Champions League: Arsenal are due a "Fab" result

Champions League / Mike Norman / 30 September 2008 / Leave a Comment

"Mystical" Mike Norman points out that Arsenal have never lost in the Champions League at the Emirates or twice in a row in all competitions since they moved to their new ground. It's all looking rather bleak for Portuguese champions Porto then...

Arsenal's shock home defeat to Hull City last Saturday proved to us all that there is no such thing as 'buying money' in football, though admittedly (and thankfully) results like this are very rare at the highest level.

The Gunners will attempt to right the wrongs in the Champions League this evening with Portuguese champions FC Porto being the team that must surely be fearing an Arsenal backlash - Arsenal are [1.54] to win the game, Porto are [8.2] and The Draw is available at [4.3].

In a tight group with little margin for error you can be confident that Arsene Wenger will field a strong side capable of winning this match, despite a threat of wholesale changes. You can wait to see how Arsenal line up if you like, but I'd have no hesitation in backing the home team to win with the knowledge that they are unbeaten in the Champions League at the Emirates Stadium and have never lost consecutive games there in all competitions.

Arsenal have been leading at half-time in six of their seven victories this season and I wouldn't put anyone off backing Arsenal/Arsenal in the Half Time/Full Time market - in fact, odds of [2.4] are extremely appealing.

Yes, Jesualdo Ferreira's Porto are capable of putting up a bold display tonight, but they are nowhere near as good as when winning this competition in 2004 and have lost Ricardo Quaresma and Jose Bosingwa from last season's title winning squad, arguably their two best players. Argentine striker Lisandro Lopez ([11.5] to be first goalscorer) will have to be watched however. He finished as the Portuguese League's top scorer last season with 24 goals in 27 appearances.

Normally, one of the golden rules in assessing the Over/Under markets is to decide whether you think both teams are capable of scoring. In this case the answer is yes, but even if Porto don't score Arsenal are a team that rarely take their foot off the pedal when they go a couple of goals up. Therefore I'm definitely in the Over 2.5 Goals camp at odds of [2.06] ([1.92] for Under 2.5 Goals) and wouldn't be frightened to have a wager on Over 3.5 Goals at [3.75].

I have to admit to not being a huge fan of Correct Score markets but a successful selection offers rewarding odds. A repeat of Arsenal's 2-0 victory over Porto two seasons back will be a popular choice at odds of [8.2], but in the hope of goals I'm going for 3-0 ([11.5]) and 3-1 ([16.5]) with Emmanuel Adebayor ([5.2]) and Robin van Persie ([5.7]) being high on the list of contenders to bag the first goal.