PSG v Arsenal: 7/1 Rice can give Gunners hope | OneFootball

Declan Rice can make his mark in Paris

PSG gained a crucial 1-0 win at the Emirates but Arsenal can give them something to think about in Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg says Dave Tindall...

PSG v ArsenalWednesday 07 May, 20:00Live on Discovery+

The View From Arsenal

In theory, Arsenal could win the Champions League and make this one of their greatest ever seasons.

But after losing the first leg 1-0 at home last week, they now find themselves looking at a doomsday scenario.

If the worst pans out, they end yet another campaign empty-handed while Liverpool (Premier League), Manchester City (FA Cup), Newcastle (Carabao Cup), Tottenham or Manchester United (Europa League) and Chelsea (Conference League) all bank a trophy.

The Gunners were a shade of odds-against at 21/20 to make the final before they lost the first leg at The Emirates. Now they're out to 7/2 to reach the showpiece in Munich on the final day of May.

Only two teams have ever managed to progress from a Champions League semi-final after losing the first leg at home so history is heavily against Mikel Arteta's side.

It's easy to say they took their eye off the Premier League a while ago but Arsenal go into this return leg in their joint-worst run of the season after two losses (against PSG and home to Bournemouth at the weekend) and a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace in the last three matches.

Has momentum gone at just the wrong time or do they have something up their sleeves still?

PSG weekend defeat can be dismissed

PSG have also lost their domestic focus but in very different circumstances. They've already been declared French champions and their hopes of going through the Ligue 1 campaign unbeaten were ended with a 3-1 home loss to Nice prior to the first leg.

With that aim gone and all energies channeled into finally winning this tournament for the first time in their history, Luis Enrique sent out a young team - four were born in 2006 or later - against Strasbourg at the weekend. The result? A 2-1 loss but it didn't really matter.

Ousmane Dembele suffered a minor hamstring concern in the first leg so was one of the star names to be rested. But after being spotted in training on Monday, the freescoring frontman should be ready to go.

Paris odds-against to finish job with a win

PSG have already hosted two Premier League sides in the knockout phase. They somehow contrived to lose 1-0 to Liverpool despite completely dominating the match - they had 18 shots to just two from the Reds - and came from 1-0 down to beat Aston Villa 3-1.

For Wednesday night's encounter, PSG are 11/10 to win the game, with Arsenal 12/5 and The Draw 27/10.

Thomas Partey returns for the Gunners after being suspended for the first leg and, if making a case for Arsenal turning this around, you'd be pointing to that and Dembele perhaps not being 100%.

There's also the element of a team not knowing whether to stick or twist having won the away leg.

Arsenal have the simpler thought process: win or it's all over.

All in all though, I'll ignore the outright market.

Arsenal pair make appeal

Declan Rice didn't manage a shot on target in the first leg but I'll keep my faith in him and back the England star to test the goalkeeper here.

Rice has seven shots on target from his 12 games in the Champions League this season and that's a far better ratio than his Premier League stats show.

That said, he netted against Bournemouth at the weekend and who can forget his two free-kicks against Real Madrid?

He's 9/5 to have a shot on target on Wednesday night and that's worth a go given that Arsenal must come up with something.

Mikel Merino will likely be used up front again and I'll back the stand-in striker to warm the gloves of Gianluigi Donnarumma - an outstanding performer in this year's Champions League.

The double on both Rice and Merino having a shot on target is around 10/3.

I'll also back Rice to get on the scoresheet. PSG haven't been great at the back recently, conceding 10 in their last six games. It's five in the last three home games if applying that filter.

Rice has five goals in his last 14 games so has been more prolific over the last couple of months. Three of those strikes came in the Champions League.

Given his numbers, Rice is value at 7/1 to score anytime.

17/1 to score first - there will be plenty of twitching in the PSG camp as they continue the pursuit of the Champions League Holy Grail.

1pt - Back Declan Rice and Mike Merino both to have 1+ Shots on Target @ 10/3

1pt - Back Declan Rice to Score @ 7/1

Staked: 75.5pts

Returned: 58.17pts

P/L: -17.33pts

Previous:2023/2024 P/L: -£20.792022/2023 P/L: +£16.792021/2022 P/L: +£8.692020/2021 P/L: +£3.06

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