A crunch night for Arsenal as they bid to take something from the might of Bayern Munich. Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79) gives us his view.
Arsenal v Bayern Munich | Tuesday 19:45 | BT Sport Europe
Well, who would have thought this eh? Arsenal heading into the double header with Bayern with zero points to their name. It’s a pitiful situation for the club to be in after what looked winnable ties against Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos.
Zagreb had been ripped apart on home soil by Red Bull Salzburg in last season’s Europa League while Olympiakos simply don’t travel well. The Greek side lost at Malmo in last season’s Champions League yet managed to win 3-2 at The Emirates three weeks ago.
How? Well, I don’t think Arsene Wenger has taken these sides very seriously (take a look at the team selections) and it’s come back to seriously bite him.
Now they face the formidable force of Bayern Munich requiring points. A must win? Maybe not. Even if they take just one point from these two games they could still go through if Zagreb and Olympiakos beat each other at home and Arsenal then beat them both in the final two matchdays.
You’ll already be aware just how incredible Bayern are. Buoyed by the goal-hungry Robert Lewandowski, the German champions have won all 12 of their competitive fixtures this season.
In the Bundesliga they are P9 W9 F29 A4. Bayer Leverkusen? Beaten 3-0. Wolfsburg? Crushed 5-1. A reinvigorated Dortmund? Downed 5-1 also. Six of their nine wins have come by two goals or more. It’s an incredible record.
Arsenal can bring something to this party though. After a slow start goals wise this season, the Gunners have scored 13 in their last four matches. They sit second in the Premier League table and that 3-0 destruction of Manchester United is still fresh in the memory.
In games like this against bigger clubs Arsenal do tend to raise their game. They drew 1-1 in Munich against Bayern last year in the Champions League while the season before beat them 2-0 over there. You could also point to the 2-1 home win over Barcelona in the Last 16 in 2011.
With both sides in decent shape for this I’m happy to believe in goals. It’s a huge night for Arsenal and I think they’ll put a shift in. Whether that’s enough is another matter. Bet365 are offering 5/6 on both teams scoring in a game involving three or more goals. I like the sound of that.
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Arsenal v Bayern Munich – Over 2.5 Goals and Both Teams To Score (5/6 Bet365)
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