Gunners Can Make Barca Misfire
Champions league
Arsenal play host to Barcelona in the Quarter Final of the Champions League tonight at the Emirates looking to get even for the defeat they suffered in the 2006 Final.
Arsenal are waiting on the fitness of midfield general Cesc Fabregas and if he were to miss out through injury it would put a dent in Arsenal’s chances of winning the match. Barcelona will be without Iniesta however, so this might even things up a little if Fabregas doesn’t make it.
Barcelona have a team bursting with talented individuals and it’s no real surprise that bookmakers rate them as slight favourites at 11/8 (Ladbrokes). Arsenal do have a good home record and probably have enough about them going forward to hurt the Barcelona backline, so they are capable of scoring. Ideally Arsenal would like to keep a clean sheet and have a lead going into the second leg, and at 11/5 (Bet365) to get a win , Arsenal don’t look too bad a price considering they have only ever tasted defeat once at the Emirates in Champions league football.
We think that Arsenal will get some sort of result tonight and avoid a defeat, but we are more inclined to lean towards a draw 12/5 (Coral) as the outcome of the match. The 0-0 result would be a good score for Arsenal to take into the second match at the Nou Camp and with odds of 12/1 on that outcome (Skybet) we feel it is worth a bet.
Europa League
To be honest if Liverpool were anything near their best this season and showing more consistency a trip to Portugal to meet Benfica wouldn’t hold too many fears.
Unfortunately the inability to put a decent sequence of wins together puts doubts in your mind as to what sort of performance Liverpool will put in, so we’re not too sure how to play this match. Normally at 15/8 (Paddypower) we would be urging you to get on Liverpool, but we are not so sure that’s the wise thing to do tonight. Benfica have been scoring plenty of goals this season and haven’t lost at home in the league all season. There’s every chance they will be able to score against a Liverpool defence that has been shown to be shaky when under pressure and they could be value at 6/4 (Ladbrokes).
Our prediction is a home win for Benfica, but we think a bet on both teams to score 8/11 (Paddypower) might be worthwhile too. A small bet on a correct score of 2-1 9/1 (Skybet) with Javier Saviola 13/2 (Coral) to be first goalscorer are another couple of bets to mull over.
Fulham have been a revelation in this competition this season and although Wolfsburg will be stiff opposition, they are no better than Juventus who Fulham disposed of in the last round. It might be prudent to bet cautiously in this match as Fulham (apart from results in the Europa league) are in a pretty poor run of form at present and we are not sure that 6/5 (Paddypower) represents great value. In fact at 5/2 (Ladbrokes) we feel Wolfsburg are being underestimated and are overpriced.
Wolfsburg are a team who like to get forward and attack and we can see goals being scored in the game. Both teams to score looks a banker at 5/6 (Bet365) and should bring a return. We are taking Fulham to edge a close match and win by 2-1 17/2 (Skybet).
