Girona vs Arsenal Prediction: Gunners to keep another clean sheet

Arsenal have all but guaranteed their spot in the round of 16 of the Uefa Champions League but they can secure it in style when they travel to face Girona for their final fixture of the league phase on Wednesday (20:00, TNT Sports 4).

The hosts know their European adventure is at an end, but they have the chance to go out with a bang against the Gunners. Read on for my Girona vs Arsenal prediction, including the latest team news and match odds. 

Girona vs Arsenal Odds

Girona's one win in the Champions League came at Montilivi against Slovan Bratislava, and they are 9/2 to pull off an upset on Wednesday. One of Arsenal's away ties in this competition ended in a stalemate, so a draw is on offer at 100/30 here.

The Gunners have won five of their eight fixtures to date, hence their 3/5 price to win. Arsenal have kept four clean sheets so far, so backing them to win to nil at 7/4 (which has an implied probability of 36.4%) offers better value. They are also 11/8 (42.1%) to record a shutout in Spain.

Arsenal attacker Kai Havertz has netted four goals in Europe this term, and has been the first goalscorer once. He is 11/2 to open the scoring on Wednesday.

Football Odds

Team News

The hosts are set to be without left-back Miguel Gutierrez again due to a muscular issue that has kept him out of the last three matches in all competitions, however, forward Bojan Miovski was fit enough to make the bench against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday following a similar issue. He did not get a run out so he could be handed a start when Arsenal come to town.

Michel has no other fresh concerns for his squad so he will have most of his players available on Wednesday. He is expected to make changes, with the likes of Yaser Asprilla, Arnau Martinez and Ivan Martin likely to come back into the starting XI.

Abel Ruiz could continue in the final third, though, with Arnaut Danjuma, Portu and Cristhian Stuani most likely to settle for spots on the bench.

For Arsenal, Mikel Arteta is still without the services of Bukayo Saka (hamstring) Gabriel Jesus, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu (all knee) due to injury. There was concern on Saturday at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino were absent.

The former was ruled out through illness and Arteta could keep him in reserve ahead of a crunch clash with Manchester City at the weekend. Merino was left out due to a knock picked up in training, which is not deemed to be serious, so he could be involved for Arsenal on Wednesday.

William Saliba made a surprise swift recovery from a hamstring issue to start that match, and his partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes looks set to continue at Montilivi.

Arsenal to win to nil @ 7/4

Arsenal have been so strong defensively in the Champions League this season. They have the joint-second best record in this competition with just two goals conceded from seven games.

They have kept five clean sheets in the process and only Sporting CP and Inter Milan have breached their back line, with the latter scoring from the penalty spot. This game is essentially a dead rubber on paper because bar some bizarre circumstances, Arsenal will end the day in the round of 16, while Girona already know that the train stops here.

The Gunners may not be as fired up as they were for Dinamo Zagreb last week but they will want to ensure they get the job done in Girona so there are no hiccups. I think there is value to be had in backing them to win to nil because four of their European wins have been secured in this manner.

Girona have also failed to score in five of their fixtures thus far, including two of their three home ties. Arsenal will present them with arguably their attackers with toughest test to date, and I struggle to see them laying a glove on Arteta's back four.

Kai Havertz anytime goalscorer @ 7/4

Havertz is Arsenals joint-top scorer in the Champions League with four goals and he has found the back of the net in each of the last three European fixtures for the Gunners.

In a game that means nothing to the home team, I predict he could be in for some joy to improve his tally for the campaign. This would then set him up nicely for big Premier League clash with Man City on Sunday.

Offers

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Wednesday's Champions League Predictions:

The team here at Betfred Insights have you fully-covered for the final round of Champions League matches this Wednesday. You can check out all of our previews for the matches below:

Aston Villa vs Celtic Prediction: Hosts to win but no clean sheet
Barcelona vs Atalanta Prediction: Expect goals, goals, goals in the Catalan capital
Bayer Leverkusen vs Sparta Prague Prediction: Wirtz can secure qualification
Bayern Munich vs Slovan Bratislava Prediction: Kim to cash in for Kompany’s corner kings
Borussia Dortmund vs Shakhtar Donetsk Prediction: Hosts may have to dig in against the Miners
Brest vs Real Madrid Prediction: Mbappe can score for sixth straight match at Brest
Dinamo Zagreb vs AC Milan Prediction: Rossoneri to get the job done
Inter Milan vs Monaco Prediction: Hosts to secure knockout place
Juventus vs Benfica Prediction: Two anytime scorer bets worth backing
Lille vs Feyenoord Prediction: Canadian to catch visitors cold in France
Manchester City vs Club Brugge: Citizens to dig deep for the result they need
PSV vs Liverpool Prediction: Hosts to overcome booking points handicap in Eindhoven
Red Bull Salzburg vs Atletico Madrid Prediction: Alvarez to come up with another goal
Sporting CP vs Bologna Prediction: Italians can halt Sporting’s Play-off progress
Sturm Graz vs RB Leipzig Prediction: Sesko can score in dead rubber
Stuttgart vs PSG Prediction: Barcola to rise to occasion again
Young Boys vs Red Star Belgrade Prediction: Red Star can sign off with a win