Europe Champions League Round 5

[spkutano]

 

[spkutano]

Chelsea vs Barcelona Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Chelsea:
Sanchez; James, Adarabioyo, Chalobah, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Pedro, Garnacho; Delap

Barcelona:
J. Garcia; Kounde, E. Garcia, Cubarsi, Balde; Casado, De Jong; Yamal, Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski

Chelsea will welcome Barcelona to Stamford Bridge in one of the most interesting clashes of round 5. The Blues have two victories, one draw and one defeat in the opening four matches. They lost 3:1 to Bayern Munich, shared the points with Qarabag; while recorded victories against Benfica and Ajax. With seven points collected, Chelsea sit on the 12th place, however their main goal is to finish between top 8. That is why the victory here is very important. Maresca could be satisfy with the actual form, the Blues have won the last two matches, keeping clean sheets. What is important to be mentioned, most of the players are young. The Blues have now gone a fantastic 50 Premier League games without naming a player aged 30 or older in their starting lineup. Maresca will be missing four players due to injury - Romeo Lavia , Cole Palmer, Dario Essugo and Levi Colwill are sidelined. Mykhaylo Mudryk is still serving his doping suspension.

Barcelona also have seven points and they will try to secure a Top-8 finish to escape the play[off match. The Blaugrana first beat 2:1 Newcastle at St James Park, but then lost 2:1 to PSG at home. The third round brought a high 6:1 win against Greek side Olympiakos. And just when the fans were expecting another high victory against Club Brugge, the Catalans dropped two points playing a 3:3 draw. Nevertheless, last weekend was memorable for Barcelona. After 909 days of reconstruction, the Camp Nou stadium was opened on Saturday, with Athletic Bilbao as first opponents. Hansi Flick's men were excellent and scored four goals. But there is another positivity, Barcelona kept their first clean sheet in 11 games. The players confidence is higher and I expect to remain unbeaten in London. Three players - Pedri, Gavi and Marc-Andre ter Stegen - are out injured. In addition, Marcus Rashford is rated as doubtful due to illness.

Chelsea vs Barcelona Prediction:

Chelsea are in very good form at the moment. The Blues are in mini-series of two victories and the players confidence is high. They won 3:0 against Wolverhampton and won 2:0 against Burnley last weekend. However, Barcelona are different level. They are class above the mentioned teams and I think the Catalans will leave Stamford Bridge unbeaten. The absence of Cole Palmer is between the reasons for my pick. Finally, Barca players are full of confidence after the Saturday's 4:0 win over Athletic Bilbao, another Spanish participants in UEFA Champions League. Ferran Torres scored a brace, Lamine Yamal assisted twice, Robert Lewandowski and Fermin Lopez also found the back of the net.

Chelsea vs Barcelona Pick: Barcelona +0.5 AH @ 1.64 with Pinnacle

 

[spkutano]

Arsenal vs Bayern Munich Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Arsenal:
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Calafiori; Eze, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Merino, Trossard

Bayern Munich:
Neuer; Laimer, Upamecano, Tah, Guerreiro; Pavlovic, Kimmich; Olise, Karl, Gnabry; Kane

Arsenal will welcome Bayern Munich to the Emirates Stadium in London in the most interesting clash of the fifth round. Both Arsenal and Bayern have maximal effect so far and they share the top of the table with 12 points. Even the goal-difference is identical (+11), with one small detail - Arsenal are yet to concede a goal. The Gunners beat Athletic Bilbao 2:0 at San Mames in the first round, then Olympiakos (2:0) and Atletico Madrid (4:0), both at home, while in the fourth match of the season outplayed Slavia in Prague, winning 3:0. Mikel Arteta is doing a fantastic job and they are also dominating in the Premier League. Considering the inconsistency of Manchester City and the collapse of the reigning champions Liverpool, I don't see any real opposition in the Premier League. Arteta has some key players struggling with injuries, like defender Gabriel Magalhaes and captain Martin Odegaard, but their replacements are fantastic. Young Piero Hincapie excelled in Gabriel's place in the North London derby, while Eze scored a hat-trick on the same match.

Bayern Munich started the campaign with a 3:1 home win against Chelsea, while then demolished Pafos (5:1) and Club Brugge (4:0). The fourth opponents were the strongest European side the reigning champions Paris Saint Germain. To be more complicate, PSG had home advantage and most of the pundits predicted another routine victory for the Parisians. However, Bayern showed a class and won 2:1 thanks to Luis Diaz's brace. Luis Enrique was outsmarted by Vincent Kompany, while Diaz was inches away from becoming a Bayern's hero. But the margins between hero and zero are not big. The Colombian winger was sent off on the stroke of half time and he is ruled out of this match through suspension. His absence is definitely a big handicap for Kompany. Nevertheless, the Belgian coach was surely pleased by Michael Olise and his performance against Freiburg on Saturday. Bayern were two goals down after just 17 minutes, but then came time for "Olise Show". He scored two and assisted three more to secure another victory for Bundesliga champions. Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies are out injured, while ex-Arsenal man Serge Gnabry is rated as doubtful.

Arsenal vs Bayern Munich Prediction:

Arsenal are closer to the victory. They are in fantastic form, they play at home and their confidence is very high. On top of that, Bayern have big problems. Luis Diaz was sent off against PSG in the last round and he will miss the trip to London through suspension. His absence is definitely a big handicap for Kompany. The Belgian coach also has injury issues. Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies are out injured, while ex-Arsenal player Serge Gnabry is rated as doubtful. Bayern have good memories from the matches against Arsenal during the Arsene Wenger era, winning four and drawing one of the last five mutual games in the Champions League. However, the momentum is on Arsenal side and I expect to celebrate.

Arsenal vs Bayern Munich Pick: Arsenal to win @ 2.21 with Pinnacle