UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March

[HeresTheKey]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March Barcelona - Arsenal Under 3,25 @ 1,943 in Pinnacle I think both coaches have plenty of reasons to think first of all with their defence in their mind. Having said this i find plenty of value on these odds, where if there are tottaly 3 goals half the bet is returned and half the bet is won good luck to all!

[Mustafa]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March Enough has been said about both games, so I won't repeat everything and will take a bet I took a couple of weeks ago when these sides met and expect both teams to score in each game. Both to Score Double @ 2.83 William Hill

[ValueHunter]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March Barcelona - Arsenal Barcelona (-1.5) (Asian-handicap) Bet365 @ 1.90 Absent for Barca is Pique, Puyol is still doubtful but probably out of the game. Walcott is out for Arsenal, Van Persie will be decided to play or not after a last moment fitness test. The abcense of Pyuol is a huge loss for Barca but I can't say the same for Pique. His form is terrible lately. Is it Shakira's fault or not I don't know but in the last Barca's match against Zaragoza Pongole who is one foot shorter than Pique managed to win 3 tackles for 40m lob passes coming from Zaragoza's defence line. Pique looked more like a spectator in this situations and not like a player involved in them so I might sound eretic now but I think Barca will deal even better without him. However Barca will probably posses the ball in 70% of the time and the whole battle will be carried on the midfield and in front of the Gunners' penalty area. Iniesta, Abidal, Bousqets and Villa were rested against Zaragoza so they can be 100% fit for this clash. We all know how did Barca deal with Real Madrid at Nou Camp earlier on this season, I expect pretty much the same to happen to Arsenal. Real have way better defence than the Gunners and they got 5 goals in their sheet. In games like this, especially in front of their crowd, catalunians' motivation is up to 101% and only a miracle can save the away team from being defeated with 2 or 3 goals differance. Arsenal's counter-atacking style will suffer big time without Walcott, Van Persie is their top striker and he wouldn't be 100% fit if starts. None of Chamakh and Bendtner can fully replace him. I think Barca will secure their moving to the next round with a great play and impressive home victory with at least 2 goals difference.

[smokeit34]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March

He could say it in more diplomatic way :) Anyway it's not a chit chat thread

a wee bit chat is fine as long as its to do with forum topic surely??:tongue2 anywway i think mahno is spot on.. roma are coming to attack, need 2 goals. this will leave them short at the back making an open end to end game. Shaktar will make the most of this with a very attack minded team and brazillian forwards. Shaktar are playing to the world, its a cl game. they are at home they will not lose. shaktar is just under evens 10/11 w/ ladbrokes i really think shaktar will win convincingly, so small stakes on shaktar -2 @ 7/1 w/ ladbrokes is my bet 4-1 @ 33/1 0.5pt this game is mostly a no bet for me but will have small punt on -2 as odds on win are not tempting enough. 1pt :dude

[smokeit34]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March will have a better loook at barca arsenal later but... penalty to be scored @ 2/1 is worth a small bet as not much else catches the eye at odds given :\ arsenal dodgy defence, barca not full strength at the back. both teams concise passing, in and around box especially barca with darting runs. penalty quite likely i think. anyone know how many penalties barcelona get on average in a season? or where to find stats like this? :dude

[KavkaZ]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March

Pick: Barcelona (-1.5) vs Arsenal

Stake: 3 Odds: 1.88 Bookmaker: PINNACLE Barcelona won 4-1 the previous meeeting at Nou Camp with Arsenal, now Arsenal comes with some fringe players who are not yet experienced a game like this, I mean a decisive game with high stakes.. talking about Wilshere, Koscielny, Djourou or gkper Szczesny. I dont believe Arsenal midfielders get pass forward, they will pass always at back trying to make Barcelona pressing and then surprise with the wings, it is a blow missing of Walcot especialy now with Barcelona main defenders out. Now for a team like Barcelona with players that want to get even with ball in net it is recomended to test young gkper gunners have with shoots from distance. Spanish team will put pressure right from the start, like they always do. I dont see young Arsenal team stand chance to advance against a team with fantastic ball possesion. Barcelona wins by min 2 goals

