Vitoria Guimaraes vs Arsenal Predictions

After their agonising defeat at Emirates Stadium, Guimaraes will be hoping to take all three points when they host Arsenal at Estádio D. Afonso Henriques on Wednesday afternoon. The visitors, meanwhile, go in search of a win that would guarantee their place in the knockout rounds.

It’s been a disappointing campaign for Thursday’s hosts, who’re languishing bottom of the group on zero points. But their performances have not been without promise, so Ivo Vieira’s men may come into this game feeling quietly confident. After all, they were massively hard done by to lose the reverse fixture a fortnight ago, while they certainly competed against both Frankfurt and Liege before that.

When they played at this venue on matchday two, Guimaraes lost out narrowly to Frankfurt. On that occasion, the Portuguese outfit offered plenty of resistance, while they also did a reasonable job of restricting their opponents to few clear-cut chances, conceding only six shots. They weren’t at their best offensively, especially in terms of end product; but we saw they’ve got firepower in the reverse of this fixture.

When the pair met two weeks ago, Arsenal came out on top by three goals to two, but they required a late, late double from Nicolas Pepe to do so. In a game where both teams created almost an identical amount in terms of goalscoring chances, it’s probably fair to say the Gunners were lucky to come out on top, particularly as their dodgy defence was typically poor.

Arsenal’s attacking qualities, as they so often do, have come to the fore in Group F. They’ve scored an impressive 10 goals in three matches and have generally created lots of scoring chances. However, although they’ve only conceded twice, they’ve looked very weak at the back, much as they have done in the Premier League. When winning away at Frankfurt, the Gunners were very lucky not to concede a couple of goals, such were the chances they conceded, while we saw just how easy they are to break down in the reverse of this fixture.

In the betting, as was the case a fortnight ago, Guimaraes look to have been underestimated. The Portuguese outfit showed they’re more than capable of tussling with Arsenal, yet don’t appear to have got the respect they deserve, especially since they’ve now got the benefit of playing in front of a home crowd. At these prices, the specific bet that stands out is ‘Guimaraes to Score Over 1.5 Goals’. After hurting the Arsenal backline on numerous occasions in the reverse fixture, Vieira’s side are backed to do plenty of damage on their own patch.