by Ifreke Inyang
Yesterday’s round of UEFA Champions League matches were worth our while. End to end action, late goals, surprise results and generally a new level of drama altogether to set the stage perfectly for today’s games.
All eyes will be in France when a certain Frenchman leads Arsenal out against Marseille. The Gunners appear to have more joy in Europe than at home, as they have remained unbeaten in the competition so far. both teams however have not started the domestic season brightly and have been struggling to get results. Marseille are currently 15th in the Ligue 1 while Arsenal is also 10th position after eight games in the English Premiere League. This promises to be an interesting duel.
Back home in London, Chelsea will be aiming to pull clear of the chasing pack in Group E. The Blues currently lead with four points and face Belgium side, Genk who are bottom of the group. Apart from that inconsequential statistic, Chelsea are playing really well under Andre Villas-Boas and should put Genk in their right place.
Having said that, there are games that are a bit close to call. Bayern Leverkusen will be hosting Valencia and it’s not exactly three point guaranteed for the Germans. Valencia are doing quite well in the Spanish La Liga and will give the German team a good game. If Leverkusen do not step up their games, the Mestalla side may just shock them tonight. Another close game in my opinion will be the Olympiakos game against visiting Dortmund. Playing in Greece is usually a tough prospect, especially with the hostile environment and noisy stadia, but Dortmund are reknowed European campaigners themselves and should be up for it tonight.
Most of the other games tonight are rather predictable. I expect Barcelona to roll over V Plzen at the Camp Nou, AC Milan to also also pick up the maximum points against BATE and FC Porto should defeat Al Niasiar at home.
gunners!!!!