Scotland V England Saturday 24th February. 4:45PM. BBC One Scotland v England renew their rivalry…
Arsenal v Bayern Munich Champions League 19th Feb – Last throw of the dice for beleaguered Gunners
Kick Off: Tuesday 19th February
Live on TV: 7.45pm ITV1
Bayern Munich travel to North London tomorrow night as favourites to both win the match and all but end Arsenal’s season in the same breath.
Following embarrassing domestic cup exits to first Bradford and then Blackburn at home on Saturday, Arsene Wenger’s side are teetering on the brink of being out of every competition by early March as they stare down the barrel of yet another trophy-less season at the Emirates.
The Frenchman decided to rest key players with this first leg, last 16 tie in mind, but it may not be enough to overcome an impressive Bayern side, the Gunners are 5/2 with Paddy Power for the home win whilst the draw is almost identical at 12/5.
Bayern will be keen to progress in order to make amends for their shockingly one sided defeat in the final of this competition last year as I’m sure Chelsea fans may remember. The Germans warmed up for the trip to London with a 2-0 win away at Wolfsburg and are now 15 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
German efficiency would suggest Bayern would prefer to kill off the Gunners as early as possible and a win at the Emirates at odds of 11/10 at Paddy Power looks like a peach of a bet to me.
Arsenal have won six of their last seven home Champions League games against German opposition, the only defeat coming against Schalke in this season’s group stages.
They’re 3/10 to progress and can do so by taking a lead back to Munich with them, my pick of the correct score market is the 10/1 available for a 2-0 away win for Ribery, Robben and co.
The ardent Gooners amongst you, or those who just fancy Arsenal to pull something out of their metaphorical hat can have 11/5 for the North Londoners to prolong their season after all and progress to the last 8 of Europe’s elite competition.
A certain young English central midfielder will have to be on song should Arsenal harbour any hopes though, a repeat of his masterclass against Xavi and Iniesta in 2011 would do nicely for his team.
Related Posts
