By Antony Jordan
The second group of matches from the first knockout round of the Champions League play in Germany and Spain this Wednesday night as four of the biggest sides in Europe do battle to hold the advantage after the first leg of these vital ties. The biggest match sees Bayern Munich and Arsenal once again do battle at the Allianz Arena after missing out on their almost annual coming together last season, while the second game of the night sees the clash of Real Madrid and Napoli as two of the most attacking sides meet at the Bernabeu.
We preview both games with online sportsbook Bet365.com to provide you with our best Champions League picks from this Wednesday night double!
Bayern Munich v Arsenal: 1.50 – 4.50 – 7.50
The biggest match in Europe this Wednesday night sees a meeting of the team top of the German Bundesliga by seven points and the team sitting third in the EPL ten points behind Chelsea. Bet365.com are favouring a home win in this match, but with the last three clashes between these two sides on this ground seeing a home win, an away win and a draw do the home side deserve to be such heavy favourites?
The Germans do come into this match having won ten and drawn one of their last 11 competitive matches and despite finishing second in their group to Atlético Madrid in the first stage of the Champions League thanks to two losses they have already scored ten times on home soil in Europe this season. They are also the top scoring side in Germany with the best defence despite having changed manager at the start of the season as Pep Guardiola left for Manchester City, but they are now on steady ground again and will believe that they can continue their good form against Arsenal.
Bayern did triumph 5-1 in their last home match against The Gunners and with just one goal conceded in five on home soil they will believe that they can put themselves far enough ahead at full time not to have to worry about the second leg in London at the start of March. However, with Arsenal returning to winning ways at the weekend as they defeated Hull 2-0 after losing to Watford and Chelsea in the league they too will have belief in their ability to win this match. They have looked good in Europe this season with four wins and two draws in their group seeing them top the standings ahead of PSG and 2017 has been a good year so far for the North London side on the road too. They have netted 15 goals in five matches and only runaway EPL leaders Chelsea have defeated them.
With all of this combined we are expecting an entertaining game at the Allianz Arena this Wednesday evening and while we believe that the odds are correct in that Bayern are the most likely side to win this match we feel that The Gunners will put up a good fight in Germany. As a result of this, we see plenty of goals in this match from both teams and this is our pick of the game!
Our best Bayern Munich v Arsenal bet is back Both Teams to Score – Yes AND Over 2.5 goals at odds of 2.05 in the Bet365 Sportsbook!
Real Madrid v Napoli: 1.57 – 4.33 – 6.50
Having already lifted the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup this season as well as currently occupying top spot in the Spanish league Real Madrid welcome the Italians to the Bernabeu full of confidence about their form as they aim to take another step towards lifting another trophy this season by adding another European title to the 11th one claimed last season. They have never faced Napoli in Europe before so while this is a step into the unknown the fact that their only defeat in 17 matches on home soil has come at the hands of Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey Quarter Finals will see them confident of victory.
Despite this fine form, all six matches in the group stage of this competition against Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon and Legia Warsaw saw them concede a total of ten goals and as Napoli scored 11 times in their six Group B clashes we feel that there is a great chance of goals this Wednesday evening. The Italians have impressed on the road in recent times with five wins and two draws in seven matches that have seen them find the net on 22 occasions, including scoring seven times at Cagliari in their last away game in Serie A.
We feel that both of these sides have the ability to hurt each other going forwards and with neither side defending particularly well we believe that one mistake could see the odds upset in the Spanish capital. As a result of this, we feel that the best value on this game will be on the goals market.