German champions Bayern Munich prepare for a tough battle as they face Premier League side Arsenal at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday. The two sides are no strangers to each other, they have met in three consecutive Champions League campaigns lately. In 2015, Bayern prevailed 5-3 on aggregate and they also pulled through in 2013 and 2014. In fact, Arsenal have never managed to knock out Bayern in the Champions League, but they have recorded wins against the Bavarians now and again.
Bayern Munich are still dominating the Bundesliga, they are surely heading for yet another title after having lost just one match so far this season. Thet have not lost a competitive match since November, when Rostov stunned them in the Champions League group stage. Franck Ribery and Jerome Boateng are injured and will sit this one out, while Xabi Alonso has picked up a knee injury in training and might miss out as well.
Arsenal bounced back after a two-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory over struggling Hull City last weekend, but the result does not show the difficulties that the Gunners had to go through during that match. A game against a giant like Bayern will surely motivate Arsene Wenger's men, but whether they can be up to the expectations remains to be proven. Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Debuchy remain on the injured list.
Probable line-ups:
Bayern: Neuer - Lahm, Martinez, Hummels, Alaba - Alcantara, Alonso, Vidal - Robben, Lewandowski, Muller
Arsenal: Ospina - Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal - Coquelin, Elneny - Walcott, Ozil, Welbeck - Sanchez
My prediction: Bayern to win 3-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Bayern win - 1.50
Draw - 4.60
Arsenal win - 7.00