Champions League Betting – Bayern Munich at Arsenal

Bayern Munich (-110) at Arsenal (+300), Draw (+300)

We’re only through two fixtures in the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League, but with two losses on their dance card already, Arsenal are already facing a must-win match when they host tournament favorite Bayern Munich tomorrow at Emirates Stadium in London (2:45 PM Eastern).

The Gunners dropped their opener in Croatia to Dinamo Zagreb (2-1) and followed that up with a shocking home loss to Olympiakos (2-3).  Their prospects for moving onto the Round of 16 look dire with back-to-back matches against the German champions lined up. But the team has at least looked good in the Premier League of late, beating both Manchester United and Watford for identical 3-0 scores.

Manager Arsene Wenger will be looking for his team to take to the attack early against Bayern.

“The confidence level is there … we know exactly what is needed. A 0-0 is not even a good result. To score goals, we have to attack”, said Wenger after the Watford game.

Attacking Bayern Munich is much easier said than done, of course.  The Bavarians are rolling this season, winning all 11 competitive fixtures they’ve played in the Champions League and Bundesliga, outscoring their opponents 37-4. Their Champions League games (3-0 away over Olympiakos and 5-0 home over Zagreb) have been laughers.

The impressive win-streak has the team feeling confident ahead of tomorrow’s match in London.

“Arsenal has its philosophy, playing short passes with technique, but we have our ways to deal with that”, said midfielder Thomas Muller. “Coach [Guardiola] will give some tips and then it’s up to us to bring it to the pitch”.

With Barca stumbling a bit out of the gate, Bayern have become the favorites to win the UCL (3/1). Arsenal, on the other hand, have fallen to 50/1 long-shots after their slow start.

Bayern have visited Arsenal four times in the past (2-1-1) and won the two most recent matches: 3-1 in 2013 and 2-0 in 2014.  The German side will be without winger Arjen Robben, which could hurt their attack. That said, they’ll still have ample weapons, including Robert Lewandowski who has 15 goals in his last seven appearances for club and country.

Even without Robben, Bayern look like the much stronger team, and only a handful of squads in the world can compete with them. Despite a good EPL run, Arsenal is not one of them.

Pick: Bayern Munich (-110).

(Photo credit: Singha94 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.)