Arsenal far from certain to win in Portugal
The story used to be that Arsenal brushed teams aside at home but cowered and crumbled on potentially tricky away days, so their current run of four victories in five on their travels at a point where they have just lost successive games at the Emirates, has made them something of a mystery.
The Gunners' recent success on the road sees them assume the role of [1.91] favourites to triumph against Sporting Braga tonight, yet no punter should make the mistake of believing that they are guaranteed three points simply because they stuck six past them when they met in north London.
After all, Shakhtar were seen off 5-1 in England yet managed to defeat Arsene Wenger's men 15 days later in front of their own fans, with the Premier League title-chasers' last few European results more in line with what is expected - occasionally unplayable at home, sometimes shaky away.
Arsenal have been beaten in four of their last five Champions League matches overseas and head to Portugal without Gael Clichy, Andrey Arshavin and Robin van Persie, while it is reported that Cesc Fabregas will be rested because of a hamstring problem.
Sporting Braga aren't in great nick though having suffered three league losses in a row but won their last European tie away to Partizan Belgrade to give themselves a shot of reaching the second round. They also haven't been defeated in two straight home games in the same season since February 2008.
It is therefore far from certain that Arsenal will bounce back with a win and instead the draw could prove a shrewd bet at [3.85], especially as it's an outcome that would be far from disastrous for the visitors.
One to oppose is the Arsenal clean sheet at [1.5] - they've kept only one in 14 Champions League away outings and that was against Celtic. It's [1.78] that both sides score and [1.92] that there will be over 2.5 goals.
Sporting Braga v Arsenal
Kick-off: 7.45pm
Live on Sky Sports 2
Think it could be another really bad day for the Gunners? Braga are [4.5] to win...
Published: 23 Nov 2010
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