Bayern Munich can exact revenge for their recent defeat in North London when they host Arsenal at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday (19:45 GMT live on BT Sport).
Bayern Munich have made a strong start to the season, with their 2-0 defeat away to Arsenal a couple of weeks ago representing their only loss of the campaign to date. They top the Bundesliga table with 31 points from 10 wins, one draw and zero defeats.
Pep Guardiola’s (pictured) side dropped their first points of the Bundesliga season in a 0-0 draw away to Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday. Their hosts did a solid job of limiting Bayern’s ability to create good-quality chances whilst still maintaining a decent threat themselves, particularly during the second half. Robert Lewandowski missed Bayern’s best opportunity of the match.
Bayern have dominated the early running in the Bundesliga. They scored 33 goals and conceded just four en route to winning their first 10 matches of the campaign – a run that included comfortable wins over the likes of Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg – and Friday’s result was a minor setback from which they will easily recover.
Best Match Betting Odds
2/5 Bayern Munich (Bet365, BetVictor, Betfred, Ladbrokes, William Hill, Unibet, Stan James, Betfair Sportsbook, Boylesports)
9/2 Draw (Coral, BetVictor, Betfred, Paddy Power, Betfair)
7/1 Arsenal (Bet365, Coral, SkyBet)
The summer signings of Arturo Vidal, Douglas Costa and Kingsley Coman added further quality to a squad that has claimed the Bundesliga title and reached the final four of the Champions League in each of Guardiola’s two seasons at the helm. The last two mentioned have provided needed cover for the incisive but ageing Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery.
Guardiola will be without the injured Juan Bernat (groin), Mario Gotze (hamstring), Sebastian Rode (tendon), while Franck Ribery (ankle) is also unlikely to take part.
Arsenal have made a good start to the campaign and come into this game on the back of five wins in their last six matches in all competitions. There are second in the Premier League with 25 points from eight wins, one draw and two defeats.
Arsene Wenger’s side recorded a strong 3-0 win away to Swansea on Saturday. It was not their most impressive attacking performance of the season, but they defended well and took their chances when they came to record an ultimately comfortable victory thanks to second-half goals from Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Joel Campbell.
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The victory provided further evidence that this Arsenal side may be the best-equipped of recent years to maintain a challenge for the Premier League title. It is certainly true that despite a couple of setbacks apiece, they and Manchester City have been the most impressive teams, with both matching attacking fluidity to relative defensive solidity.
The Gunners were the only side in a major European league not to spend a single penny on the signing of an outfield player this summer and there are a couple of holes in their squad that may prove decisive over the course of the campaign. And while their league form has been very good, they have lost two of their three Champions League matches.
Wenger has an extensive injury list that sees Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring), Danny Welbeck (knee), David Ospina (shoulder), Jack Wilshere (ankle), Mikel Arteta (ankle), Theo Walcott (calf) and Tomas Rosicky (knee) all miss out on the trip to Munich.
Our Preview’s Bayern Munich v Arsenal Betting Tips
Arsenal’s victory at the Emirates two weeks ago was their third in the nine previous meetings between these sides in European competition. Bayern have won four of them and also have the advantage on overall goal difference, by 12 goals to 10. The Germans knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League at the round of 16 stage in both 2013 and 2014.
Despite their defeat in North London, Bayern enjoy joint ownership, with Olympiakos, of top spot in Group F, with six points from three matches. They are three clear of both Arsenal and Dinamo Zagreb. Guardiola’s side would take a big step towards securing their place in the knockout rounds with victory here and can be fancied to do just that.
Arsenal adjusted their game-plan to good effect after a difficult opening 25 minutes in the first match between these sides. They dropped deeper and began to make better use of their pace on the break. They did, though, have their fair share of luck, and it is far from certain that a similar strategy will bear the same result on German soil.
Indeed, we expect Bayern to avenge that defeat with victory on home soil on Wednesday.
- Back Bayern Munich to win on the ‘match result plus over 2.5 goals’ market @ best odds of 10/11 with Paddy Power.
- Arsenal will be very keen to stop their hosts from scoring early on. Bayern have only once opened the scoring prior to the 26th minute in their seven home matches in all competitions so far this season. The Gunners should also be able to hold out that long on Wednesday. Back the time of the first goal to be over 25 minutes @ a best price of 10/11 with Paddy Power or BoyleSports.
Nick Dorrington is a specialist sports writer. He writes for Just Bookies on football & F1 motor racing. He is a renowned columnist, having written for The Independent, ESPN, The Bleacher Report, USA Betting, Stats Bomb & more.