After playing out a 2-2 draw at the Emirates last week, Bayern Munich and Arsenal meet at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday, with both sides believing they can get through to the Champions League semi-finals.
Bookmaker Pinnacle sees Bayern as the favorite in the clash, offering odds at 1.704 for the German giant to qualify and 2.32 for Bayern to win the game outright. Meanwhile, the odds are at 2.95 for Arsenal to win in 90 minutes and 2.21 for the Gunners to get through to the next round.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: April 16th, 10:30 A.M. (EST)
Both need a positive result from the game for different reasons. Leverkusen locked up the Bundesliga title at the weekend, meaning the Champions League remains Bayern’s only hope of silverware in 2023-24, and Arsenal has just received a major blow in its chance to grab the Premier League crown.
Things have gone horribly wrong for Arsenal during the team’s most recent trips to Munich. Both of the last two visits have ended in 5-1 defeats. The current squad is much better equipped to deal with Bayern, but the side has quite a few young, inexperienced players, and things could get ugly again for Arsenal if the hosts kick into gear right away.
It’s been a frustrating season for Bayern, but Harry Kane and Co. have been in dominant form on home turf. The team has won 15 of 19 games at the Allianz, scoring a very impressive 58 goals. There have even been a couple of outings with eight goals scored.
We should see the usual suspects shine again. After scoring a penalty in last week’s 2-2 draw, Harry Kane now boasts 15 goals in 20 career appearances against Arsenal. He should be fired up to continue his success against the Gunners, with his 40th goal of the campaign in sight.
There will be added pressure on Kane to produce the goods on Wednesday, as the Bayern attack has just lost Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry to injuries. There’s also a question mark hanging over Leroy Sane, and Alphonso Davies is suspended for the return leg.
Arsenal will be sweating over the fitness of Martin Odegaard, who picked up a knock on Sunday versus Aston Villa. If he’s out, Bukayo Saka will be asked to provide even more creativity. The young winger has been in extraordinary form for Arsenal throughout the season and didn’t disappoint in the first leg of the quarter-finals either, scoring the opening goal to make it 31 goals involvements (18 goals, 13 assists) for himself this term.
