League leaders Arsenal travel away to tame Wolves
Premier League leaders and title hopefuls Arsenal will endeavour to move seven points clear at the summit when they travel to Molineux to face basement club Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday night.
Tentative talk of a historic quadruple has emerged, but Arteta’s side will continue to take one game at a time, with FA Cup, EFL Cup and Champions League duties put to one side for now, as the Gunners shift their focus back to the Premier League and their quest to win the title for the first time in over two decades.
Arsenal deserve credit for losing just one of their last 11 Premier League games (W7 D3), but an underwhelming 1-1 draw at Brentford last week has allowed title rivals Manchester City to close the gap at the summit to four points with 12 games left to play, including a tricky trip to the Etihad in April.
Like Arsenal, Wolves secured their place in the FA Cup fifth round after overcoming a scrappy contest in treacherous conditions at Blundell Park to beat fourth-tier outfit Grimsby Town 1-0 on Sunday, courtesy of a second-half goal kneed into the net by Santiago Bueno.
Wolves will find it difficult to improve their home record on Wednesday, as they have lost each of their last nine Premier League encounters with Arsenal since doing the double over the Gunners in 2020-21.
Arsenal are determined to right the wrongs from their draw at Brentford last time out and they should have more than enough quality in their ranks – including some key rested players from the weekend – to get the job done and move seven points clear at the top.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Club Brugge host Atletico Madrid in playoff tie
Club Brugge will welcome Atletico Madrid on Wednesday evening for the first leg of their Champions League playoff tie at the Jan Breydel Stadium in Bruges.
Both sides are aiming to secure a place in the round of 16 after falling short of automatic qualification in the league phase, setting up what promises to be a finely balanced encounter.
Club Brugge head into this contest determined to extend their European campaign, having narrowly missed out on automatic progression from the league phase.
The home performance of Club Brugge have also been relatively solid, with two wins, one draw and one defeat from four matches.
Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, arrive in Belgium looking to bounce back from a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano in La Liga.
That result followed an emphatic 4-0 victory over Barcelona in the Copa del Rey, highlighting the inconsistency that has defined their campaign.
Their final league-phase outing in the Champions League ended in a 2-1 home defeat to Bodo/Glimt, further underlining their unpredictability in Europe this season.
However, with momentum on their side and a strong record at home, Club Brugge could capitalise on Atletico Madrid’s inconsistency.
If the hosts maintain their intensity, they should have enough to secure a narrow first-leg advantage.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Qarabag, Newcastle face off in knockout phase
Both debutants at this stage of the Champions League, Qarabag FK and Newcastle United face off at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium in the first leg of their knockout phase playoff tie.
Winless in three of four away matches in Europe this term, Newcastle will hope for an encouraging performance and result, aiming to halt the Azerbaijani outfit’s admirable European campaign by taking a positive scoreline into next week’s reverse fixture at St James’ Park.
If any Qarabag supporter had been told before a ball was kicked in this season’s Champions League that they would still be involved in the competition at this stage, they would have bitten anyone’s hand off.
The Azerbaijani club had never secured three points in the competition in their history until defeating Benfica in a comeback 3-2 victory in September, a win that has since been followed by triumphs against Copenhagen and Eintracht Frankfurt on matchdays two and seven.
Despite a 6-0 hammering by Liverpool on the concluding matchday of the League Phase, Gurban Gurbanov’s team still made history by becoming the first side from Azerbaijan to make it this far, and they now seek to take it a step further.
However, the precedent is undoubtedly against the Blue and Whites, given their historical disadvantage against English teams in Europe; they have lost seven of eight meetings, drawing the other, ahead of hosting Newcastle in Baku.
However, the Magpies possess enough attacking quality to match their hosts’ free-scoring output, potentially leading to a thrilling stalemate in Baku.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Inter Milan visit Bodo/Glimt in their quest for redemption
Travelling north of the Arctic Circle, Inter Milan will continue their quest for Champions League redemption when they visit Bodo/Glimt on Wednesday.
Meeting at Aspmyra Stadion for the first leg of their playoff, three-time winners Inter have reached the final twice in the last three seasons, while Bodo are knockout stage debutants.
Bodo/Glimt’s first foray into the Champions League proper seemed set to end in the league phase, before the competition’s most northerly club sealed progress with a grandstand finale.
Ensuring their campaign would continue, the Norwegian side spectacularly recovered from failing to win any of their opening six games by knocking down two heavyweights.
Against all odds, Bodo won their final pair of fixtures – 3-1 at home to Manchester City and 2-1 away to Atletico Madrid – and seized the penultimate qualifying spot on a chaotic last matchday.
Last year, they even reached the Europa League semi-finals, losing to eventual winners Tottenham Hotspur after overcoming Lazio to get there – Bodo’s sole success against Italian opposition across five two-legged ties.
Inter Milan have arrived in the playoffs via an uneven league-phase campaign, in which they won their first four games while conceding just one goal, before suffering three consecutive defeats.
Twice beaten finalists during the past three years, Inter truly excel in two-legged ties: excluding finals, they have won 10 and lost just one of their last 15 knockout matches in Europe’s top competition.
Set to face sub-zero conditions and a tricky plastic pitch, Inter will be put through a tough test in this first leg – particularly as Bodo/Glimt also play a slick brand of football.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
EPL FIXTURE
Wolverhampton Wanderers 20:00 Arsenal
Wolverhampton Wanderers 20:00 Arsenal
Qarabağ 17:45 Newcastle United
Bodø / Glimt 20:00 Inter Milan