[blackcrow]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March Barcelona - Arsenal under 2.5 @ 2.70 centrebet While Arsenal have a 2-1 lead from the first leg, Barcelona have the important away goal, and with a 1-0 win they can progress through. They will be expected to dominate the possession, and should do so, even through Arsenal are a side that like to keep the ball as well. But a big blow to their chances are the absence of van Persie and Walcott, as they two players really hurt them in the first leg. Now Arsenal are likely to play one up front with Chamakh likely to be the one lone striker they play with. Wenger knows he cannot afford to play two up front as that will create more space in midfield for Barcelona to make the most of with their short passing, so they will play 5 across with the standard 4 at the back. With Arsenal likely to play 4-5-1, then the two fill in centre backs for Barcelona, Busquets and Abidal should have a relatively quiet game, unless Barcelona score early, and then Arsenal will have to go all out on the attack. Wenger says that they will attack, but this could be just mind games to lull Barcelona into a false sense of belief that they will have plenty of room to play their game. Would not be surprised to see Wenger copy Mourinho who frustrated Barcelona for long periods where he basically played 4-6-0 and only went down 1-0, but they did progress from that game. Also with Barcelona having beaten Valencia and Real Zaragoza 1-0 in their last Primera Lige games, teams may be starting to work out, how best to defend their style of play. Recently read an article that Barcelona are a team that "defend" best when they keep the ball for long periods and thus not allow the opposition to get use of it. If they do score to edge ahead in this tie, would not be surprised that they do this, and make it even harder for Arsenal to get a goal. Roma +0.5 @ 2.15 pinnacle Shaktar are the obvious favourites to progress through but Roma should not be underestimaterd here as they are a good side with plenty of quality in there. With Montella taking over, the players have responded well to him, as many of them it seemed where glad t hat Ranieri is gone. With them playing much better, having won 2 and drawn the other of the 3 games that Montella has been in charge in, then expect Roma to play with much more purpose here. Also get the feeling that they underestimated Shaktar in the first leg, and knowing what they now have, they should be better prepared for it. Plenty of quality in this Roma side, and though Shaktar too has its share of good players, still like the Romans to play much better than they did in the first leg. Whether they do enough to progress is another story, but do not expect them to lose this game

[stefanos56]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March I like the Barca -1.5 at 5/6 with Betfair. Some good write ups on this so not too much to add. I just think that considering Barca should have scored more at the Emirates, are now home, have rested a couple of players, will not allow complacency (as I think they did in the 2nd half of the 1st leg) and Arsenal are fielding a weaker team than in the first leg it looks to me that all signs point to Barca winning by at least a couple of goals so happy to back this big. Barca -1.5 with Betfair: 10/10.

[Mustafa]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March Barcelona - Arsenal While most of the people are backing Barcelona to beat handicap against Arsenal, I have decided to take one speculative bet. Barcelona will be without their 2 main defenders and I can see Arsenal scoring a goal, especially since Van Persie will play. From my personal experience I have noticed several scores when the game went to extra time in two legged games. The scorelines are as follows: 0-0, 1-1, 1-0 & 2-1, and I really can see Barcelona wining 2-1 and doing the job in extra time. Barcelona to Qualify in Extra-Time @ 21.00 Bet365 P.S. only small stakes since it is a speculative one and again I do not expect people to follow.

[DoobleDutch]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March

Barcelona V Arsenal Under 10 Corners - Various 11/10 I'm a sucker for overs bets, be it goals, corners, whatever. For some reason i don't like unders - less excitement, which is madness i know. Having said that - and I warn everyone that my research into this market is not extensive and i haven't fished around for lots of stats - but i remember being stung on this market last year. The last 3 meeting between the sides has yielded a total of 14 corners. The two meetings at the emirates (2010, 2011) there were 4 and 5 respectively in the whole match. In the meeting at the nou camp there were 5. I had it in my head originally that the way these two teams set up would mean it would rain corners. But it appears not. I suppose it makes sense with a lot of infield passing going on, and Barca particularly cutting infield when getting towards the box. Add to that the relative lack of target men and crossing seems to make for quite low numbers. Therefore i'm going to have a play at this one.

I did some research in the same area, and I agree with the underish corner bets: Barca got 5.43 corners per game, and Arsenal 3.43. Many games sees 5 or 6 corners only. Most corners come in second half, when one side pushes more either to come back, or to force a result. First leg ended up with 5 corners, all in second half. Consequently, I make a pretty strong bet on: Under 5 corners HT (asian) @2.025 (b365) Plus a somewhat more speculative bet on: Under 0.5 corners before 10' @2.75

[stefanos56]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March Barcelona v Arsenal Also going for a small stakes correct score. Correct score market always a dodgy one but having a bit of fun here. I'm aware Arsenal could score given issues raised around Barca's defence and the fact game should be quite open so I'd hate to back Barca to win to nil (I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Arsenal score an early shock goal before geting turned over) and have a bet down straight away. Anyway, I feel 3-1 win to Barca is likely and worth a punt at 10/1 with Betfair.

