Although we know which two sides will be playing in the Champions League after the turn of the year, we still don’t know who will be topping the group or who will get the lifeline thrown to them and be able to play in the Europa League.
Right now both of these sides are in second place to achieve these goals. Arsenal sits behind PSG in the group, already qualified for the next round and in with a chance of a top spot. Basel are in fourth place but still in with a chance of 3rd which would give them a spot in the Europa League.
So whilst this isn’t a critical match there is definitely still something to play for.
Arsenal goes into this match high on confidence. They destroyed West Ham 5-1 at the weekend and were the better side in every respect. That kind of big win against local rivals can really help aside as they attempt to put together a run of consecutive wins. Up front they have Alexis Sanchez in great form, Theo Walcott in, somewhat, rare goalscoring form, Mesut Özil pulling the strings in midfield and a defense that is solid more often than not.
If Arsenal takes this game seriously, they can win.
Not that I want to completely rule Basel out. They’ve been strong in their domestic league but have struggled to bring that form over to their European commitments. Mathias Delgado has been pulling strings for his side from midfield and both Seydou Doumbia and Marco Janko have got among the goals on a fairly regular basis. At the back, they have Marek Suchy and Eder Balanta, both players that have had their admirers in the past and are looking to establish themselves and get a move to one of Europe\’s major leagues.
This is, of course, the second meeting between these two in this group and last time out Arsenal picked up a 2 goal win, both goals scored by Theo Walcott and both goals with assists from Alexis Sanchez.
In that game the two Xhaka brothers lined up against each other and with Santi Cazorla out through injury we can expect the same to happen again. Basel put out a very defensive line-up for that game but I suspect they will be forced to come out a bit more in this one. That will leave space for Arsenal to exploit and with their current form that will lead to goals.
So I have two bets for this one. The first is Over 2.5 goals at 1.89 with Pinnacle (I think Arsenal could achieve this on their own) and the second is in the Match Odds market and looking for a straight Arsenal win. That will pay you out at 2.42 (again with green listed bookmakers Pinnacle) and a combination of the two could bring in a very nice return.
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