quick stats at a glance....barca are 11-4 to the over 2'goals in their last 15 games played....arsenal is 8-7..in their last 15(5-3 to the over at home in that stretch)...fabregas is a game-time decision for arsenal....as much as the gunners have been talking a good game this week about stopping messi,,,i have a hard time believing arsenal are gonna slow down the barcelona attack...gonna look for ibrahimovic to finally step it up against an english squad...let's roll with a 3-2 barca win...though wouldn't be shocked with a 2-2 tie...which, when the odds come out for both those finals, i will be taking a lil crack at those exact scores...i am finally out of the haze from this afternoons man u collapse...time to punt again...cheers
not sure you are looking for discussion but 0-0 was a popular score for barca away in the group stages, and 1-1 on the road vs Stuttgart. Only an 86th minute Messi goal was Barca only over in the CL group stage/1st knockout round. Arsenal only gave up 1 goal in 3 group stage games (no one near Barca class though) and a clean sheet at home vs Porto.
It is looking more and more like Fabergas will not play so it will be very hard for the Gunners to control the midfield. The return of Gallas will definitely help for the defense. I don't think barcelona will be pushing for 2-3 goals personally...
2 goals is a much safer play but it doesn't pay much and i think push is the best result.
I could be way off of course (god knows i've been this month)..
GL - i don't bet my club even totals so i'll be cheering for goals....Arsenal goals of course.
It is looking more and more like Fabergas will not play so it will be very hard for the Gunners to control the midfield. The return of Gallas will definitely help for the defense. I don't think barcelona will be pushing for 2-3 goals personally...
2 goals is a much safer play but it doesn't pay much and i think push is the best result.
I could be way off of course (god knows i've been this month)..
GL - i don't bet my club even totals so i'll be cheering for goals....Arsenal goals of course.
i agree here..the over is dangerous. the top teams like barca are looking for the away goal, but not necessarily for a big win in the first leg. they are confident to turn it around at home if they dont loose it completely today. so a defensive approach is very common in first leg.
also the over stats are very misleading if they are from the domestic league as both teams simply trash all teams that are not in top 4 in either spain or england.
look how the totals are when playing teams like chelsea or manu or valencia,sevilla real...without looking at it i would guess these games tend to go under 2.5
it might go over, but just a word of caution
if it was the 2nd leg, i had no doubt to play the over, but im staying away from this one. barca is not going to push all-in the first game of the leg, especially on the road against arsenal! and barca is a very different team in the euro league in comparison to how they perform in the la liga. same thing for arsenal. gun to my head, i would play the under 2.5/3. gl boys.
