In Group G, the only team to win on Matchday 1 was Porto.
Porto’s finishing is pretty good and Arsenal’s finishing is erratic, which could make it a close game.
Arsenal need a thumping victory to erase the memory of a performance that was so gutless that Hull keeper Boaz Myhill did not have a save to make in the first half. Their goal was a scrambled own-goal after a good dribble by Walcott and after that they gave Geovanni ten yards of space and said, Have a shot, mate ! Some Gooners looked at that 2-1 defeat and thought : We could lose to anybody this season.
Arsene Wenger looked shell-shocked at the end of the Hull game. But why did he look shell-shocked? We all told him he needed a ball-winning midfielder. We all told him he needed a big, dominant centreback. He tells his players they’re the best, so they reckon they’re a really special elite group ( despite having won nothing since 2005), and he pampers them so much that they’re unequipped to react to a reality check, as we saw when Hull equalised.
What about Porto tonight?
Well, they have not won in UK on their last 10 visits. They have lost right back Bosingwa to Chelsea and winger Quaresma to Inter but are still a team full of cute, technical players.
Like Arsenal, they’re not good at defending high crosses.
Luckily, Fenerbahce gave them a flying start on Matchday 1. Arsenal could not beat the worst Dynamo Kiev side I’ve ever seen, but Porto beat Fenerbahce 3-1.
That encounter was a strange game in which Porto scored two early goals and one very late one. Those strikes came in 11 and 13 and 92. The first was a smooth move and a sucker punch that made the Turks look like the horizontal heavyweights of the Champions League. A cross was hooked over from the left side and striker Lisandro Lopez was onside and suddenly beyond the static Roberto Carlos and stabbing the ball home with his shin from eight yards.
The second goal also came from the left side, when Lisandro nicked the ball into the run of pony-tailed Argentinian Rodriguez, who sweetly picked out his captain Lucho on the edge of the box. Lucho rifled a perfect volley past keeper Volkan from 17 yards.
When Helton parried an Alex header, Spanish striker Guiza rammed in the rebound for 2-1 at half-time.
Kamikaze defending by Logano allowed Porto’s right back Sapunura to win a 50-50 just outside the box and the ball broke for to give Brazilian Lino a tap-in 20 seconds after he had come on as a sub.
Porto have been in this competition for the last six years and won it in 2004 but their new defence lacks Champions League experience.
With three points in the bag, Jesualdo Ferreira’s team do not need a win. A draw will do for him. Arsenal need an emphatic victory to revive their reputation and confidence. Both teams look fragile but that doesn’t mean there will be a lot of goals.
Arsenal v Porto could be any result and any score.
Should I bet on Arsenal tonight because they owe me money from Saturday? I backed Man United, Celtic, Chelsea and Arsenal (plus an accumulator), so I won three of the five bets and almost broke even. Only Arsenal let me down.
Looks as if Eboue and van Persie will be dropped. Likely line-ups :
ARSENAL (4-4-2): Almunia; Sagna, Touré, Gallas, Clichy; Walcott, Fabregas, Denilson, Nasri; Adebayor, Bendtner.
PORTO (4-2-3-1) : Helton; Sapunara, Rolando, Bruno Alves, Nelson Benitez; Fernando, Lucho Gonzalez; Raul Meireles, Guarin, Rodriguez; Lisandro Lopez.
I last wrote about German referee Herbert Fandel in 2004 when he allowed Mark van Bommel to kick Arsenal all round Eindhoven.