Champions League Preview, Basel Vs. Arsenal: Prediction, Starting Line-Ups, And Betting Tips
Arsenal travels to Basel on Tuesday to play their final group match of the Champions League, hoping to grab the top spot of group A.
The 2-2 draw with PSG at the Emirates took the destination of group A out of Arsenal’s hand. Having already progressed to the pre-quarter final, the Gunners now have to wait for PSG’s bad fortune in order to win the group.
Great to get on last night and be a part of the 3-1 win ?? #COYG pic.twitter.com/J9lNdxPqK9
— Aaron Ramsey (@aaronramsey) November 28, 2016
Meanwhile, Basel is without a single win in this season’s Champions League. With two draws and three losses in the group matches, the Swiss side are already out of the Champions League. However, they still have hopes of qualifying for the Europa League if they win against Arsenal and PSG beat Ludogorets in the other fixture.
Finishing as group winners would be a huge advantage for Arsenal to avoid big guns, considering they have been knocked out at the last-16 stage for the last six seasons.
These two sides have met only once in their history in which the Gunners won 2-0, which was the first group match of this season’s Champions League.
Team News: Basel
Urs Fischer’s team has minor concerns of injury at the moment.
Center-back Manuel Akanjiis is set to miss the clash against Arsenal due to a injury concern.
Wide midfield trio Kevin Bua, Jean-Paul Boetius, and Dereck Kutesa are all sidelined for the hosts.
Marek Suchy will incur a suspension with the next booking, thus, he has to remain cautious on the match.
Andraz Sporar came on as a substitute in the weekend’s league match against Young Boys after recovering from an adductor problem,
FC Basel: Predicted Line-up (4-5-1)
Vaclik – Lang, Suchy, Balanta, Traore – Bjarnason, Delgado, Xhaka, Zuffi, Elyounoussi – Doumbia
Team News: Arsenal
Arsenal injury woes is haunting them once again as several first team players are injured at the moment.
Mathieu Debuchy injured his hamstring on Sunday’s 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth. He is declared unfit to start the match against Basel. Defender Per Mertesacker will also miss the next match due to long-term knee injury.
Santi Cazorla, who was recently ruled out for an extended period, will be missed by Arsenal massively this season. Questions marks were raised against Arsenal medical department, once again, after he is going to spend months on sidelines even though Wenger suggested that he would be just a few days out at the beginning.
Right-back Hector Bellerin, who is one of the star performers for Arsenal this season before being injured, will be sidelined from the match due to a foot injury.
The likes of Danny Welbeck and ChubaAkpom also will be unavailable for the coming match.
Mohamed Elneny recovered from his an illness and came as a substitute in the weekend’s clash against West Ham. His return gives much need backup strength to Arsene Wenger’ team.
Alexis Sanchez, who scored a hat-trick against West Ham in the last match, will lead the attack for the Gunners.
? "I grew up here at @FC_Basel and it feels really nice to be back – hopefully we can take something positive from the game" pic.twitter.com/5yPOZKXc71
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 5, 2016
Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka will be reuniting with his former club as he arrived this summer from the Swiss champions.
Arsenal: Predicted Line-up (4-2-3-1)
Ospina – Jenkinson, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal – Xhaka, Coquelin – Ozil, Walcott, Chamberlain – Sanchez
Basel vs. Arsenal: Head-to-Head
Total games: 1
Basel wins: 0
Arsenal wins: 1
Draws: 0
Basel vs. Arsenal: TV Schedule and Channel
In the U.K., the match will be live on BT Sport 2, BT Sport Live Streaming, and BT Sport Showcase. For other regions, the TV schedule can be found in the link here.
Basel vs. Arsenal: Prediction
The game will be a competitive one with both the teams aiming to get the best results to achieve their desired ambitions. Arsenal is on a brilliant run at the moment, and winning vs. Basel shouldn’t be a impossible task for them.
However, Basel has the advantage of playing in front of their home fans. This is a must win match for the home side if they are to qualify for Europa League this season.
Arsenal is top favorite to win this tie but that won’t guarantee them being group toppers as they have to depend on PSG’s result as well.
Final Predicted Score. Basel 0-2 Arsenal
Basel vs. Arsenal: Betting Tips and Odds
- Basel win: 5/2
- A draw: 12/5
- Arsenal win: 11/10
- Under 2.5 goals: 11/10
- Over 2.5 goals: 4/6
- Both teams score: 4/7
- Both teams fail to score: 5/4
The odds were provided by Paddypower.
Key Stats to consider
- Basel has only lost one of out their last 20 domestic fixtures.
- Basel hasn’t won a single match in this season’s Champions League.
- Arsenal is undefeated in this year’s Champions League, winning three and drawing two games.
- Arsenal has won their all five matches against Swiss opponents.
The Basel vs. Arsenal stats were provided by Whoscored.
[Featured Image by Paul Gilham/Getty Images]
