Arsenal will look to lock down their place in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages when they host Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday evening at the Arsenal Stadium.
The Gunners have been impressive at home since returning to the UEFA Champions League and they will be tough to beat when they meet Dinamo in north London.
Contents |
Tip | Current Odds |
Arsenal to win and both teams to score | |
Martin Odegaard anytime goalscorer | |
Dinamo Zagreb over 5.5 team shots |
Arsenal to win and both teams to score - 15/8
Although Arsenal are going through a shaky patch at home, their Emirates Stadium record under Mikel Arteta in this competition is excellent.
The Gunners have won seven of their eight home UEFA Champions League games since the Spaniard took charge and drew the other one in controversial circumstances.
Arsenal were denied a stoppage-time penalty in their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Bayern Munich last April when Bukayo Saka went down in the box and the referee blew the full-time whistle instead.
Arteta’s team are without their talismanic winger for this clash through injury and have struggled to overpower opponents during his recent absence.
But they should still have enough quality in their ranks to prise open a Dinamo defence that conceded nine times to Bayern at the outset of the league stage in September.
The Blues have caused problems going forward, however, and will fancy their chances of scoring against a Gunners side that has kept only one clean sheet in their last six at home.
Although they will be without injured midfielder Petar Sucic and have fitness doubts over striker Bruno Petkovic and defensive midfielder Josip Misic, Dinamo are blessed with some fearsome forward players.
Petkovic and fellow striker Sandro Kulenovic are both averaging over 0.85 goals per 90 minutes in this season’s competition and winger Marko Pjaca has caught the eye with three assists.
New coach Fabio Cannavarro will be looking to secure a point in his first official game in charge, but the Italian will want to curb Dinamo’s attacking instincts too much.
The Croatian champions have scored eight goals in their three UEFA Champions League away trips this season — a tally bettered by only three other clubs.
Backing Arsenal to win and both teams to score looks like a favourable option in the circumstances.
Martin Odegaard anytime goalscorer - 8/5
One aspect of Dinamo’s play that Cannavarro, as a former world-class defender, will be looking to brush up is their defending in the penalty area.
No team in the UEFA Champions League this season has conceded more penalties with the Blues giving away three spot-kicks in the 9-2 loss at Bayern.
French defenders Ronael Pierre-Gabriel and Kevin Theophile-Catherine were both guilty of rash decisions in the box while another penalty came from a handball at a corner.
Arsenal are likely to create plenty of situations inside the box from open play and set-pieces that will test Dinamo’s defensive discipline.
And if they are not able to make clean challenges and clearances, then Arsenal will look to Martin Odegaard to punish them from the spot.
The Norwegian will be eager to make up for his recent penalty miss against Manchester United in the FA Cup.
He did score in the subsequent shoot-out and was previously perfect from the spot for Arsenal, so looks likely to retain penalty duties.
Odegaard scored two UEFA Champions League goals last season, but is yet to strike in the league stage after an injury-affected start to the campaign.
Dinamo Zagreb over 5.5 Team shots - 8/11
Dinamo have registered an average of 9.67 shots per game in their six previous league stage matches this term.
The Croatian champions struck at least five efforts in five of those six games, only failing to do so in the 9-2 mauling in Munich, when they managed only four.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have seen all six of their UEFA Champions League opponents strike six or more shots this season.
And their last five domestic opponents, including their last four at the Emirates Stadium, have all registered more than 5.5 total shots.
Prediction | BetSie Supercomputer % | Odds | Odds % |
Arsenal to win | 93.7% | 88.9% | |
Arsenal win 2-1 | N/A | 9.1% |
Arsenal | 93.7% |
Draw | 5.0% |
Dinamo Zagreb | 1.3% |
The odds suggest that Arsenal have an 88.9% chance of beating Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday night, while the BetSie Supercomputer believes there is a greater chance of that happening at 93.7%.
The BetSie Supercomputer believes that Dinamo Zagreb have a 1.3% chance of winning their upcoming game against Arsenal.
A 2-1 victory for Arsenal has a 9.1% chance of happening according to the betting odds.
Formation: 4-3-3
Team: Raya; Partey, Timber, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Jorginho, Odegaard, Rice; Martinelli, Havertz, Trossard.
Formation: 4–1-4-1
Team: Nevistic; Ristovski, Théophile-Catherine, Bernauer, Pierre-Gabriel; Ademi; Cordoba, Stojkovic, Baturina, Pjaca; Kulenovic.
Read more football betting tips and predictions on site.
BETSiE is a projection model operated by bettingexpert and owned by Better Collective. The projections quoted are for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as definitive advice or predictions. The projections and the BETSiE name are the intellectual property of Better Collective. You may not copy, distribute, or modify the Content without prior written permission, except for personal, non-commercial use.
By using this model, you acknowledge and accept that its projections are estimates and subject to inherent uncertainties, and the model owner will not be liable for any loss or damage, whether direct or indirect, arising from the use of this information in connection with sports betting or any other activity.
18+ | Gambleaware.org
Check out the bet365 betting hub for all the latest UEFA Champions League betting odds.
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.