but he is at an average of +1000 to open the scoring here.
Turning attention from individual props to team bets, the goals markets may hold some value for this tie. Lyon scored five times in three combined games against Juventus and Manchester City and that is a good indication with regards to the Both Teams to Score market. We can’t quite get BTTS to the +100 mark but it’s close and it’s worth adding to our own betslip.
Lyon can also help to boost the Total Goals betting where a modest punt on the Over 2.5 line holds little interest at a general -300. We’re inclined to jump beyond 3.5 and bet Over the 4.5 line this time. Bayern Munich are in such prolific form and, with a little help from their French opponents, this bet can deliver at a more interesting +195.
For those looking for much longer odds, a Correct Score bet of Lyon 1 Bayern Munich 4 would be our suggestion. This returns a best price of +1300 but that is, of course, a much more volatile option.
Our Preview’s Lyon vs Bayern Munich Predictions & Betting Picks Verdict
When a team has been on a winning streak, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will maintain it, even against weaker opposition. Bayern Munich’s run has, however, been almost unprecedented and we expect it to continue on Wednesday. Lyon cannot be written off, having come through against strong opponents in their previous two rounds but Bayern have steamrollered every side that has come up against them since German football returned in May.
If you share our beliefs, you will probably want to avoid the short odds in the moneyline markets and look to the props. For our Lyon vs Bayern Munich predictions, we will start with the goal scorer betting and Robert Lewandowski, who found the net just once in that demolition of Barcelona. With over 50 goals this season, the Polish striker will be looking to match that return at the very least and this UCL game preview takes him to open the scoring this time.
Based on Bayern’s recent results, a bet over the 4.5 combined goal line is relatively modest. The odds don’t quite reach +200 (2/1) but it looks like another strong option. Finally, Lyon’s seriously impressive results against Juventus and Manchester City suggest that Both Teams to Score is worth taking. In a game that’s expected to be heavily one sided, finding value can be tough but we feel that the following three props can deliver a nice return at the end of 90 minutes. So here are our Lyon vs Bayern predictions and picks for this preview:
- Robert Lewandowksi to score the first goal @ best odds of +175 with Bovada. It is +170 with Intertops.
- Both Teams to Score @ -130 with Betonline.
- Over 4.5 Goals @ +195 with Bovada.
Matt Harris is a golf and soccer expert for USA Betting. His other area of specialist knowledge is cricket. He is well known in sports journalism and contributes articles to a plethora of big-name websites and media outlets. Titles that he writes or has written for include: Betfair, BetVictor, Unibet & Just Bookies.