Three Premier League sides are left standing in the Champions League, but which one of them will go furthest this season?
Arsenal, Leicester and Manchester City have all reached the last 16 and will learn their opponents when the draw is made on Monday.
But which of the three English sides is best positioned to do the most damage against Europe's elite? We canvassed the views of the Soccer Special panel - and don't forget to cast your vote at the bottom of the page…
The case for Arsenal - Iain Dowie
Qualification: Group A winners
Group stage record: P6 W4 D2 L0 F18 A6 Pts14
Last season: Last 16
Current Premier League position: 2nd
Possible last 16 opponents: Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Porto, Real Madrid, Sevilla
Sky Bet odds to win Champions League: 20/1
"Arsenal have strength in depth in attacking areas. They are defensively a little sounder than they were and there is an energy in midfield areas, so they can cope and they have recovery pace. Plus in Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil they have two sensational players who are playing at the very peak of their powers. If you give them time they can hurt anyone. The great players in the world turn up and they are among the great players.
"You've also got Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to come in - and Santi Cazorla is to come back, who is a real addition. I would still like a couple of defensively-minded full-backs and there may be an opportunity in January to do that. The manner of the performance [on Tuesday] night was very impressive. Yes, it's only Basel so you can't get carried away, but they have dug out a couple of results against big-spenders Paris Saint-Germain and they've shown they can compete. In any one game, as we saw against Chelsea, they can hurt the best sides in world football."
The case for Leicester City - Tony Cottee
Qualification: Group G winners
Group stage record: P6 W4 D1 L1 F7 A6 Pts13
Last season: n/a
Current Premier League position: 16th
Possible last 16 opponents: Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Benfica, PSG, Real Madrid, Sevilla
Sky Bet odds to win Champions League: 40/1
"It's very hard to make a case based on what I watched against Porto on Wednesday night, but they've been fantastic when they put their best team out. When they qualified I said they would be dangerous against anyone in the Champions League and I honestly believe that. I know their Premier League from is not good, but apart from this week's game they have been fully focused on the Champions League and they have got players who are dangerous.
"Whoever gets Leicester won't want to play them because they will cause teams problems with the way they play. In the Champions League they have played well but because of the standard of the group we don't know how good or bad that makes Leicester. If they get a top team then we will see."
The case for Manchester City - Tony Gale
Qualification: Group C runners-up
Group stage record: P6 W2 D3 L1 F12 A10 Pts9
Last season: Semi-finals
Current Premier League position: 4th
Possible last 16 opponents: Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Napoli, Monaco
Sky Bet odds to win Champions League: 11/1
"It all depends on the draw of course, but I would pick Manchester City with Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne. They are excellent. Defensively they can cope at this level and Pep Guardiola showed he changed his tactics against Barcelona and went a little bit longer, so he has proved he can do that.
"Yes, he has got defensive frailties, but even Barcelona have defensive frailties and I think this is a changing game now and you defend from the front. I prefer the look of Manchester City to Arsenal in the Champions League. I'm looking at match-winners and I think Man City have got more of them."
No comments:
Post a Comment