PokerStars sports betting brother BetStars has turned to a former Leicester City legend to select a few hot tips in the Leicester v Atletico Madrid Champions League tie in their new Big Call ad campaign.
Leicester City square up to Atletico Madrid in the quarter-final of the Champions League. In another lifetime you would say that this was fairytale stuff, but the English Premier League Champions are more Hans Christian Andersen than Hans Christian Andersen.
One organisation with a keen eye on the match is BetStars. PokerStars younger brother inked a deal to be the sports betting partner of choice for the Champions during the defence of their title and had created several marketing campaigns featuring the likes of Christian Fuchs, Riyad Mahrez, and Marc Albrighton.
BetStars’ latest marketing campaign is The Big Call where they draft in sportsmen and women from past and present to give their predictions on a variety of top sporting events under the #CallIt hashtag.
The first ad featured the former Chelsea and Man City defender Wayne Bridge, who successfully predicted a 2-1 win for Chelsea when they took on their Manchester rivals in the Premier League a fortnight ago.
With Leicester in the spotlight it makes sense for BetStars to drag a Leicester legend into the fold, and with Gary Lineker busy filming a crisp potato ad, they had to settle for Emile Heskey (pictured).
Heskey featured 154 times for the Foxes, scoring 40 goals, a feat that led to a £11 million move to Liverpool in 2000 where he scored 39 goals in 150 appearances. Heskey also featured 62 times for England, scoring seven goals, and is one of my kid’s favourite players on FIFA17.
Can Leicester City Do It?
If Leicester is going to find a way to the semi-finals they are going to have to survive an onslaught in the Vicente Calderon Stadium. The night could easily end up like Barcelona’s in Juventus last night, and if that happens, not even a powder keg of an affair at the King Power will be enough to save them.
Heskey’s first job was to predict if Leicester would score a priceless away goal.
“Yes, because they have the firepower,” said Heskey.
Heskey hasn’t done his homework on this one.
Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy, and Demarai Gray are decent players but Atletico Madrid hasn’t conceded a single goal in their last eight knockout ties at home in this competition, and that includes visits from Chelsea, Barcelona (twice), Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich.
Heskey was then asked to predict the first leg score and went with a 1-1 scoreline in what he described as a cagey affair. I can’t see Leicester stopping Antoine Griezmann. The Frenchman has scored 23 goals in all competitions this season, and with Captain Morgan missing, I predict a 2-0 Atletico win.
Can Leicester City Win The Champions League?
Ok, I think Emile Heskey has taken a few too many footballs to the head.
The Leicester legend believes the Foxes can do it.
Do you?
I don’t.
I think the two-legged matches against teams of vastly superior technical skills, and an experience in top-level European football, makes all the difference.
There is no way Leicester will win the Champions League, but then again there was no way they should have won the Premier League.
Here is the full rundown of Heskey’s predictions.
Next up is the seven-time World Snooker Champ, Stephen Hendry, who will be making a few predictions ahead of the World Championships at The Crucible in April.
Leicester is 20/1 to cause an upset this evening with 5/2 for an Atletico home win and 13/2 for the draw. Riyad Mahrez is a 16/1 shot for the first goalscorer. It’s 10/1 for a 1-1 scoreline, and 33/1 for Leicester to win the Champions League.
