CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BETTING PREVIEW - ARSENAL VS BAYER LEVERKUSEN

Champions League

2026-03-17 - Arsenal vs Bayer Leverkusen

A Sports Betting Preview by Auls

Arsenal v Bayer Leverkusen
Football: UEFA Champions League Last 16 Second Leg
Tuesday 17th March 2026 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV

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Arsenal

Late goals prevented Arsenal from dropping two points in the Premier League and it became the perfect day when rivals Manchester City failed to make their dominance count in a 1-1 draw at West Ham United. A firm grip is now on the Premier League title, but Arsenal fans will put that competition aside for the remainder of the month with the next three matches all in Cup settings.

First up is the Champions League Last 16 Second Leg against Bayer Leverkusen after an underwhelming performance in Germany was salvaged by a late equaliser on the night. This now makes Arsenal huge favourites to move through to the Quarter Final of the competition again and The Gunners have won all 4 home Champions League games so far this season having scored 12 goals and conceded just 3 in those matches.

Arsenal have extended the unbeaten run further after the 2-0 win over Everton this past weekend, while that also makes it 5 wins in the last 6 games in all competitions. The side have won 6 in a row at home in all competitions and Arsenal have kept 4 clean sheets in that time.

Jurrien Timber came off before half time on Saturday and has to be considered a doubt, while Martin Odegaard may not make it back before the March international break. Some changes will be made to freshen up the starting eleven ahead of this big week before the international break.

Bayer Leverkusen

After using Arsenal's own favourite route to goals against them with a set piece goal last week, Bayer Leverkusen will be very disappointed they were not able to see out a win that would have given them something to hold onto in North London. There is still an opportunity there for Bayer Leverkusen as they look for the upset, but many will feel the best chance of securing that would have been in the First Leg at home.

All is not lost for a Bayer Leverkusen team that have won 3 of the 5 away Champions League games played this season and who have only been beaten once in that time. In those matches, Leverkusen have scored 7 goals and conceded just 4 and that will give them some belief ahead of this Second Leg.

Bayer Leverkusen have only lost 1 of the last 14 games in all competitions, although the 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich on Saturday means they have drawn 5 of the last 6. The side have won half of the last 6 away games played in all competitions and suffered just a single loss in that run.

Martin Terrier and Aleix Garcia are both doubts after picking up injuries on Saturday and those absences would stretch a squad that is already impacted by a number of players missing.

Head to Head

Arsenal's sole game hosting Bayer Leverkusen ended in a 4-1 win in February 2002.

Prediction

This is a tie that is balanced after the First Leg, although Bayer Leverkusen fans will believe they deserved some kind of lead to take into the fixture.

Instead a late Penalty allowed Arsenal to bring back a 1-1 draw for the Premier League leaders and they are now set as big favourites to progress.

While it would be a surprise if Mikel Arteta's team falters, this is not going to be straight-forward and Bayer Leverkusen have shown they can be set up very well in away games in the Champions League. That is backed up by the fact they have conceded just 4 goals in 5 away games in the competition and Bayer Leverkusen kept 3 clean sheets in that time.

Last week they largely managed the Arsenal threat and that has to offer some encouragement to the away players.

Another result that will give Leverkusen something to believe in is the 0-2 win at Manchester City in the League Phase of the competition and the team have only lost 1 of the last 6 away games they have played.

Injuries have stretched the options and Bayer Leverkusen did have a tough home game this past weekend when holding Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw. Those stalemates have been a feature of recent Bayer Leverkusen outings, while the removal of the 'away goals' rule in Europe means they can play a more natural game in this one after the 1-1 home draw last week.

They are facing an Arsenal team that also put in a huge physical and emotional effort to beat Everton on Saturday in the English title race. This will give Bayer Leverkusen encouragement in seeing how awkward Everton made things and Arsenal are not a team that have been blowing past opponents in recent weeks, but instead have been grinding them down.

An early goal would change the entire outlook of this fixture, but the under 2.5 goals market looks a big price.

Arsenal are a team that will be focusing on making sure they try and keep the backdoor shut, but so will Bayer Leverkusen and there were not a great deal of chances when the teams met last week.

A Knock Out tie Second Leg can become quite wild if a team is having to chase, but this feels like one that may be tight and competitive throughout.

The key for Bayer Leverkusen will be getting through the first 20 minutes without conceding- if they can do that, nerves in the home ranks could be shaken and the Bundesliga club are unlikely to open up very early in their bid to upset the odds.

Like Saturday, this is another Arsenal game where you can make an argument for the first goal potentially being a decider and backing another low-scoring game looks a big price.

The Pick :

Arsenal 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Under 2.5 Goals at 2.32 with Cloudbet