Champions League Preview and Odds - Ludogorets vs Arsenal

Published on: 31/10/2016

Champions League Preview and Odds - Ludogorets vs Arsenal

November 01, 2016 19:45pm - Stadion Vasil Levski (Sofia)

Champions League - Group Stage

Arsenal will look to retain their place at the top of Group A when they travel to Bulgaria to face Ludogorets Razgrad in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Gunners targeting top spot in Group A

Arsenal made light work of beating the Bulgarian champions a fortnight ago, cruising to a 6-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium, in a match which saw Mesut Ozil bag his first professional hat-trick. They will be keen to build on that performance as they jostle for position at the top of Group A with Paris St Germain.

Of course, the Gunners also have a North London derby to look forward to this weekend so it will be interesting to see if Arsene Wenger chooses to rest players for the trip to Sofia. However, this is the kind of headache that Wenger will relish as his team competes on several fronts this term.

If they win on Tuesday, they will face PSG at the Emirates in three weeks` time knowing that a win would all but secure top spot in Group A and potentially an easier draw in the knockout stages.

Meanwhile, Ludogorets have just a single point to their name in this year`s Champions League and could find themselves propping up Group A should they lose on Tuesday night. Their main target now will be trying to beat Basel to third spot in the table and securing a place in the Europa League.

Perhaps their best ever result at home in this competition came two years ago when they held Liverpool to a 2-2 draw. A similar result would be welcomed by the Bulgarians this week.

Team news

The Gunners will have to make do without the injured group of Lucas Perez (knock), Chuba Akpom (back), Per Mertesacker (knee) and Danny Welbeck (knee), while Nacho Monreal (leg), Theo Walcott (hamstring) and Santi Cazorla (Achilles) are all doubtful.

Recent form (All competitions)

Ludogorets: WWWLW

Arsenal: WWDWW

Betting odds and tips

Arsenal will be keen to avoid any more injuries ahead of the North London derby so Wenger may decide to rest some key players. Having said that, it is important that the Gunners come away with all three points.

The Bulgarians rarely get overwhelmed on home soil and both Liverpool and Real Madrid have found it tough here in recent years. In their last 15 Champions League home matches, Ludogorets have scored at least one goal in 13 of them.

The away side should edge it, but both teams can be expected to get on the score sheet.

You can back Both Teams to Score and Arsenal to win at 13/8 with Bet365

By Neil Morris

Published on: 31/10/2016

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (31/10/2016 11:27:28) but are subject to change.