Champions League
2011-10-19 - Marseille vs Arsenal
A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted
Football : Europe : Champions League
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011, 7:45PM GMT
PREVIEW
Shaky Arsenal edged Sunderland at home on Sunday by a 2-1 score and now travel to Marseille looking for the win that would take them past their opponents to the top Group F. While history shows Arsenal have never lost when travelling to meet French opposition, recent form suggests they will struggle hard against a team finding form.
Marseille are no strangers to English opposition, having beaten Chelsea here at home last season. In 10 home matches against English opposition, Marseille have 7 wins and a draw, losing just twice.
Marseille's form this season in the Champions League has been great, winning both matches without conceding. On Matchday 1 they won 1-0 and on Matchday 2 Andre Ayew scored either side of Loic Remy, the last being a penalty, as they downed Borussia Dortmund at the Stade Velodrome by a 3-0 scoreline.
Arsenal do have a chance here, as Marseille, despite that 3-0 win over Dortmund, have only won 5 of their last 15 home matches in Europe. Arsenal seem to be able to lift their game when playing in the Champions League, and those brilliant wins over Barcelona are testament to that. So far they've managed to grab leads against Dortmund away and Olympiacos and were unlucky not to have 2 wins out of 2.
The Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie is playing out of his skin, and his 2 moments of brilliance were inspiring. When someone is on a run like that, they automatically becoming worthy of considering to net in a huge game like this and in terms of value, the price on RvP to get on the scoresheet is huge!
There is enough talent in the Arsenal side to give Marseille a good fight. New boys, Santos and the Ox both got on the scoresheet against Olympiacos and that will only give them confidence for this one.
Gervinho is one member of the team that knows Marseille very well, having faced them for 7 times as a member of Lille and Le Mans. He'll be keen to finally score against them, having missed his chance while in France. He's certainly been getting close domestically too, but his missed his chances on Sunday against Sunderland. Park Ju-Young, another newcomer to the Arsenal squad, has scored against Marseille in the past, while playing for Monaco.
BETTING VERDICT
My Gooner heart is telling me Arsenal will take something back from this tough game, at least a point.
While Marseille have been playing amazingly in Europe, that is just 2 games, and a much better gauge of this team is how they are doing domestically. In Ligue 1, Marseille are struggling, having picked up just 1 win from their opening 10 fixtures!!
However, Marseille do look loaded with talent and their attacking so far has been good enough to know Arsenal won't keep them out over 90 minutes, not with the injuries in key defensive areas.
Take both sides to score in what should be the best match of the night.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Both Teams To Score
BEST BETTING TIP :
Main Bet :Take Both Teams To Score @ 1.90 (Bet365)
Also consider:
Robin Van Persie to score anytime @ 2.70 (Bet365)
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take Arsenal +0.25 AH @ 2.05 (Pinnacle)
