Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal Prediction: Atleti to open the scoring on Wednesday night

Wednesday's Uefa Champions League semi-final first leg sees Atletico Madrid take on Arsenal at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano (20:00 BST, TNT Sports). The two sides have already met this season, with Arsenal cruising to a 4-0 home win during the league phase.

Atleti will seek revenge as they bid to reach the final for the first time in 10 years. Below you will find my Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal predictions, aided by the latest team news and match odds from Betfred.

Team News

Atletico's Ademola Lookman (muscle) and David Hancko (ankle) will need to be assessed to see if they are fit enough to be involved on Wednesday but Pablo Barrios (hamstring) and Jose Gimenez (muscle) will play no part against Arsenal.

Julian Alvarez, a reported target for the Gunners, is also a doubt owing to discomfort which saw him left as an unused substitute in Saturday's La Liga victory over Athletic Club.

Football Odds

Jurrien Timber (ankle) and Mikel Merino (foot) remain sidelined for Arsenal, while Riccardo Calafiori (knock) may also miss out again.

Martin Zubimendi (illness), Eberechi Eze and Kai Havertz (both muscle) were all taken off in Saturday's Premier League win over Newcastle United and they too are considered doubts for the trip to Madrid.

Viktor Gyokeres will come in for Havertz up top, while Bukayo Saka is in line for his first start in over a month on the right flank.

Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal Odds

Atletico have won five of their seven home games in Europe this term and they are 9/5 to prevail in this first leg.

The draw is priced at 9/4, which has been the outcome in two of Arsenal's past four outings in this competition.

The Gunners are an 8/5 bet to beat Atleti for the second time this season.

Alexander Sorloth is the 15/8 favourite to score anytime and the Norwegian striker has six goals in the UCL for the hosts.

Today's Football Fixtures

Both Teams To Score & Total Goals Over/Under 4.5 - Yes & Under @ 5/4

Here we have two teams who are regarded for their defensive strength. And with this being the first leg of a semi-final, I am expecting this contest to be played like a chess match.

Arsenal may have the psychological advantage because they were 4-0 winners at the Emirates back in October but now they're on Atleti's turf, so the Gunners are unlikely to have it their own way.

I see both teams scoring because this has been a winning selection in each of the hosts' past five outings in all competitions. BTTS - Yes & Under 4.5 Goals has struck in five of their 14 fixtures in the Champions League this term, too.

This market has landed in three of Arsenal's UCL matches to date and I think it's worth covering on Wednesday not just because of what's at stake, but because these two teams boast very stubborn defences.

First Team To Score - Atletico Madrid @ 11/10

Atletico have mostly been strong when playing at the Metropolitano in Europe this season. Diego Simeone's men have five wins from seven, so they should be confident of being able to take something into next week's second leg in London.

I think there is value to be had in backing the Rojiblancos to open the scoring in this clash as this has been the case in six of their seven home Champions League matches so far this season.

Arsenal have scored late goals in both of their two most recent away trips in Europe. One of them was to equalise against Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16.

At 11/10 (implied probability of 47.6%), I am confident that the hosts will be the first team to find the net on Wednesday night.

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