Arsenal v Besiktas: Back Sanogo to score in Gunners victory
Published:It’s crunch time for Arsenal’s bid to reach the Champions League group stage as Besiktas visit the Emirates Stadium with the score locked at 0-0 after the first leg of their play-off tie.
Arsenal are the 4/11 favourites for victory on the night, while they are as short as 1/5 to qualify from the tie but the Black Eagles will be hoping they can cause an upset.
Slaven Bilić’s team are 8/1 for the win while the draw is available at 7/2 with Ladbrokes but with the Gunners looking good for victory we have picked out three alternative bets to try and score some midweek profit.
The 0-0 draw in Istanbul was the first Champions League play-off game Wenger has failed to win but we are expecting the Gunners to make the first leg a distant memory with an emphatic victory.
And with the north London club a short price for victory we are backing Wenger’s men to overcome the -1 handicap for a repeat of last year’s 2-0 home play-off against Fenerbahce.
It was the German sides who enjoyed success at the Emirates Stadium last term with both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund picking up wins in European competition in north London.
But the clubs of other nations did not fare so well in last season’s Champions League with Fenerbahce, Napoli and Marseille all falling to the Gunners by a 2-0 scoreline.
Wenger’s men, who will look to keep things tight at the back because of the threat of a Besiktas away goal, can produce a fifth 2-0 win in eight European games at home against their Turkish opponents.
Olivier Giroud’s injury is a big blow to Arsenal’s hopes this season and it could prove to be a busy few days in the transfer market for Wenger as he looks to reinforce his strikeforce.
But before that there is the small matter of the Champions League play-off match against Besiktas.
Step forward Yaya Sanogo to fill the breach left by Giroud’s absence and if he can get himself into similar positions as to when he fired four past Benfica in the Emirates Cup, he is certain to get plenty of opportunities to score his first competitive goal for the club in a Champions League victory.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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