German league champions Bayern Munich take on Arsenal in the International Champions Cup at the Shanghai Stadium in China.
Bayern Munich vs Arsenal
International Champions Cup – China
Wednesday 19th July – 12:20 UK Time
Bayern Munich Form
Last season, Bayern one a fifth consecutive Bundesliga title and ended the season with a seven-match unbeaten run in the league. In fact, their last defeat came on April 26 against Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal. Pre-season has seen them start as they mean to go on, with four wins from four matches. These include two in the Telekom Summer Cup this past weekend.
They will be looking to continue their build to another season with a good showing in the International Champions Cup both in China and in Singapore later this month.
Arsenal Form
Arsenal had a poor season in 2016/17, finishing outside the top four in the Premier League for the first time since 1995/96. An FA Cup Final victory over Chelsea at least gave them some silverware but it was scant consolation after a poor showing in the league and in Europe.
They did end the campaign with five consecutive league victories, and they’ve had a good start to pre-season. That good start was two victories in Australia, over Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers.
This game versus Bayern is their only one in the ICC, before a friendly against Chelsea and The Emirates Cup at the end of the month.
Head to Head
Since December 2000, these two sides have met twelve times. Bayern have the advantage with seven victories, Arsenal have won three, and two have finished level.
Last season, Bayern humiliated Arsenal in the Champions League by thrashing them 10-2 on aggregate after two 5-1 wins.
It has been 5-1 to the German side the last three times these clubs have met. Arsenal last beat Bayern 2-0 in October 2015.
Betting Odds and Predictions
Even though this is technically a friendly, both sides will still want to pick up the victory.
The German side are favourites, due to the fact they are champions of their domestic league and have the edge over Arsenal in their head to head record.
The bookie Ladbrokes has Bayern priced at 3/4, Arsenal are 10/3, and the draw is 14/5.
This is a tough one to call. Bayern obviously hold bragging rights over Arsenal, but the English side will be determined to gain a bit of revenge for their last meeting.
Because it’s difficult to predict a clear winner, it may be best to look at alternative markets.
There have been eighteen goals in the last three meetings between these sides, so it’s likely there will be plenty of goal action in this game. Over 2.5 goals is priced at 1/2, whilst Over 3.5 is 6/5, and it’s 11/4 for Over 4.5 goals.
Both teams have scored in four of the last five meetings. With the non-competitive nature of this match, both sides will most likely look to play attacking football, which will leave them both short at the back. With both of those things in mind, backing Both Teams to Score seems the sensible thing to do at odds of 1/2.
Punters can back Over 2.5 goals and Both Teams to Score at odds of 4/5.
If both sides come out looking to strike early, there could be a couple of goals before the break. This makes the 11/4 on Both Teams to Score in the 1st Half extremely hard to ignore.
Picking a winner is difficult enough, so choosing a correct score is even harder. However, if you believe lightning can strike four times in a row, you can get odds of 40/1 for Bayern to win this match 5-1.
Top Betting Tip
We are going to steer clear of picking a winner in this match but we do believe there will be plenty of goals. Therefore, our top betting tip is Over 2.5 goals and Both teams to Score, at odds of 4/5 with Ladbrokes.