Tough games for the big boys

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English duo up against it By: Andy Schooler (SL)


Andy Schooler believes a disappointing night is in store for Liverpool and Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Recommended:

2pts Real Madrid (-1) to beat Liverpool

2pts Anderlecht & draw in double-chance market

Liverpool and Arsenal. United by their colours and their disappointment so far this season.

And they could be in for for more on Wednesday night in the Champions League.

Both sides started the season with outside hopes of securing the Premier League title but just eight games in and those dreams already appear to be over.

Liverpool's defence has come under even more scrutiny now there's no Luis Suarez to take the heat off it, while Arsenal have simply been unable to punish the poorer sides - a trait that kept them in last season's title chase for so long.

You have to worry about both sides heading into their midweek fixtures, albeit they face contrasting opponents.

Let's start with Liverpool who play host to reigning champions Real Madrid.

One of Europe's most free-flowing attacks will surely relish getting stuck into Liverpool's backline where big-money summer signing Dejan Lovren currently looks a fish out of water. Those around him are hardly covering themselves in glory either and I just don't see them coping with the array of talent in the visitors' ranks.

Gareth Bale may be missing but Real are hardly the epitome of a one-man team. Cristiano Ronaldo may not have scored at Anfield before but then has he ever come up against a defence as poor as this one?

Then there are the likes of Karim Benzema, James Rodriguez, Luka Modric and Isco to take care of - this is a side that has scored 32 goals in winning their last seven games.

You always know with Real that their defence isn't as good as the attack and for that reason I feel Sergio Ramos' absence is a bigger one than Bale's.

But do Liverpool have the players to capitalise? Mario Balotelli will presumably start again ahead of Rickie Lambert but he's done little in a Liverpool shirt to suggest he's worthy of a place at the top table that is the Champions League.

Not for the first time this season, I'll point out that Raheem Sterling's pace looks their most potent attacking weapon - 9/2 about him scoring first for Liverpool isn't the worst price going - but if fatigue is really an issue with him, how will he pull through after Sunday's 90 (well, 96) minutes at QPR?

Liverpool were extremely fortunate to beat Ludogorets at Anfield, while they were lacklustre at best in Basel on matchday two.

A potential worry is that historically Liverpool have been able to raise their game in the unique Anfield atmosphere on nights like these but how much weight do you place on teams of days gone by?

Of more concern to some will be the price - at time of writing Real are just shy of even money to win the game.

More tempting may be the 9/4 about them winning by two clear goals, something I feel is more than possible.

Basically I've seen very little from Liverpool this season to suggest they can compete with Europe's best and so this is the way I'm going to approach the game.


Moving onto Arsenal, they also look vulnerable as they head to Belgium to face Anderlecht and simply can't be trusted at odds-on.

This is a team which has won just two of eight Premier League games thus far, while in Europe they struggled past Besiktas in the play-off round and were also well beaten in their previous away game at Borussia Dortmund.

Now they are struggling with injuries, particularly at the back, and that's undermining their bid to put a winning run together.

The Gunners will hope Calum Chambers' return, presumably at centre-back, will help Per Mertesacker, who was very shaky against Hull at the weekend when asked to lead a makeshift defence which included the inexperienced Hector Bellerin at right-back. He will likely play there again.

However, the Chambers good news is tempered by some bad with third-choice keeper Emiliano Martinez taking his place between the sticks with Wojciech Szczesny (suspended) and David Ospina (injured) both missing.

Martinez's last game was last season's 7-5 game at Reading in the League Cup, by the way.

OK, Anderlecht are no Dortmund (indeed they were also well beaten by the Germans three weeks ago) but they still have enough talent to get at a defence in a bit of a state right now.

Steven Defour may not have gained the big-money move to the Premier League so many of his Belgian international team-mates have but he has regularly caught the eye in matches such as these, while Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is a talent destined for bigger things and looks exactly the sort of player who could trouble Arsenal at the back.

The Belgians, unbeaten domestically, were only denied a win away to Galatasaray by a last-minute goal and can thwart their opponents again here to keep their hopes of making the knockout stage alive.

At odds-against in the double-chance market, they look worthy of support.

Bet now on Anderlecht v Arsenal!

Wednesday Champions League verdicts:

Liverpool 1 Real Madrid 3 ... (Bennys view .. 0 - 5 and Ronaldo to score 3

Anderlecht 1 Arsenal 1

Atletico Madrid 2 Malmo 0

Bayer Leverkusen 2 Zenit St Petersburg 0

Galatasaray 0 Borussia Dortmund 2

Ludogorets 1 Basel 0

Monaco 2 Benfica 1

Olympiakos 1 Juventus 1

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HT .. 0 - 3 ...oh dear did I say 5 - 0 FT