Football – Europe – Champions League Qualifier 2nd Leg
Wednesday 27th August 2014 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
Arsenal head into this crucial second leg of the Champions League Qualifiers still on level terms after a 0-0 draw away in Turkey last week, and they must be considered to hold the upper hand when they entertain the Turkish outfit at the Emirates Stadium tonight.
The Gunners will also be in confident mood after getting out of jail away at Goodision Park on the weekend as they came from two goals behind to snatch a point against Everton in a lively 2-2 draw. This shows the character of Arsene Wenger’s side and despite the suspension of Aaron Ramsey for tonight’s match following his red card in the first leg, and the likelihood of striker Giroud being out injured, Arsenal still possess plenty of depth in the attacking ranks.
French striker Giroud played only 45 minutes at Everton so he should be fresh for tonight’s encounter, and Wenger has the likes of Cazorla and Joel Campbell up his sleeve who he also kept in reserve at the weekend at his disposal.
It should be noted that Arsenal have lost just once at home in their last twelve matches in all competitions (losing to Monaco in the meaningless Emirates Cup was the only aberration), while failing to score just once in their last seven European encounters on home turf (0-2 v Bayern Munich back in February).
Onto Besiktas now, and they may feel as though their chance of sending Arsenal out of the Champions League may have just passed them by as they failed to convert the opportunities in front of goal in the first leg at their Ataturk Olympic Stadium.
They now face a difficult trip to England’s capital without having started their domestic competition yet, the Turkish Super Lig. In fact, Besiktas face two away matches on the trot with Arsenal tonight, and their season opener away at Mersin on the weekend so it’s a difficult ‘pre-season’ for the Turkish outfit.
Demba Ba is their primary threat up front, but Arsenal will be well aware of what the former Chelsea man is capable of, and I suspect will be well marked in tonight’s clash. Besiktas beat Feyenoord in the last round of this competition so they will go into tonight’s match with a degree of optimism here.
To sum up, Arsenal will be up for this one particularly on the back of their hard-earned point at Everton, and I fancy The Gunners to cover the handicap here in what could be a 2-0 win for the hosts.
Pick: Arsenal AH-1.25 @ 1.94 Pinnacle
