CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BETTING PICK - MANCHESTER UNITED V ARSENAL F.C

Champions League

2009-04-29 - Manchester United vs Arsenal F.C

A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser

Analysis:

Manchester United defied the odds in their last match when they were 0-2 down to come back and beat Tottenham 5-2 and now as defending Champions they will be eager once again to get to the final and retain their title. Standing in their way will be Arsenal.

Interestingly they have never met each other in the Champions League before but in their only meeting in the Premiership this season, Arsenal came out 2-1 winners.

Manchester United will bid to become the first team to retain the Champions League since it started out in 1992 and overcome one of their greatest rivals. For Arsenal they have featured in the Champions League Final in 2006 but narrowly lost 2-1 after going down to 10 players.

Arsenal still has six players from the side that were beaten by Barcelona then and Wenger will hope they will be eager to banish those painful memories and get a result in tonight's match.

Sir Alex Ferguson has gone on record to state how much a clean sheet as well as a 1-0 win would do to take for the second leg. Manchester United did defied the odds when they drew with Porto 2-2 and then still managed to beat the Portuguese side 1-0 thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo in the return leg.

While Arsenal will be confident due to their 20 games unbeaten streak in the Premiership, United have in the past known to be the team that breaks the run of teams that have gone on a long unbeaten run before. Just ask Chelsea or Arsenal that.

As for team news, apart from Gary Neville United have a full squad to choose from. Carlos Tevez could start this match after his impressive performances against Tottenham in the 5-2 win. So expect the likes of Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo to start this match from the start here.

Arsenal have a number of casualties with the likes of striker Robin Van Persie (groin), William Gallas (knee), Gael Clichy (back) and Thomas Rosicky (hamstring) all ruled out here. But the good news is defender Mikael Silvestre should be fit to face his former club after he attended training on Tuesday while Van Persie and Clichy are expected to be back for the second-leg only.

For players such as United duo Patrice Evra and Wayne Rooney and Gunners trio Abou Diaby, Alexandre Song and Samir Nasri they are in danger of missing the second leg clash as they are a booking away from suspension.

Take Manchester United to win and give the 1/2 ball here.

Cheers and good luck,
Cruiser

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

Take Manchester United to win this match.