Kick-off: 2000, 15/04/2021
Stadium: Eden Arena
TV: BT Sport
Arsenal face a very tricky test when visiting Slavia Prague in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie.
The Gunners looked the better team in a 1-1 London draw, but their opponents have gone 30 home games without defeat, drawing with Leicester and Rangers at Eden Arena.
Punters can get 5/2 for another stalemate here and that appeals as our initial Slavia Prague vs Arsenal prediction.
A Look At Slavia Prague’s Betting Odds
Slavia had to ride their luck at Emirates Stadium, where Willian and Alexandre Lacazette hit the woodwork before Nicolas Pepe finally netted on the break after 86 minutes.
However, Jindrich Trpisovsky’s side hung in there and were eventually rewarded with a stoppage-time leveller.
Lukas Provod gave the Gunners a warning when forcing Bernd Leno to make a fine save before Tomas Holes headed in at the far post from a flicked-on corner.
Provod commented: “We played against a very hard opponent with great players, but we put everything into it and got our reward at the very end.
“After conceding first, nothing changed for us, because we still wanted to score an away goal that is very precious. We will see how valuable it is in the second leg.”
Slavia have since beaten Sparta 2-0 in a Prague derby at this venue to move 17 points clear of their rivals at the top of the Czech table, albeit having played two games more.
Bayer Leverkusen, Nice and Hapoel Beer Sheva were all beaten here during the group stage, so this is clearly a daunting place to come to.
Looking at the Slavia Prague vs Arsenal odds, we like 4/1 for the scores to be level at half-time and full-time again.
A Look At Arsenal’s Betting Odds
Arsenal understandably felt as though they should have made more of their first-leg chances, but Mikel Arteta wasn’t pressing any panic buttons afterwards.
“I totally believe that we can go there and win the match – if not, I wouldn’t be sitting here,” he said.
“The mindset has to be to go there and score goals and win the game, because we have to score if we want to go through.
“I think psychologically to go there with 1-0 is completely different to going there with 1-1. Now we know we have to go there and win the game.
“We know that we have to score goals and we cannot play any game, we have to go there with the determination to be an attacking team and hurt them.”
Sunday’s 3-0 Premier League win at Sheffield United was a nice boost, with Lacazette bagging a brace either side of Gabriel Martinelli’s tap-in.
But Slavia’s away victories over Leicester and Rangers during the knockout rounds came after first-leg draws, so that suggests they are also comfortable with the current scenario.
We wouldn’t rule out this tie going all the way to extra-time and 23/4 for a second 1-1 stalemate is added to our Slavia Prague vs Arsenal betting tips.
Additional stats
First-leg result:
ARSENAL 1-1 SLAVIA PRAGUE – Nicolas Pepe + Tomas Holes
Previous head-to-head: Slavia Prague 0-0 Arsenal, Arsenal 7-0 Slavia Prague
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