Monday 15 December 2014 17:22, UK
Soccer Saturday’s Charlie Nicholas believes his former side Arsenal have been handed the perfect draw after being paired with Monaco in the Champions League last 16.
Arsene Wenger's men avoided favourites Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona as they were drawn to face one of the tournament’s biggest outsiders.
That saw the Gunners' odds cut from 28/1 to 22/1 in Sky Bet’s outright market and Nicholas believes Arsene Wenger’s prayers were answered, having seen his side ousted by Bayern Munich and Barcelona at the last 16 stage over the last two seasons.
Nicholas said: “I remember Arsene Wenger saying he was going to go to church ahead of the draw and I reckon it worked.
“Ahead of the draw I was looking at either Porto or Monaco and it looks the best possible draw, certainly the best draw we’ve had in a while, and I would have expected their odds to have been cut even more than they were.
“We know Monaco only scored four goals in qualifying but are defensively strong and that’s the sort of side Arsenal will suit playing against, given their main strength is going forward.
“It’s not going to be a hostile atmosphere either and, with Mesut Ozil hopefully fit again by then and Olivier Giroud back in the goals, I’m pretty confident we’ll come through.”
The Gunners remain relative outsiders with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid favourites but Nicholas believes they can defy the odds with another helping hand from the draw.
He added: “Defensively we’re not good enough at the moment and Arsene needs to bring in a defender in January but if that happens, and with players coming back, it’s not impossible to win it.
“Bayern are just ahead of Real Madrid as favourites for me, while Barcelona are still tremendously weak at the back and Atletico lack the fluency of last season.
“Three or four top clubs are going to be knocked out in the next round and Arsenal could get Basel or Porto in the quarter-finals. From there anything is possible.”
