Will Arsenal decide the match against Bayern Munich in the first leg?
The Bavarians are in such poor form that it is in the cards to knock them out in London…
On Tuesday, Real Madrid-Manchester City will be joined by Arsenal-Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals. The bookmakers have clearly backed the English side in the first leg, with the home side available at odds of less than @1.80…
Team news
Admittedly, this should come as no surprise as the sides are in contrasting form, to say the least. The Blues are in good form, having not lost since the 0-1 away defeat to Porto, and have played seven games since then, winning six of them, and only failing to win the away meeting with Manchester City (0-0).
Arteta’s team is having a great season anyway, they have been top of the Premier League at the weekend, they have won 2-0 against Luton and 3-0 against Brighton, and they have won their last six home games, so they can look forward to Tuesday with confidence to say the least. Especially with only Timber, who was out at the very start of the season, reportedly missing out, meaning Arteta can rely on the same players he has been soaring with this season.
The Bavarians are having a very interesting season, peppered with a number of stinging defeats. They seemed to be back to normal after Lazio’s elimination, but after the two-week break they have fallen into a serious hole…
A week and a half ago, they were beaten 2-0 at home by arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund, and on Saturday, despite leading 2-0 at the break against Heidenheim, they suffered a 3-2 defeat (!!!) at home to the newcomers…
So it looks like they won’t win any trophy this year (they lost the Super Cup, they are out of the German Cup, Leverkusen will win the Bundesliga), unless they can win the BL, but with these results, they are bound to be annihilated in London on Tuesday…
In addition, Tuchel could be missing a lot of players according to the foreign papers, as Neuer, Coman, Sané, Buchmann, Sarr, Boey and Nkili are all out, while Mazraoui and Pavlovic are doubtful, but Upamecano, who has served his ban, could return.
What is worth betting on?
Although Bayern Munich beat Arsenal 5-1 in the round of 16 in the 2017-2018 season, meaning they progressed with a 10-2 aggregate record (they have since played two friendlies), the big thing now is that the reverse could well be the case.
We’re therefore betting on Saka’s shots in the first place. We can expect a good game from the England striker this time too, which could be reflected in goal-scoring attempts. Saka averages 2.98 attempts in the PL and 1.60 in the BL, which, if we only look at his home games, is even more pronounced at the Emirates (3.30 and double average).
Add to that the fact that he has had at least three attempts on goal in his last eight league games, as well as in the return leg against Porto, and the greenback on the 2.5 mark wouldn’t be so diabolical, so we’ll send this tip into battle.