Wednesday’s Champions League action sees the tie of the round as Arsenal take on 19/10 outright favourites Barcelona at the Emirates in the first leg of their last-16 clash with the Gunners on a revenge mission following their quarter-final exit last year. Perhaps not necessarily the choice of the neutral but there is also Roma’s match against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Italian capital and here is a look at the betting for both games.
Arsenal v Barcelona
The Gunners are considered by many to be the best footballing side in England but unfortunately for them, they face the best footballing side in the world on Wednesday and it is not hard to see why the Catalan giants are the 5/6 favourites in the match betting.
Anyone who has seen Barca play over the course of the season is sure to have been impressed and they have forged a five-point lead at the top of La Liga, despite the vast amounts of money spent at arch-rivals Real Madrid and the summer signing of Jose Mourinho as manager.
At times, Barca have not quite lived up to their billing but are more than capable of playing when the pressure is one, demonstrated by the 5-0 hammering of Real in El Clasico.
The 2009 champions come into this match on the back of a surprise 1-1 draw at Sporting Gijon on Saturday, which ended a 16-match winning streak in Spain.
However, excuses can be made for the result ahead of a big Champions League match and with Lionel Messi (7/2 to score the first goal) in red-hot form for the Blaugrana – has scored 24 goals in 23 league games and another six in the Champions League – it looks a case of whether Arsenal can keep pace.
Arsenal, who have top scorer Samir Nasri available after a hamstring injury, are certainly capable of scoring against anyone so goals look a certainty with Both Teams To Score and Over 2.5 Goals priced at 4/7.
The Gunners defence though is not the strongest – recently surrendering a 4-0 lead against Newcastle – particularly with Thomas Vermaelen out, and it may be a case that they need to outscore a side that not includes the World Player of the Year, but David Villa, Andres Iniesta and rising star Pedro.
The Catalans have never lost to Arsenal as well drawing 2-2 at the Emirates last season before destroying Arsene Wenger’s men 4-1 at the Nou Camp, while they also came from behind to win 2-1 in the 2006 Champions League final.
The clubs also met in the group stages in 1999/2000 which saw a 1-1 draw played out in Spain before Barcelona won 4-2 in the reverse fixture – at Wembley.
Arsenal also contrived to finish second in their group, despite winning their first three games with an aggregate 14-2 – and, despite winning four of the last five domestically, they haven’t played any side of the quality of Barcelona.
Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk
Roma’s campaign started slowly as they suffered defeats to Bayern and Basle (at home) but won two and drew one of their last three games to make it through to the last-16, despite finishing with a negative goal difference.
They are 20/21 favourites to make home advantage count on Wednesday and although they won 4-0 the last time they played the Ukrainians at home in 2006/07, recent domestic form does not make pretty reading and a Shakhtar surprise looks good value at 3/1.
Much may depend on their sharpness having not played since December 28 because of the winter break in Ukraine but they have won 25 of 28 matches played this season, and won two out of their three away games in the group stages.
Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.