by Ian S Palmer
Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia will be hosting English Premier League side Arsenal at the Stadion Maksimir in their first Group F matchup in the European Champions League group stage on Wednesday, September 16. Arsenal heads over as the fourth-place team in England with 10 points from three wins, a draw and a loss. They’ve scored five goals and allowed three against. Dinamo sits in top spot in the Prva Liga with five wins and four draws for 19 points. They’ve scored 20 times and conceded four. Arsenal beat Stoke 2-0 at home in their last league outing in Saturday while Dinamo beat Lokomotiva Zagreb 4-0 on the road.
Arsenal vs Dinamo Zagreb Soccer Betting Preview
BETTING LINE:
- Pinnacle currently lists Arsenal as the favorites at -196 with Dinamo Zagreb +629 and a draw at +355
HEAD TO HEAD:
- These two sides have met just twice in the past in competitive competition. Arsenal downed Dinamo by an aggregate score of 5-1 in the third qualifying round back in the 2006/07 season. The Gunners pulled off a 3-0 victory in Zagreb while winning 2-1 at home in London. This is Dinamo Zagreb’s first time back in the group stage of the tournament since the 2012/13 campaign and they are currently stuck in a 15-game winless streak in the competition. Gonçalo Santos will miss the match for Dinamo as he’s serving a suspension. Santos (Dinamo Zagreb) Arsenal are playing in the group stage for the 18th consecutive year, but they still haven’t won the event.
Dinamo are the reigning Croatian champions and they’ve played in the group stage four previous times. However, they’ve never advanced past it. There previous attempts came in the 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons. They’ve also appeared in six Europa League tournaments as well and have never advanced past the group stage there either. Dinamo has managed just four goals in their past dozen Champions League contests and their last win in the tournament came back in the 1999/2000 event when they beat SK Sturm Graz 3-0 at home.
Dinamo has just two draws in their past 15 tournament outings. They reached this year’s Champions League by beating KF Skënderbeu, CS Fola Esch, and Molde FK in their three qualifying rounds. The Croatian club hasn’t fared too well against English teams in the past as they’ve been beaten in their last six matches against them with three of them being played at home. They’ve never won against a Premier League squad with seven defeats and a pair of draws.
Arsenal made it to the final 16 last year, but were then ousted at that stage for the fifth year in a row. Last year’s exit came at the hand of French Ligue 1 club AS Monaco. The Gunners have done quite well on the road though with seven wins, two draws and two losses in their past 11 away outings. The met Croatian team HNK Hajduk Split in the second round of the 1978/79 UEFA Cup and won 1-0 at home before losing 2-1 on the road.
Dinamo enters the game on a 41-match undefeated streak in all competitions since losing in the group stage of the Europa Cup to FC Astra Giurgiu last November. Their last domestic league loss came at the hands of NK Istra 1961 in May of last year. They also went undefeated in the 2014/15 Prva Liga season to become the first team to ever achieve the feat. Arsenal will be without their injured England international midfielder Jack Wilshere and forward Danny Welbeck for this game against Dinamo. The other teams in the group are Bayern Munich of the German Bundesliga and Olympiakos of Greece.
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