[RedDevil92]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March

I did some research in the same area, and I agree with the underish corner bets: Barca got 5.43 corners per game, and Arsenal 3.43. Many games sees 5 or 6 corners only. Most corners come in second half, when one side pushes more either to come back, or to force a result. First leg ended up with 5 corners, all in second half. Consequently, I make a pretty strong bet on: Under 5 corners HT (asian) @2.025 (b365) Plus a somewhat more speculative bet on: Under 0.5 corners before 10' @2.75

Good luck with your bets but it will be really tough.Barca will come to score and with their attack they will force Arsenal to make mistakes. Arsenal themselves need to attack because they need to score at least once,twice would be much better.

[RedDevil92]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March I will play two fun bets at bet365: Messi to score first and half time 2-1 46.00 and 3-1 81.00 each one with 0.5 points.

[Jase82]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March FC Barcelona v Arsenal + 4.5 Asian Corner Handicap @ 1.9 - BET365. Based on the above couple of posts regarding under'ish corners for this fixture (which I agree with) I think this line is set too high. Both sides tend to play possession football, and don't generally look to win too many outright corners, so I see value in here. Also, if we're talking about value I think Barcelona are currently very very short. Available @ 1.33 on Betfair. So, it's a speculative LAY of the home side here. Personally I think Barcelona should really win quite comfotrably. But, ignoring all biased reasoning for a minute, they do seem to be a little bit short. I'd have them probably around the 1.5 - 1.6 mark, maybe higher, for this sort of contest. As, at this stage of the CL I think it's foolish to right anyone off so easily.

[DoobleDutch]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March Last year, the Arsenal-Barca games saw 4 corners in the 1st leg, and 5 in the 2nd leg. Neither side do a lot of crossing, as they prefer to cut-in and play short passes. Barca is also known for their possession game, ie. they keep the ball 1hour before risking giving it away, which reduces risks of corners galore in 1st half, in my opinion.

[RedDevil92]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March I will also play some card bets because the encounter at the Nou Camp will be very tough: Mascherano 2,70 2/10 Diaby 4,00 2/10 Denilson 4,00 2/10 Eboue 4,00 2/10 All with betfair.Furthermore I wanted to play Wilshere to receive a yellow card but betfair doesn't offer him to receive a card.

[Mister P]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March

Barcelona - Arsenal under 2.5 @ 2.70 centrebet While Arsenal have a 2-1 lead from the first leg, Barcelona have the important away goal, and with a 1-0 win they can progress through. They will be expected to dominate the possession, and should do so, even through Arsenal are a side that like to keep the ball as well. But a big blow to their chances are the absence of van Persie and Walcott, as they two players really hurt them in the first leg. Now Arsenal are likely to play one up front with Chamakh likely to be the one lone striker they play with. Wenger knows he cannot afford to play two up front as that will create more space in midfield for Barcelona to make the most of with their short passing, so they will play 5 across with the standard 4 at the back. With Arsenal likely to play 4-5-1, then the two fill in centre backs for Barcelona, Busquets and Abidal should have a relatively quiet game, unless Barcelona score early, and then Arsenal will have to go all out on the attack. Wenger says that they will attack, but this could be just mind games to lull Barcelona into a false sense of belief that they will have plenty of room to play their game. Would not be surprised to see Wenger copy Mourinho who frustrated Barcelona for long periods where he basically played 4-6-0 and only went down 1-0, but they did progress from that game. Also with Barcelona having beaten Valencia and Real Zaragoza 1-0 in their last Primera Lige games, teams may be starting to work out, how best to defend their style of play. Recently read an article that Barcelona are a team that "defend" best when they keep the ball for long periods and thus not allow the opposition to get use of it. If they do score to edge ahead in this tie, would not be surprised that they do this, and make it even harder for Arsenal to get a goal.

Really can't see the game panning out like this. Arsenal could play a 4-6-0, but they still couldn't play to frustrate Barca, it's just so far removed from their usual game. The reason Inter were able to do it was because those are tactics Mourinho is far more adept at employing, but Inter also had the personnel. They had Lucio, Samuel, Zanetti, Maicon, Cambiasso and Chivu, and I don't think any of Arsenal's defensive players are anywhere near the level of these guys. I think Wenger knows the only way they're going through tonight is by scoring, I think he knows they have no choice. I think a good recent comparison is Blackpool last night. They played 4-5-1. Now, if this was a team less used to playing such an attacking game, that may have had a more positive impact, but in the end the game still had four goals. Obviously, Barca-Arsenal is a different game, but the principle is similar. If Arsenal go out to keep it tight tonight, they'll go out, and I'm sure Wenger knows that, like I've said.

