Sports Blog 29/09/2015: Match Preview – UEFA Champions League, Tuesday 29th September 2015

The Champions League continues this Tuesday, with Arsenal looking for a first win and Chelsea hoping to find some solace from their patchy league form.

First up sees the Gunners host Olympiakos at 7.45pm BT Sport 1. A perpetual opponent of Arsenal in the group stages of the premier European club competition, Olympiakos sealed their place in the Champions League by winning the Super League Greece for the 5th year in a row last season. So far they are unbeaten domestically, winning all 5 matches and scoring 16 goals in the process. The star has been Kostas Fortounis 5 goals in 5 matches in the league sees him nearing the 7 goals he scored in 25 games last season, and leaves him at a Super Mega PGM spread of 10-14 heading into Tuesday’s match.

In comparison their Champions League campaign didn’t get off to the best start, somewhat unsurprisingly losing to Bayern Munich, with a Thomas Muller brace and a late goal from Mario Götze sealing the German win. Not that Arsenal were any better in their opening game; Wenger underestimated Dinamo Zagreb, with a focus on preserving players for Arsenal’s (unsuccessful) trip to Chelsea doing a disservice to the Croatian champions, and causing the Gunners to suffer a frustrating 2-1 defeat.



However, a 5-2 win away against Leicester (a victory that ended the final unbeaten run of the 2015/16 Premier League) could be the confidence-restoring result the Gunners need. Arguably the more important take away from that game was a return to form for the previously weary Alexis Sanchez. A busy, Copa America-winning, summer meant that the Chilean ace hasn’t been at his scintillating best so far this year; however, his 3 goals at the King Power Stadium showed some of the magic that Sanchez provided in abundance during his debut term. He goes into Tuesday at 17/4 to score first with a Super Mega PGM of 41-48, and if he can start producing those kinds of performances on a regular basis, Arsenal might be able to regain some of the buzz that surrounded them before the season began.

Wenger will be hoping that the Gunners’ emphatic victory over Leicester will prove to be a turning point this season; at the very least it should give them the confidence to get a win on Tuesday evening, with our traders offering an Arsenal/Olympiakos Goal Supremacy spread of1.35-1.55, alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.95-3.15.

Chelsea arguably face the tougher task this Tuesday, as Jose Mourinho travels back to Porto at 7.45pm on BT Sport Europe. Consecutive wins against Maccabi Tel-Aviv (in the Champions League), Arsenal (in the Premier League) and Walsall (in the League Cup) came to an end last weekend, with the Blues lucky to scrape a 2-2 draw in the final 11 minutes of normal time against Newcastle , as goals from Ramires and Willian saved Chelsea’s blushes.

Yet, despite still looking unconvincing in the league, Chelsea’s 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv showed the breadth of Chelsea’s attacking options, with Willian, Oscar, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas all on the score-sheet. On one hand it shows that Chelsea will be lethal when they finally (or, more accurately, consistently) get their act together; on the other hand, it puts into perspective how badly the Blues have been doing given the quality and depth of their squad. Regardless, Diego Costa is at 6/1 to score first, whilst Oscar is at a Super Mega PGM spread of 7-10.



Portuguese runners-up last season, Porto are a strong side that will be aiming to battle Chelsea for Group G’s top spot. So far they have won 4 and drawn 2 in the Primeira Liga this season, leaving them top of the table at this early stage. However, they could only manage a draw against Dynamo Kiev, with a brace from Vincent Aboubakar putting them level after a goal from Oleh Husyev the giving them the lead, only for a 89th minute strike from Vitaliy Buyalskyi to leave the game at 2-2.

Aboubakar has been Porto’s star so far this season, with those 2 European goals joined by 4 in the league, already equalling his haul from 2014/15; not bad for a 22-year old that only cost the Portuguese side €3 million last year. He goes into Tuesday’s match as favourite to score first at 9/2 with a Super Mega PGM spread of 29-35.

The pressure is likely to be on Mourinho when he returns to the club he first found success at; Chelsea have looked shaky too often this season, whilst Porto, led by Aboubaker, are a solid side that did manage to beat Bayern Munich 3-1 at home in the quarter-finals last season (granted they did lose the return fixture 6-1). It means that the Portuguese side have the slight edge heading into Tuesday evening, at a Porto/Chelsea Goal Supremacy spread of 0.2-0.4 with a Total Goals spread of 2.25-2.45.