Football betting tips: Champions League
1pt Viktor Gyokeres to score anytime at 8/5 (BetVictor)
1pt Sending off in match at 16/5 (Ladbrokes, Coral)
1pt Marcos Llorente to be shown a card at 3/1 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power)
1pt Johnny Cardoso to be shown a card at 7/2 (bet365)
0.5pt Llorente and Cardoso to be carded at 14/1 (Sky Bet)
Just as it seemed Arsenal were lost, now they are very much found.
Despite there being plenty of encouragement in their 2-1 defeat by Manchester City a fortnight ago, a high-stakes game in which the Gunners delivered their best performance for months, the reaction to that narrow loss focused only on the negative, another apparent sign of bottling.
Successive Premier League home wins over Newcastle and Fulham, the latter wrapped up by a 3-0 half-time lead, have sandwiched an impressive draw at Atletico Madrid in the opening leg of this Champions League semi-final to reinvigorate belief in Mikel Arteta's side.
At the Metroplitano they showed every aspect of their game, dominating the first period with some superb pressing and attacking football, before having to battle hard in the second after a harsh penalty gave Atleti a route back in and swung the momentum of the match.
VIKTOR GYOKERES was advised TO SCORE ANYTIME and to score first a week ago and duly delivered both to cap a fantastic first-half performance.
He backed that up with a brace against Fulham to continue a superb run of form that has now seen him score 21 goals in his last 27 games for club and country.
The Sweden striker is understandably shorter (8/5) to find the net in a home game, but still big enough to back, especially against an Atleti side who struggle to keep clean sheets.
Arsenal have no such issues, keeping five in their last six home matches and in eight of their 13 Champions League games this season, but at 13/10 it just doesn't feel backable against a team who had so much joy in the second half in the first leg.
Diego Simeone's current Atleti are very different to teams of the past, scoring in 18 of their last 19 matches to paper over their defensive frailties.
But some habits are difficult to shake; we hope.
The referee appointment is an exciting one for card backers, as Daniel Siebert is the man with the whistle. The German has dished out eight reds in 31 matches this season, all in separate games.
That would be enticing enough to take the 16/5 about a SENDING-OFF IN THE MATCH but four of those have come in his 10 European fixtures. Add in the fact this is a semi-final second leg, and the volatile nature of Atletico in particular, and we have a real runner.
The Champions League is where Siebert really comes alive, too.
He is averaging 4.42 cards per game this season, an average that increases to 5.55 in the Champions League.
That latter figure is higher in reality as he was in the middle for the first leg of Arsenal's damp squib quarter-final with Sporting and booked only one player. Across his other eight UCL fixtures he has averaged 6.13 cards per game - in the round of 16 he booked seven players as Atletico were beaten 3-2 at Tottenham in their second leg.
At 3/1 and 7/2 TO BE SHOWN A CARD respectively MARCOS LLORENTE and JOHNNY CARDOSO look generously priced.
Llorente has eight yellows this season and tends to save them for the bigger matches. In La Liga he was carded in derbies against Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano (twice) as well going in the book against Barcelona, with two of his other bookings coming on Champions League nights.
Cardoso has missed a fair portion of the campaign through injury but has picked up five cards in just 12 top-flight starts, remarkably avoiding a sanction in the UCL thus far. The LLORENTE-CARDOSO CARD DOUBLE pays 14/1 and is also backed.
These are certainly selections where it's worth ensuring you use a bookmaker offering Super Sub-style terms with changes around the hour mark likely.
Odds correct at 15:50 BST (4/5/26)
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