Champions League: Arsenal and Monaco in Race for the Knockouts

Arsenal vs Monaco

Seventh plays eighth at the Emirates when Champions League action comes to North London on Wednesday; and Arsenal and Monaco are both within touching distance of the Round of 16.   

With ten points each, another win could be enough, and Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are strong favourites to grab all three points. But both teams have won three, drawn one and lost one so far and only one goal difference separates them. Eighth is the final place for automatic qualification, with the teams between ninth and 24^th playing off and, with a real battle going on in the Premier League, extra games are something Arteta would rather avoid.  

And that goes for Monaco boss Adi Hutter too. His team is in the race at the top of Ligue 1, beating Toulouse at the weekend, while a 1-1 draw away to Fulham was a poor outcome for Arsenal as they failed to take advantage of leaders Liverpool having their game called off.  

European games can be a handy diversion from the pressure of domestic football, but there is a whole lot riding on this tie and both teams know that a draw might well see them drop below that crucial line between eighth and ninth.

 

Talking Points

Boost for Arsenal’s backline

Centre back Gabriel Magalhaes has recently been sidelined with a knee injury and he has missed the Gunners’ last two games, the draw with Fulham and a 2-0 win over Manchester United. Arteta has given an optimistic assessment of Gabriel’s position and has said that he is hopeful of the Brazilian ace making a return against Monaco, as well as his back-line colleagues Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko coming into contention.

Gabriel is a key figure at both ends of the pitch, a powerful defender and a real threat from corners, though fellow centre back William Saliba has stepped in to score in both the last two games, both times from a corner. Arsenal’s dead ball capability is fast becoming the stuff of legends but Arteta will task his players to get more from open play than they have over the past week. His creative players have outrageous skills, led by skipper Martin Odegaard, and only a marginal offside denied Bukayo Saka a late winner against the Cottagers, and the Gunners thrashed Sporting Lisbon last time out in Europe.  The latest Champions League 2024 betting odds make Arsenal the fourth favourites to win the tournament at a SBOTOP price of 7.50, and this is the type of game they need to win to justify that status.  

 

No Singo for Monaco

Monaco sit third in Ligue 1 on 29 points, level with Olympique Marseilles and five points behind leaders PSG and they are going nicely in Europe too, with victories over Barcelona, Bologna and Red Star Belgrade and a draw with Dinamo Zagreb. But on their last European trip Monaco lost 3-2 to Benfica and, to make matters worse, right sided defender Wilfred Singo was sent off and, as one of Monaco’s best players this season, he could be a big miss. But Singo’s absence may present an opportunity for highly rated 19 year old Christian Mawissa who replaced him for the late stages against Benfica.

Singo scored in the win over Toulouse, as did Switzerland striker Breel Embolo and the speedy 27 year old will be the man to stretch the Arsenal defence if and when Monaco break away. Embolo’s Swiss team-mate Denis Zakaria will try to pull the strings in midfield while giving vital protection to his back four and there could be a return for former Arsenal youngster Folarin Balogun who could join Embolo on the front line.            

 

History

The head to heads between Arsenal and Monaco are standing at two wins each and both teams have been in decent form, though the Gunners have a clear edge.

With four wins and two draws from the last six, and 15 matches unbeaten at the Emirates Arteta’s side has been superbly consistent but, after a draw against Fulham the boss will want his players to show their teeth.

Meanwhile Monaco have won four and lost two of the last six, but responded well to back to back losses with an impressive showing against Toulouse.  

 

Betting Tip

Both teams have put in a strong set of Champions League 2024 results so far and, at 1.27 to win the Gunners are hot favourites to take a huge stride towards the knockouts.

Monaco can be backed at 7.91 and the Draw is at 4.84, but I suspect Arsenal may well take their frustration out on their French visitors.   

   

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