Arsenal V Schalke 04 Champions League
Big night for the Gunners in the Champions League as they could see their chances of claiming top spot slip away from them. They were upset at home against the Germans on Match Day Three and need to find a way to muster up a response. They trail the Germans by one point going into Tuesday match and there will be big questions about the Gunners getting anything out of this game against the strong Bundesliga outfit.
Arsenal v Schalke 04 Champions League Betting Odds at online bookmaker Bet365:
Schalke 17/20, Draw 11/4, Arsenal 3/1
Verdict:
Quite rightly the Gunners are not going into this game as favourites. That is because their form and quality of play have slipped right away. They slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford in the Premier League on the weekend, their third defeat in five league matches. They aren’t showing any great form and they have managed to keep just one clean sheet in their last twelve matches. There is a lack of creativity coming from the Arsenal midfield and the goals have dried up considerably. A win would shift things back in favour of the Gunners here and they did win their previous away match in the group at Montpellier. But the Germans will represent a different quality of challenge, as Schalke are second in the tough Bundesliga. They had more composure and enterprise than Arsenal could muster up when they met at the Emirates on Match Day Three and they have the quality of Klaas Jan Huntelaar up front to rely on, where Arsenal are just looking for anyone to stand up and start banging the goals in. Schalke have lost just two of their last 12 home games in the Champions League too. Have to sensibly look at a Schalke win and a One Goal Winning Margin is trading at 3/1 with online bookmaker Bet365.
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Arsenal v Schalke 04 Betting Preview:
The Gunners need a big European night or they will probably kiss goodbye to top spot. They should still have enough to qualify for the knock-out stage though, even if they don’t secure a win here. The Gunners have a good pedigree of qualifying for the knock-out stages for the last twelve seasons of the tournament, so they have the experience. One thing heavily working against the Gunners is the fact that they have lost eight of their last 13 away matches in the Champions League proper and with them wining just one of their last five matches in all competitions, well, the pressure is on Arsene Wenger here. Three wins in their last 13 away matches in the Champions League doesn’t bode well. Schalke are likely to out-gun the Gunners.
Schalke are strong at home in Europe, losing just two of their last 12 on home soil. However, their record against English sides is not great as they have lost their previous two home games against teams from England. That was against Manchester United and Manchester City and their overall home record against English sides is W3 D1 L2. But Schalke are looking a pretty strong side right now, although they lost a bit of ground to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on the weekend when they slipped to just their second defeat of the season. They have the stronger attack and that should be enough on home soil here to take a big three points which should pretty much wrap up top spot for them. Schalke’s other home game this season in the Champions League was a 2-2 draw against Montpellier.
