WE'RE in fits and spurts this week in Europe so punters looking at an accumulator might have to hold their nerve until Friday.
Monday
Our first pick is tonight's clash between Athletic Bilbao and Hercules.
The home side have won seven of their 10 league games at San Mames and climbed up to eighth with a big win over Racing Santander last week.
The Basque outfit are chasing a European spot and it will be a tough task for Hercules to upset them.
The La Liga new boys haven't scored away from home in 592 minutes and have only totalled six points and three goals away – two of those coming in the first-day assault at the Nou Camp.
Interestingly, David Trezeguet is the club's top scorer but he's yet to find the net outside of Alicante.
Go with Bilbao (3-4, bet365)
Tuesday
On Tuesday Schalke host Nurnberg in the DFB Cup and I'm backing the Gelsenkirchen outfit to make home advantage count.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is your man to score here but I have a feeling both sides should hit the net with no more than two goals between the sides in their last five meetings.
Schalke are best priced at 8-13 with bet365.
Palermo go head to head with Parma in the Coppa Italia and the bookies have been cautious when it comes to picking a winner.
I picked the Rosanero on Saturday and they did me a turn and I think they'll just shade it here again, so I'm taking them to progress (3-10 to qualify with bwin or 8-11 with Paddy Power to win in 90 minutes).
Javier Pastore is always a threat from midfield but a fit-again Fabrizio Miccoli and Abel Hernandez are the likeliest to find the net for Palermo.
Wednesday
On Wednesday there are more DFB Cup games in Germany and we'll hope to avoid any shocks by taking the Bundesliga sides.
Hoffenheim (13-10, bet365 v Cottbus), Kaiserslautern (11-8, Duisburg) and Bayern Munich (6-17, bwin v Aachen) are all away from home.
In Spain, Real Madrid travel to Sevilla for the first leg of their Copa del Rey tie and I can see this one being a draw which pays out at 11-4 with Stan James.
Rivals Barcelona face the easier task of Almeria at home and are hardly worth considering at a lowly 1-12. Take Lionel Messi to score two or more here for a tastier 2-1 with Boylesport.
Former Rangers striker Kenny Miller could open his account for new club Bursaspor when they travel to Kasimpasaspor in the Turkish Cup. Miller came on as a second-half sub in Sunday's 0-0 draw away to Konyaspor and could start this one. Prices should be available later in the week.
I'm also taking Inter to see off Napoli in the Coppa Italia, with bwin offering decent odds of 4-5 on them qualifying for the next round.
Thursday
On Thursday Juventus and Roma square off in the Coppa Italia and I think the capital club are the slightly stronger of the two. They've worked with a bit more consistency as of late and Marco Borriello is a player in form.
Take Roma at 2-1 (Boylesport) or if you're still on the fence then try the 9-4 on a draw.
