Unlikely bossom buddies Tottenham and Arsenal can unite to bring joy to punters by making flying starts to the new Champions League campaign which kicks-off this week.
Spurs and the Gunners both face LaLiga opposition as they commence their European adventures, with Mikel Arteta’s team heading to Spain to face Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames Stadium where their neighbours from N17 lifted the Europa League trophy with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in May.
It’s 32 years since Arsenal won silverware in Europe by lifting the now defunct Cup Winners’ Cup but hope are high in Islington that they can go one better than last season’s charge to the semi-finals where they were eliminated by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain.
The Gunners have made a strong start to the Premier League as they commence their quest to be crowned domestic champions for the first time in 22 years and have taken nine points from their first four matches.
A shoulder injury to skipper Martin Odegaard means he is unlikely to make the trip to the beautiful Basque city as he joins Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Kai Havertz in the treatment room but the Londoners should still prove too powerful for their hosts, who saw their perfect start to the season derailed by a 1-0 defeat at home to Alaves on Saturday.
Arsenal splashed out more than £250million on new recruits in the summer and Martin Zubimendi scored twice with Viktor Gyokeres hitting his third in four matches in Saturday’s comfortable 3-0 success against Nottingham Forest and the latter should be backed at 17/4 with Ladbrokes, Coral and BetVictor to break the deadlock and at 6/4 with the same firms to hit the net at any time.
Victory for the Gunners is 10/11 with Coral who have chalked up the same price for Tottenham to continue their hot start by beating visiting Villarreal. Spurs made light work of West Ham in a 3-0 victory at the London Stadium on Saturday with key players Rodrigo Bentancur, Randal Kolo Muani, Richarlison and Brennan Johnson on their bench, which looks significantly stronger to last season after an impressive spending spree during the recent transfer window.
New manager Thomas Frank has hit the ground running by also taking nine points from 12 and attacking midfielder Xavi Simons is 15/2 to open the scoring and 29/10 with BetMGM to add his name to the scoreboard at any time.
Champions League winners odds
Paris Saint-Germain looked as though they were embarking on the start of a dynasty when they thrashed Inter Milan 5-0 in last year’s Champions League final after beating Manchester City in the group stages and eliminating Aston Villa, Liverpool and Arsenal in the knockout rounds.
They then swept all before them to reach the final of the Club World Cup but were ripped apart by Chelsea in the New Jersey decider and were then taken to the brink of defeat by Tottenham Hostpur in the Super Cup before winning on penalties.
A tough group schedule this time around and a series of injuries to key players at the start of the season raises further questions about their ability to win successive titles for the first time since Real Madrid in 2017 and 2018, but they started slowly last year and could follow the same path to ultimate glory at the Ferenc Puskas Stadium in Budapest in May at 13/2 with bet365.
As for the six English clubs involved, Liverpool are joint favourites with Barcelona at 6/1 with multiple firms, Arsenal are 15/2 with Betfred while Manchester City are 12/1 with Betway. Chelsea are priced at 14/1 with Sporting Index and SpreadEx, Tottenham are 40/1 with BetMGM and Newcastle are the same odds with BoyleSports and Unibet.
Punters looking for a club at a decent price could do worse than back Bayern Munich each-way at 12/1 with bet365 and BoyleSports as they look full of goals following the addition of Luis Diaz and Nicolas Jackson to an attack which already boasts Harry Kane, Jamal Musiala and Michael Olise among others in its ranks.
Kane has already scored nine goals in six games this season and is definitely worth an each-way bet at 10/1 with William Hill, bet365, Paddy Power and Betway among others to win the tournament’s Golden Boot.
Carabao Cup odds
Brentford have already beaten Aston Villa 1-0 in the Premier League and can complete a double over Unai Emery’s side by knocking them out of the Carabao Cup in west London.
The Bees are 19/20 with bet365 to qualify for the fourth round and can also be put in a treble with Nottingham Forest, who should give Ange Postecoglou his first win at Swansea, and Grimsby, who memorably beat Manchester United on penalties in the last round and will be too good for troubled Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.
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