Will Arsenal overwhelm Ostersunds when the 2 meet in the Europa League last 32, at 6pm on BT Sport 3?

The Gunners are heading into this fixture not in the best state. Since 2018 began they’ve only won 2 league games, and were knocked out of the FA Cup in the 3rd round by Nottingham Forest, with their only real success coming in the EFL Cup. There were signs that the arrival of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had had a transformative effect on the side, with Arsenal romping to a 5-1 win against Everton at the start of the month, only for them to then flop to a 1-0 defeat at Tottenham the week after.



Not only might they be a bit mentally fragile, they’re severely depleted up front. With Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott sold in January, top scorer Alexandre Lacazette out for 6 weeks injured and Aubameyang ineligible due to the presence of Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal don’t exactly have a lot of top rate options left going forwards. Danny Welbeck, at a Super Mega PGM of 39-45, will have a rare chance to shine, as will EFL Cup hero Edward Nketiah, at 32-38.

They’ll be coming up against Ostersunds, a team that have consistently over-performed in Europe this season. You have to go all the way back to last July to track the Swede’s Europa League journey. Things started with a 2nd qualifying round 3-1 aggregate shock win over Galatasaray, followed by 3rd round and play-off victories over Fola Esch and PAOK. They then dealt damn well with a tricky group, finishing behind Athletic Bilbao – and ahead of Zorya Luhansk and Hertha Berlin – with the same 11 points, better goal difference but a worse head-to-head record.

Still, Arsene Wenger likely will have been quite pleased when the Gunners were paired with a team that finished 5th in 2017’s Allsvenskan. Our Spreadex traders clearly think he should have been, with the visitors at an Arsenal/Ostersunds Goal Supremacy spread of 1.3-1.5 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.8-3.

Can Celtic revitalise their European campaign when they host Zenit St. Petersburg at 8.05pm on BT Sport 2? Even when factoring in the quality of their opposition – they faced both Bayern Munich and PSG, conceding 12 goals against the latter alone – Brendan Rodgers’ side were woeful in the Champions League group stages. They lost 5 and won just once, saved from complete expulsion by having a better head-to-head record than the equally awful Anderlecht.



Things look unlikely to get any better for Celtic in the Europa League. Zenit St. Petersburg had the best record of any side in the competition’s group stages, winning 5 and drawing 1 to overcome Real Sociedad, Rosenborg and Vardar. Yet there is a glimmer of hope; before the winter break Zenit had won just twice in 9 league games, and haven’t actually played since mid-December, meaning the Scots might have the edge.

Our traders have found it just too close to call, with Spreadex offering a choice Celtic/Zenit St. Petersburg Goal Supremacy spread of -0.1-0.1 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.4-2.6.