Arsenal head into Greece for tonight’s clash in the Champions League and it’s hard to see Wenger or his players relishing this trip to Panathinaikos. Arsenal are in a strong position in the table at the moment but the Greeks can go top of the Group if they win well tonight. So the pressure is on for Arsenal to perform and with Man United on Sunday they could do without it. Such are the demands of football these days that you have to think that Arsenal are due a defeat.
This is a pressure point really. At Stan James we bet Panathinaikos……7/2, The Draw….9/4, and Arsenal……8/11. It’s a short price for Arsenal considering the hostile atmosphere in Athens. No Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva or Clichy tonight for the Gunners. Bergkamp…unbelievably….still refuses to fly, but they do have Freddie Ljungberg back. The Greeks have a couple of players out, but otherwise are at full strength. The teams have met six times before….with Arsenal winning five and the Greeks just once. On paper this should be straight forward, but Wenger will not be complacent. He set the tone by saying “Our strongest team will play in Greece and then again on Sunday. It’s as simple as that. We want to win every game.” But for all the talk, it’s going to be tough to get a result here. The Greeks have a knack of making things unpleasant for teams. It will be a test of Arsenal’s fortitude this one and they know it. The draw is probably the call here. A point will satisfy Wenger. He knows at Highbury things will be very different. But he has to get through ninety minutes first….without injuries, and we can’t see Arsenal tearing Panathinaikos up. If they do, it’ll illustrate just how good this Arsenal team is. All the markets are available at www.stanjames.com and we’ll be betting In-Running throughout the game
