UCL Odds: Arsenal In Tough Against Bayern

Bayern Munich (-187) vs. Arsenal (+650), Draw (+375)

Arsenal will travel to Allianz Arena on Wednesday, February 15th to take on Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16.

Arsenal were riding high after they managed to qualify first in their group, finishing above Paris Saint Germain. It was a hard fought battle in which both teams ended the group stage undefeated. But then as luck would have it, they were paired with Bayern Munich for the Round of 16, nullifying any advantage they hoped to gain by qualifying on top.

Bayern had a tough time in the group stages. They lost to Atletico Madrid in a close 1-0 defeat. And they also dropped a match to the little Russian side FC Rostov, a team they had previously beaten 5-0. Their disappointing play put them on the list of strong teams that shouldn’t have qualified second.

But domestically, Bayern Munich are doing just fine. They have distanced themselves from the pesky RasenBallsport Leipzig side, and are currently leading the league by three points. Their only league loss so far has been to rival Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern have recently added a bunch of young players to their aging squad, and the transition has been an overwhelming success. 21-year-old Joshua Kimmich has become one of the team’s key players and Douglas Costa and Thiago Alcantara have added pace and strength to the Bayern midfield.

Arsenal, on the other hand, are no longer having such a great season. Currently, they sit in fifth place, eight points below leaders Chelsea. Their back-to-back losses against Everton and Manchester City and their last-round draw against Bournemouth has seen them slip even further in the standings.

Their season has been riddled with defensive errors, and key players like Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud have been underperforming. The future of long-time manager Arsene Wenger has even come under question.

Arsenal are capable to taking on Bayern Munich, but their form has been unreliable and extremely inconsistent so far. They have overcome the odds many times in the past, but for now, it’s unlikely  they will do the same against the German powerhouse.

Pick: Bayern Munich (-187)

Photo credit: “Bayern Munich 10” by Theme Plus, CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0], via Flickr.