Previews

Duo back in European action

Author: Brandon Barker
Date: 29/09/2009
Football betting

Liverpool and Arsenal get back to Champions League duties on Tuesday following their domestic success over the weekend.

The Merseyside giants demolished Hull City 6-1 thanks to a superb Fernando Torres hat-trick and a fine strike from Steven Gerrard, but they travel to Italy to face Fiorentina who should provide a stiffer test.

La Viola boast strikers such as Adrian Mutu and the hosts should be confident of matching the Reds in their group E showdown.

But with the irreplaceable Torres and Gerrard in fine form, Rafael Benitez should be happy that his team have enough quality to double their points tally following their opening day victory against Debreceni VSC at Anfield.

Daniel Agger (back) and Alberto Aquilani (ankle) are both likely to remain on the sidelines ahead of the clash.

Liverpool are the online betting even money favourites ahead of the clash.

Arsenal entertain Olympiacos and they will want a smoother ride than they had in their Group H opener.

Standard Liege stormed into a two-goal lead within the opening five minutes at Stade de Sclessin but Arsene Wenger's resolute outfit turned the game on its head and scraped a 3-2 victory thanks to goals from Nicklas Bendtner, Thomas Vermaelen and Eduardo.

The Gunners have won their last four games following back-to-back defeats against Manchester United and Manchester City and they should be good for another three points on match day two.

Robin van Persie, who scored the only goal in Sunday's victory at Fulham, should partner Eduardo and the Greek side could struggle to deal with the threat they will pose.

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Wenger will be particularly pleased that William Gallas, alongside summer signing Vermaelen, are starting to form an impenetrable centre-half pairing.

Youngsters Aaron Ramsay and Jack Wilshere could feature at some stage as their fledgling careers continue to gather momentum.

Denilson (back), Johann Djourou (knee) and Samir Nasri (broken leg) will all miss out.

Former Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg and one time Leeds United loanee Raul Bravo should feature in the visitors' defence.

Rangers complete Tuesday's British interest as they face a daunting looking clash at home to Spanish side Sevilla.

Luis Fabiano and former West Ham United striker Frederic Kanoute are expected to spearhead the Sevilla attack and will be capably backed up by Renato and Jesus Navas on the wings.

Walter Smith's men will be buoyed by their impressive 1-1 draw in Stuttgart on match day one and they will use this as their inspiration ahead of another difficult contest.

Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Didier Zokora will act as the anchor in the middle of the park for Manolo Jimenez's men.

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