Former Liverpool and Manchester United striker Michael Owen has tried his hand at predicting once again. The much reviled BT Sports pundit had tried his hand at predicting the Premier League before and now he has had his say on tonight’s big Champions League clash between Arsenal ad Barcelona.
The former England international does not believe that it will be all one-way traffic and has backed the Gunners to score at the Emirates, but the Spanish giants to win the match.
Writing on Betvictor.com, Michael Owen opined that:
“Arsenal have been knocked out of the Champions League at this last 16 stage in the last five seasons and it is hard to see past more CL heartache for the Gunners given the quality of opposition,
The Catalan giants are playing football from a different planet at present and with the big three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar all in top form it will be difficult for the PL side to keep the La Liga side out in their present form; that said I expect Arsenal to score at the Emirates, just not as many as Barcelona!”
The same website had a footnote which said: “Michael’s recommendation: Barcelona to win and Both Teams To Score at 21/10.”
Arsenal cannot be stupid against Barcelona says Wenger
Arsene Wenger admitted that they might have to defend deep against Barcelona sometimes, saying that his side can ill-afford to be stupid against the mighty Catalans
“Looking recently in these big games, in the first tie at home we can’t be stupid,” he warns. “Many times we’ve won away and at home we’ve conceded. We have to find a good balance between defending and attacking. Individually, all their players are difficult to stop. We have to find a way to do it collectively.”
“I believe that at some point in the game we’ll have to be deep because of the way they play. You can’t always stop them high.”
The balance between defence and attack is the key for Arsene Wenger’s men if they are to have any hope of securing a positive result against Barcelona.
