The Uefa Champions League Round of 16 continues on Tuesday when Arsenal look to over turn a 1-0 deficit against Porto and Barcelona and Napoli are locked up at 1-1
Arsenal 1 / 4 Draw 11/2 Porto 11/1
Arsenal were odds on favourites to win the first leg in Portugal on 21st February but they went down 1-0 to a goal deep into injury time. The Gunners saw plenty of the ball but failed to register an attempt on target.
Arsenal were comfortable topping their group ahead of PSV with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat, Lens were third and Sevilla a distant fourth. The Gunners tripped up away from home at Lens, losing 2-1 but they were 2-1 winners at Sevilla and a 1-1 draw at PSV sealed top spot. Home form was perfect, 3 straight wins and no goals conceded.
Arsenal have been in splendid form in the EPL and they lead the title race ahead of Liverpool on goal difference with Man City a point back in third. They have just reeled off 8 straight league wins with a barrage of goals.
Galeno was the Porto goalscorer in the first leg, a game where they only had 35% of the possession and were awarded 1 corner to Arsenal's 10
Porto ran neck and neck with Barcelona in qualifying from their group. Both sides won 4 matches and lost 2, Shakhtar were third and Antwerp were the also rans. They lost twice to Barca, 1-0 at home and 2-1 away
Porto are third in the Portuguese top flight, all of 7 points behind league leaders Sporting who have a game in hand and they are 6 shy of second placed Benfica.
The Verdict:
A one sided betting heat pays little respect to Porto's efforts in the first leg where I noted the Arsenal corner count. You have to think Arsenal will dominate and a combined total of over 10.5 looks nicely priced to me
Bets: Total corners over 10.5 at 13/10 with BetXchange
Barcelona 9/10 Draw 29/10 Napoli 3/1
Robert Lewandowski gave Barca the lead in the first leg on the hour mark but Napoli fought back to equalize and the game ended 1-1.
Barca's 2 wins over Porto in the group stage saw them edge top spot in the group. They won their first 3 matches and defeats came away from home, 1-0 at Shakhtar and then 3-2 at Antwerp on Matchday 6.
In La Liga Barca are third, 1 point behind Girona and 8 shy of Real Madrid. Coach Xavi has announced he will be leaving at the end of the season and all 3 of their league defeats this season have been in home games.
Napoli were on the back foot for most of the first leg but Victor Osimhen scored their equalizer on 75 minutes to earn a 1-1 draw.
Napoli won 3, drew 1 and lost 2 of their group matches to finish as runners up to Real Madrid with Braga third and Union Berlin fourth. Their 2 defeats came against Real, 3-2 at home and 4-2 away.
Napoli are currently seventh in Serie A, a title they won last season by all of 16 points and as it stands that would not be good enough to qualify for Europe next season. Francesco Calzona recently took over as coach and they have won 2 and drawn 2 of their last 4 league games.
The Verdict:
I called the draw correctly in the first leg but I'm battling to know where to go for the return.
A chance is taken on 2-3 goals in the second leg, an outcome which has arrived in the 6 of the last 8 Napoli fixtures across all competitions.
Bets: Total goals aggregate, 2-3 at 11/10 with BetXchange
Note, prices quoted are subject to change
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