Arsenal v Standard Liege
Football: Europe, UEFA Champions League
Tuesday, 24th November 2009 - Kickoff 19:45

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Arsenal (England) 1st - 3-1-0 10:4

The loss of Robin Van Persie to an ankle injury obviously had a major effect on Arsenal's play last weekend as the Gunners failed to score for the first time this season sliding to a 0-1 loss at Sunderland.

Van Persie was an ever present in the Arsenal side, and his absence was a key element, but also having an impact seemed to be a "World Cup" hangover with several senior players having sub-par games. Manager Arsene Wenger has spoken about this since - trying to get his charges to focus on their club roles until the end of May.

Arsenal Team news :
Out : Robin van Persie (ankle), Nicklas Bendtner (groin), Abou Diaby (calf), Johan Djourou (knee), Gaël Clichy (back), Łukasz Fabiański (knee)

Standard Liege (Belgium) 3rd - 1-1-2 6:6

Standard Liege had a great result last time out in the Champions League beating Greek side Olympiakos 2-0 with goals from Mbokani and Jovanovic.

That result keeps Liege in the hunt for a top two spot, but only just, and the Belgian side will need at least a point from this match, and for AZ Alkmarr to do them a favour as well.

Standard Liege were beaten 1-2 at KAA Gent on Saturday, only Liege second league loss this season, but seven draws mean that Standard are in 4th place now - 10 points behind Anderlecht.

Standard Liege Team News :
Out : Steven Defour (foot), Cédric Collet (broken toe), Mohamed Sarr (hamstring), Igor De Camargo (broken toe), Milan Jovanović (thigh)

Head to Head

16 years ago Arsenal faced Liege in the European Cup winnners Cup and won both games comfortably to progress 10-0 on aggregate.

It was a lot tougher in the first game this season, with Liege bouncing out to a 2-0 lead within 5 minutes before Arsenal battled back with three goals to secure a 3-2 win.

The Betting Verdict

This is an ideal opportunity for Arsenal to clinch progress to the next round - only a point is required - and also to try and rediscover an effective attacking pattern.

Manager Arsene Wenger has spoken about the importance of winning the group to earn an "easier" second round game - and so I'd expect a full strength line-up for this game as a victory would mean the final group game becomes irrelevant.

Standard Liege will give it a good go, but Arsenal's pace should create plenty of chances, and I expect the final margin to be a goal more than the away match.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Arsenal 3-1 Standard Liege

PERCENTAGE ESTIMATE :

Arsenal 76% - Draw 17% - Liege 7%

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

ARSENAL should win this game by a couple of goals.

HANDICAP BETTING :

Take ARSENAL to beat the -1.5 goal handicap.