Arsenal couldn’t have asked for easier opponents to guarantee a place in the last 16 in the Champions League as they look for three vital points against Partizan Belgrade (25/1 to beat the Gunners) on Wednesday night.
Arsene Wenger’s side looked like they would be strolling into the knockout stages of the competition after winning their first three matches, scoring a record-breaking 14 goals in the process.
However, the Gunners’ European campaign has come unstuck recently and two defeats on the bounce – against Shakhtar Donestk and Braga – have drawn the north London outfit into a three-way fight for the top two spots.
The loss to Braga two weeks ago really hurt Arsenal and Shakhtar Donestk look as though they will secure top spot after victory over Partizan Belgrade, with the Gunners priced at 4/1 to be Group H winners.
Arsenal are only ahead of Braga in second because of their head-to-head record and now must win on Wednesday night to make sure they avoid the embarrassment of going out in the first round.
Fortunately, for Arsenal fans of a nervous disposition, they are facing a side who haven’t picked up a point from their previous five Champions League matches.
The Gunners cruised to victory in Serbia earlier this year and with the most fearsome thing about Partizan being their supporters, Wenger’s men should have no problems.
They look as though they will be without Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny and Cesc Fabregas, but with Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh in good form they will have too much for Partizan.
Elsewhere, things are a little more relaxed for Chelsea who have already secured top spot and will view the trip to Marseille as a chance to blood some youngsters in Europe.
But having only just squeezed past MSK Zilina with a young side at Stamford Bridge last time out in Europe, Marseille might be well worth a punt to beat the Blues at 5/4.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Everton that his side have a problem at the minute having won just one of the last six Premier League matches.
Wednesday’s match against the French champions has nothing riding on it, with Marseille having secured second spot last time out, and the only thing that might save Chelsea is Didier Drogba’s determination to get one over his former team.
Drogba (9/2 first goalscorer) is a slight injury concern but will be desperate to play at the Stade Veledrome, the ground where he made a name for himself before moving on to Stamford Bridge.
Looking a little further a field and with top spot in Group E having been sorted on matchday five there could be the potential for an upset when Basel travel to take on Bayern Munich.
The Swiss champions must win in Germany and hope Cluj beat Roma to have any hope of snatching second from the Italians.
With Bayern having already made it through to the knockout stages expect the German outfit to drop some of their big names as they continue their recovery from an injury crisis.
Basel are 19/5 to beat Bayern and with so much on the line for the Swiss outfit look for them to push Bayern close at the Allianz Arena, much like they did at home earlier in the competition.
Bayern just snatched victory thanks to Bastian Schweinsteiger in Switzerland but don’t be surprised if the result is a little different in Germany.
Elsewhere it looks as though the rest of the big names in action should have a comfortable night, with AC Milan and Real Madrid looking to round off the group stages with wins against Ajax and Auxerre respectively.
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