FC COLOGNE v ARSENAL
Thursday 23rd November 2017 – Kickoff: 1900hrs
Football – Europe – Europa League Betting Tips
It’s also match day five in the Europa League on Thursday evening and it’s over to Group H with German outfit, FC Cologne, taking on one of the English clubs, Arsenal at their RheinEnergieStadion with the home side desperate to resurrect their Europa League campaign.
Following three straight defeats on the trot with losses to Arsenal 3-1 away from home along with defeat at home to Crvena Zvezda and a 1-0 loss away at BATE, they exacted their revenge on BATE at least on match day four when they thumped the Belarus club 5-2 on home turf.
This gives Cologne a glimmer of hope for claiming a top two spot in Group H ahead of the visit from Arsenal on Thursday night, but with just one home win from their last eight matches in all competitions, confidence will be fragile for the hosts.
Visitors Arsenal and their ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ traits came to the fore once again in Saturday’s north London derby against Tottenham, but this time we saw one of the best performances from Arsenal for some time as they defeated Tottenham 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
That win should provide The Gunners with plenty of confidence as they make their way to Cologne for match day five, along with having already qualified for the knock-out stages of the Europa League; wins over Cologne, BATE and Crvena Zvezda along with a draw against Zvezda have placed the English club top of the pile in Group H.
However, although Arsenal hold a valuable five point lead over second placed Crvena Zvezda, they’ll be keen to confirm their top spot in the group and therefore avoid some of the stronger Champions League drop-outs when it comes to the knockout stages.
Arsene Wenger is expected to rotate his squad and give some of the fringe players some game time, but they should still get a result here.
Pick: Arsenal AH0 @ 1.92 Bet Victor
