Glenn Hoddle says he ‘really fancies’ Arsenal to progress to the semi-finals of the Champions League at the expense of Bayern Munich.
Bayern travel to north London on Tuesday night for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal.
The Gunners are currently top of the Premier League table, locked in an intense title race with Liverpool and defending champions Manchester City.
Bayern Munich, meanwhile, are only second in the Bundesliga – 16 points behind champions-elect Bayer Leverkusen – despite winning the German title for 11 seasons in a row.
Hoddle has watched a lot of Bayern this season and cannot see the German giants getting past Arsenal despite the threat of England striker and Tottenham hero Harry Kane.
Kane, who left Spurs last summer, has enjoyed a sensational first season in Munich, scoring 33 goals in 28 league games and six in eight in Europe.
Asked if he expects Arsenal to advance in the Champions League, Hoddle told TNT Sports: ‘I do fancy their chances.
‘I’ve watched Bayern Munich quite a bit this season and they’re not functioning anywhere near they should be. Harry Kane is a danger, of course, and wouldn’t it be ironic if that boy knocked Arsenal out.
‘But over two legs I really fancy Arsenal, I think they will go through. I fancy them against Bayern Munich.’
Arsenal will face Champions League holders Man City or 14-time winners Real Madrid in the semi-finals if they knock out Bayern Munich.
And while ex-England midfielder Hoddle expects Mikel Arteta’s side to prove too strong for Bayern, he cannot see Arsenal going on to win the whole competition.
‘It’s the toughest route to win it,’ he added. ‘I’m not sure they’ll have enough to beat Real Madrid or Man City over two legs but we saw last weekend how well they played against City.
‘City found it really hard to get through them and break them down. But I do think those two teams would be too much for them.’
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, meanwhile, has warned his teammates not to get complacent as they prepare to face a Bayern Munich side who have failed to win almost a third of their league games this season.
Thomas Tuchel’s team let a 2-0 lead slip to lose to Heidenheim at the weekend, after losing to Borussia Dortmund the previous week.
Bayern’s form stands in stark contract to Arsenal’s – the Gunners have won 22 of their 31 league games this season and thumped Brighton 3-0 on Saturday evening.
‘They have had some strange results in the league but if you look at the team, you can see the quality they have, and we know that, we know they are a really strong side,’ Odegaard said.
‘[They have] really good individual players as well. It will be a tough battle, but we are ready. Every game we play there are some good challenges and we play in the best league in the world.
‘They are a good team and [have] a lot of good attacking players and it will be a big night.’
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