Arsenal’s thumping 7-1 victory at PSV Eindhoven in midweek sparked plenty of debate about their chances of winning the 2024/25 Champions League.
Mikel Arteta’s side notably became the first team in the history of the competition to score seven goals away from home in the knockout stage.
The result forced bookmakers to slash their odds to 6/1 to lift the trophy, which Gunners fans may think represents decent value.
Many of them may decide to try their luck at JackpotCity online in the hope of boosting their bankroll before wagering on Arsenal.
Arteta inevitably insisted there is still a job to do at the Emirates Stadium next week, but it would be a seismic shock if his team failed to progress to the quarter-finals.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice played a key role against Eindhoven, and he was understandably delighted with the result after the game.
“We were fluid – we had enthusiasm,” he told Amazon Prime Sport. “We had the drive and hunger. It’s the knockout rounds of the Champions League.
“But we have playing like this all season. We spoke about a narrative but we players feel like we’ve been doing well. Sometimes we score five or six, sometimes we score two or three, sometimes we can lose by one.
“That’s where we need to keep pushing as a team with the mentality. When they came back to make it 3-1, we could have sat back.
“But we pushed on and you saw that with the goals we scored in the second half. A massive performance. Now onto the home game, nothing’s done yet. We’ll see what happens.”
While punters can be confident about Arsenal’s chances of reaching the last eight, it would be prudent not to get too carried away with the result.
PSV did extremely well to defy the odds to reach the last-16, but their form in the run-up to the game suggested they could struggle against the Gunners.
They were defeated twice by Go Ahead Eagles in the league and cup before the Champions League clash, and they produced a woeful performance in front of their own fans.
In fairness to Arsenal, they could only beat what was in front of them and the ruthless way they went about their business should work wonders for their confidence.
With the second leg expected to be a foregone conclusion, Arsenal fans will be keeping a close eye on the last-16 tie between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
The Gunners will face the winners in the quarter-finals and either side will be guaranteed to provide a much stiffer test than PSV.
Madrid defeated Atletico 2-1 at the Bernabeu Stadium in midweek, setting up what promises to be a thrilling encounter in the reverse fixture.
Both sides will fancy their chances of defeating Arsenal in the next round, particularly given the level of performance they each produced at the Bernabeu.
However, the Gunners will able to head into the tie knowing that they can reach heights that many critics believe they are incapable of hitting.
The quarter-final tie may ultimately define Arsenal’s season as it could be argued to be the most difficult challenge they will face in the competition.
Liverpool and Aston Villa are the probable semi-final opponents if Arsenal make it through and they have no reason to feel inferior to either side.
Barcelona and Bayern Munich are the most likely finalists in the other half of the draw, but Arsenal are perfectly capable of beating them.
If Arsenal can overcome Madrid or Atletico in the quarter-finals, odds of 6/1 to win the competition will look extremely generous.
