Sports Blog 24/11/2015: Match Preview – UEFA Champions League, Tuesday 24th November 2015

It certainly will be a tense Tuesday night for a least one of team in London, as Arsenal and Chelsea try and secure a place in the Champions League knockout rounds!

First up is a must win game for Arsenal, who host Dinamo Zagreb at 7.45pm on BT Sport Europe. 1 win in 4 Champions League games means that, if they lose or draw on Tuesday night, Arsenal would have failed to escape the opening stage of Europe’s top club competition for the first time since the 1998/99 season. Even then they ideally need a Bayern Munich victory over Olympiakos to ensure they have any chance of reaching the knockouts; a draw in that game, on the other hand, would see Arsenal instead fighting for a place in the Europa League.



Form-wise, however, things aren’t too promising. Their loss to West Brom at the weekend leaves Arsenal in the familiar position of 4th in the Premier League, and continues a rather dismal run of results that includes their 5-1 degradation at the hands of Bayern Munich and a lucky 1-1 draw against Tottenham. Even more devastatingly that Baggies defeat came complete with knocks to Francis Coquelin and Mikel Arteta, joining the already side-lined Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck on the injuries list. It puts an extra helping of pressure on the already full plates of Olivier Giroud who, at a Super Mega PGM of 71-83, has been a consistent bright spot for Arsenal in the last few weeks, and Alexis Sanchez, looking somewhat tired after an intense international schedule.

Arsenal’s opponents have also only won one Champions League game; however Dinamo Zagreb’s solitary victory happened to be in the opening match against Arsenal. They may struggle a bit more this evening, however, since top scorer Armin Hodzic’s absence means Zagreb’s goal scoring hopes fall to the rather uninspiring pair of El Arbi Hillel Soudani and Junior Fernandes, both at a Super Mega PGM of 8-11.

Given the must win nature of game, and the fact that Zagreb have only managed 3 goals in 4 Champions League games (admittedly 2 of those were against Arsenal), our Spreadex traders fancy a Gunners victory, offering an Arsenal/Dinamo Zagreb Goal Supremacy spread of 2.15-2.35 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.5-3.7.

There is slightly less pressure for Tuesday’s other English side, as Chelsea visit Maccabi Tel-Aviv at 7.45pm BT Sport 2. After bringing to a close a disastrous run of 3 defeats in a row in the league with a narrow (and rather unconvincing win) over Norwich, Jose Mourinho will be keen to take solace in the relative respite provided by the Champions League. 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss is, at the moment, at the upper end of Chelsea’s form but nevertheless a victory on Tuesday evening would edge them closer to a place in the knockout rounds, even if they face a tricky final game in the form of Porto, who currently lead Group G on 10 points.



Already Chelsea have used Maccabi Tel-Aviv for catharsis, beating them 4-0 in their opening game in Europe this season, just when the London club’s troubles were really beginning. One imagines Mourinho will be hoping that Diego Costa’s strike against the Canaries (his first since mid-October) will spark a return to form for the Spanish forward, who, at a Super Mega PGM of 39-45, sits at a measly 4 goals in 15 appearances. Willian, himself on an equally meagre 5 goals in all competitions, is still the Blues’ top scorer and goes into Tuesday night at a Super Mega PGM 20-24.

Chelsea will be looking for another easy win on Tuesday. Maccabi Tel-Aviv have failed to nab a single point so far; even worse, they have conceded 11 goals in 4 games whilst only scoring 1. Their form in Israel (2nd in the Ligat Ha’al) will likely be for nought if they continue to put in the same European performances they have been, and most likely won’t provide too much trouble for even the most calamitous Chelsea side, leading Spreadex to offer a Chelsea/Maccabi Tel-Aviv Goal Supremacy spread of 1.35-1.55 with a Total Goals spread of 2.65-2.85.