Matchday 1 of the Uefa Champions League gets underway on Tuesday night and our focus is on the North London duo as Arsenal travel to take on Athletic Bilbao and Spurs host Villarreal
Note prices quoted are subject to change
Athletic Bilbao 29/10 Draw 23/10 Arsenal 0.93/1
Bilbao claimed their UCL spot after a fine fourth placed finish in La Liga in 2024/25. They were in the Europa League last season and in the league phase they finished in second spot with 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat. They progressed all the way to the semi finals where they finished well beaten by Manchester United (7-1 on aggregate). They started the new La Liga season well with 3 wins in their first 3 matches before a 1-0 home defeat to Alavez at the weekend.
The Gunners breezed through the league phase last season with 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat and they went on to reach the semi finals where they bowed out to the eventaul winners PSG. After significantly strengthening the squad in the transfer window Arsenal have started the new EPL campaign with 3 wins and a 1-0 defeat at Liverpool. The wins, at Man United (1-0) and at home to Leeds (5-0) and Forest (3-0) all came with a clean sheet.
The Verdict
Although they have a few injuries there is real depth to this Arsenal squad this season and whilst this is not an easy place to visit I fancy they have enough to come out on top. Gyokeres has a couple of goals to his name already and I will also take him to score anytime.
Bets: Arsenal to win at 0.93/1 with Sportingbet
Anytime Goalscorer Viktor Gyokeres at 1.55/1 with Sportingbet
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Spurs 9/10 Draw 27/10 Villarreal 11/4
Despite finishing fourth bottom in the EPL last season Spurs victory over Manchester United in the Europa League Final saw them qualify automtically for the UCL. Much has changed since then with Thomas Frank taking over as coach and they have a decent start to the domestic season with 3 wins (alongside 1 defeat) from their first 4 league games. That sole defeat did come in a home game, Bournemouth's 1-0 win here but they have kept clean sheets in seeing off Burnley (3-0) at this ground as well as Man City (2-0) and most recently West Ham (3-0) in their road trips.
Villarreal were not involved in European competition last season but a fifth placed finish in La Liga in 2024/25 sees them back on the big stage. In the early stages of the new La Liga season Villarreal won 2 home games against Oviedo (2-0) and Girona (5-0) before a draw away to Celta Vigo and at the weekend they went down 2-0 away to Atletico Madrid.
The Verdict
If you draw a line through Spurs performance in the defeat to Bournemouth they have done nothing else wrong. The stadium will be buzzing and as we saw on Saturday at West Ham the Spurs defenders are a threat from set pieces. Micky Van De Ven is my play to to pop up with a goal for the hosts.
Bets: Anytime Goalscorer Micky Van De Ven at 15/1 with Betway
Note prices quoted are subject to change