*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
Arsenal’s preparations for their Europa League quarter final against Slavia Prague couldn’t have gone much worse. The Gunners are winless over their last three matches, shipping seven goals in all and they face a side who have already brushed aside two British sides, Leicester and Rangers.
Will they add a third British scalp to their belts? Let’s go through the stats and form to find the Three Best Bets for this Europa League quarter final clash.
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Both Teams to Score
Arsenal are massive favourites here to win over the 90 minutes and even bigger favourites to qualify for the next round. Leicester were also favourites. So were Rangers.
Arsenal’s home record isn’t in the best of shape, they’ve lost three of their last five at the Emirates but what’s most worrying for Arsenal here is that they’ve failed to score in all three of those matches. They scored five over the two matches they won but conceded a total of eight over those five matches.
Thursday 8pm: Arsenal v Slavia Prague
BT Sport 1
Anyone who underestimates the capabilities of this Slavia Prague side haven’t been paying attention to their European exploits. They’ve beaten Bayer Leverkusen once, Nice twice in the Group Stage and both Leicester and Rangers over their two-legged matches.
Arsenal will have to take it to them and over the last few seasons in the Europa League they have scored in all but one of their last 20 on home turf. Slavia have scored in eight of their last 10 on the road in the competition. With those stats, Both Teams to Score has to make the list.
Over 1.5 Second Half Goals
In the Premier League Arsenal have scored 66.6% of their goals in the second half of matches. Slavia have scored 55.4% of theirs in the second half of play in the Czech League. Going further into the stats we can see that Arsenal have at least one secong half goal in six of their last nine home Europa League matches while Prague have scored at least one second half goal in six of their last eight away matches in the competition.
Furthermore, Over 1.5 second half goals has occurred in five out of Arsenal’s nine most previous home Europa League matches and has also landed in five of Slavia’s eight most recent away European matches. With both teams showing they do most of their business in the second period of play we’re liking the odds here for Over 1.5 Second Half goals.
Arsenal to Win & Over 2.5 Goals
There’s no getting around Arsenal’s league form and the fact they’ve only won two of their last five matches but their Europa League form has seen them lose just one of their last 10 matches. At home the record isn’t quite as good but still respectable enough, where they’ve won seven of their last 10, drawing one (losing it in extra time) and losing two.
Slavia’s away Europa League form has seen them winning five of their last 10, drawing one and losing four. Eight of Arsenal’s 10 home matches in this competition saw over 2.5 goals occurring while it also landed in six of Slavia’s 10 away matches.
Slavia won’t have anything to fear going into this match, they’ve more than earned their place in the quarter finals, and Arsenal will have to be cautious. However, the Gunners have the home experience in the competition and the fire power to come out on top.
Games involving both sides have seen plenty of goals as well and with so much to play for that should continue. Arsenal have shown too that they can put their league form aside when it comes to European competition and they should edge it here with an Arsenal Win and Over 2.5 Goals.
Tips for Arsenal v Slavia Prague
Both Teams To Score
Over 1.5 Second Half Goals
Arsenal to Win & Over 2.5 Goals
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
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