[Spooner]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March Barcelona v Arsenal - Barcelona To Win To Nil @ 6/4 Paddy Power Fancy Barcelona to keep most of the possession as usual which will keep Arsenal's chances to create down, Arsenal counter attacked well in the 1st leg but with Walcott missing they'll miss that pace on the counter. Barca have their main centre backs out which give Arsenal a boost. The hosts will create chances no doubt about that and I think its a match where they can win without conceding.

[ksk1912]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March Barcelona - Arsenal It will be a very excited game i have no doubt about it. We will see here everthing about the good things of football. Arsenal's mentality are not sensible to not conseding goals from Barça, because this it will be not hard for Barça to find few goals here. But on the other hand Arsenal is fit to score, i guess this game will be end over 3.5 goal..Maybe 3:1 or 4:2 for the home side..

[Psycho]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March Barcelona vs Arsenal. Over 3 goals. 1.70 @ 188bet (10/10) I believe this is a no lose situation. Barcelona played very pathetic and lazy in the first leg after going a goal up and were punished for that in the end. They have to win today so won't be messing around again. Messi will do the job if you're looking for a goalscorer. He had a fantastic match against Arsenal last season at Camp Nou where he hit 4 goals and totally destroyed Arsenal on his own. Should be lots of goals in this one and 3 goals definitely is a minimum target here.

[borntorun]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March I can't believe this whole corner market on bet365, all unders look so good to be true. What's the catch:unsure

[DoobleDutch]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March Szczesny to be nutmegged @1.625 (b375) :moon

[ValueHunter]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March I think this might be useful: Last 6 home games of Barcelona DATE ---------RESULT----------OPPONENT 12.07.2010---- W 2-0 -----------Rubin Kazan 20.10.2010---- W 2-0 -----------Copenhagen 14.09.2010---- W 5-1----------- Panathinaikos 28.04.2010---- W 1-0----------- Inter Milan 06.04.2010---- W 4-1----------- Arsenal 17.03.2010---- W 4-0----------- Stuttgart Overall: Games played ---Wins---Draws---Losses-----GD ----- 6 ------------ 6 ------ 0 ------- 0 ------- 18:2 Last 6 away games of Arsenal DATE --------- RESULT--------- OPPONENT 23.11.2010----- L 2-0 -----------Braga 03.11.2010----- L 2-1------------Shaktar Donetsk 28.09.2010----- W 1-3---------- Partizan Belgrade 06.04.2010----- L 4-1----------- Barcelona 17.02.2010----- L 2-1----------- Porto 09.12.2010----- L 1-0----------- Olympiakos Overall Games played ---Wins---Draws---Losses-----GD --------6 ---------- 1 ------ 0 -------- 5 ------ 6:12 Quite disturbing statistics for Arsenal if you ask me. Barca scores 3 goals per game and Arsenal respectively 1 goal per game so if somebody is interested in picking the correct score he might try 3:1 :) I personaly will go for Barca (-1.5)AH as stated above. Good luck!

[Vandal75]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March Hello everybody, I think to bet on Barcelona Half-time @ 1.6 on my local bookie. Barcelona always put a maximum pressure on his opponent on this kind of game, so I think there is some value on this bet. What are you think about this bet?

[adriano]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March Shakhtar-Roma over 2.5 I must agree with all punters here who choice this bet... Roma if wants to qualify must score two goals what means attack from first minute,and probably lot of space for fast Shakhtar wingers who can score against any defence....also home teams is not defensive one,like to attack so open game is expected and probably goal-fest again gl:ok

[Mister P]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March

I can't believe this whole corner market on bet365' date=' all unders look so good to be true. What's the catch:unsure[/quote'] Catch is corner markets are as predictable as a toss of the coin.

[RedDevil92]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March

Hello everybody, I think to bet on Barcelona Half-time @ 1.6 on my local bookie. Barcelona always put a maximum pressure on his opponent on this kind of game, so I think there is some value on this bet. What are you think about this bet?

Seems to be okay but you will get a little bit more if you use another bookie.HT/FT is also good I guess.

[RedDevil92]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March

Szczesny to be nutmegged @1.625 (b375) :moon

What's this type of bet?

[HastGill1]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March

What's this type of bet?

Arsenal gk to have the ball put through his legs :lol..bloody terrible odds!

[DoobleDutch]

Re: UEFA Champions League > Tuesday 8 March Messi said on his Twitter account he's going to try to score with a nutmeg backheel on the GK, and the price dropped dramatically since then. Szczesny replied he's going to nutmeg Messi too on a goal kick.