Arsenal v Bayer Leverkusen: Back Germans to score and 11/1 bet builder | OneFootball

Arsenal v Bayer LeverkusenTuesday 17 March, 20:00Live on TNT Sports

Dowman gives Gunners a refreshing story

Amidst all the talk of what unattractive and brutal champions Arsenal would be should they lift the Premier League trophy, there was a ray of light in all the artificial gloom on Saturday. Arsenal were already 1-0 up against Everton in the dying moments of their Premier League clash at the Emirates, and with Toffees' keeper Jordan Pickford caught upfield chasing a leveller, 16-year-old Max Dowman raced clear and rolled the ball into an empty net.

Dowman is now the youngest scorer in Premier League history (Jason Dozzell remains the top-flight's youngest scorer overall), and his burgeoning talent is truly something to behold. Because of Manchester City's slip at West Ham, Arsenal are now nine points clear at the top, having played a game more than their closest challengers.

It is a pivotal week for the North London giants, with City awaiting them at Wembley in the League Cup final on Sunday. That could prove to be the first leg of an extraordinary quadruple.

Jurrien Timber, Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard are all carrying knocks, while Mikel Merino is definitely out with a foot injury.

Leverkusen have shown quality and frailty in last week

Bayer Leverkusen are a work in progress. Most of their title-winning team has departed, as has the coach Xabi Alonso. A clutch of talents was signed in the summer, but the man who was supposed to lead them swiftly departed, with Erik ten Hag sacked just three competitive games into the campaign.

Ten Hag's replacement Kasper Hjulmand is broadly moving in the right direction. Leverkusen are still alive in the Champions League, and could still qualify for next season's edition. They have also reached the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal, where they will face Bayern Munich.

Leverkusen just faced Bayern in the Bundesliga, and one of the most chaotic games of the German season ended 1-1. Bayer played most of the game against 10 men after Nicolas Jackson received a first-half red card, and yet they squandered a lead in the second half, unnecessarily gifting the ball to the league leaders in the build-up to Luis Diaz's leveller. Diaz was later sent off, but despite having a two-man advantage for the final six minutes and stoppage time, Hjulmand's side failed to find a winner.

Against Arsenal last week, Bayer produced one of their best displays of the campaign. They gave the Gunners a taste of their own medicine as Robert Andrich scored from a set play, and then they looked a real threat in attack. However, a panicky lunge from Malik Tillman gave Noni Madueke the chance to go to ground and win a penalty, and Kai Havertz made no mistake against the club where he made his name.

Both of those encouraging, yet incomplete displays were at the BayArena, but on the road Bayer look more vulnerable. They have won just four of their last 10 competitive away games, and in that spell they have lost at Augsburg, Hoffenheim, Olympiakos and Union Berlin.

Martin Terrier is a doubt after he was on the wrong end of a horror challenge from Jackson on Saturday, and key midfielder Aleix Garcia suffered a head injury in the same game, so could miss out. Influential left-back Alex Grimaldo had a rare rest on Saturday as he was suspended, so he will return. Mobile striker Christian Kofane had an excellent game against Arsenal last week, and is pushing for a recall.

Bayer can score at the Emirates

I believe Arsenal will eventually have too much power and quality for Leverkusen here (they have beaten Atletico and Bayern, both of whom are better than Leverkusen), but I'm attracted to the price of 2.186/5 on offer for Both Teams To Score.

Leverkusen have pace and quality on the counter, and they have shown they can cause Arsenal some issues on set plays. The German side have scored in five of their last six away games, and 12 of their last 14 overall.

It's also worth noting that Arsenal have only managed three clean sheets in their last nine games, and one of those was against lower-league Wigan in the FA Cup.

Back Grimaldo in 11/1 Arsenal v Leverkusen bet builder

We are still running the Bet £10 Get £10 offer on Bet Builders, and I'll give you an 11/112.00 Bet Builder by backing Viktor Gyokeres to score, Alex Grimaldo to commit 2+ fouls and have a shot on target. Grimaldo only committed one foul in the first leg, but he will be up against Bukayo Saka for a lot of this game, and when he moves into midfield at times he'll have to deal with the likes of Declan Rice trying to gallop past him. He takes Bayer's attacking free-kicks, and has had a shot on target in 10 of his last 17 competitive games.

As for Gyokeres, he netted the late winner against Everton and has nine goals across his last 16 appearances. Bear in mind that because of our Safe Sub offer, if Gyokeres starts and is subbed, the bet transfers to the player who replaces him.