Charlie Nicholas' Champions League last-16 predictions: Bayern Munich to edge Arsenal
Wednesday 15 February 2017 19:53, UK
Charlie Nicholas provides us with his Champions League predictions as Europe's premier club competition returns for the last-16 stage.
PSG thrashed Barcelona and Benfica edged ahead of Borussia Dortmund in Tuesday's European ties, with Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Napoli in action on Wednesday.
The Gunners are big outsiders as they face the daunting task of visiting the Allianz Arena, but Nicholas believes his former side are capable of keeping the tie alive.
Here's what he's predicting in his Sky Bet tips for the two clashes...
Arsenal are obviously not firing on all cylinders heading into this game, but neither side are as good as they used to be.
Bayern have not clicked this season. Their star men have struggled to deliver to their usual high standards, although they obviously still posses a lot of quality.
Arsenal are a better counter-attacking team these days so not having too much of the ball isn't a major concern, but Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, as much as I think of them, just don't deliver enough in the big games.
Mohamed Elneny will come back in and unfortunately Francis Coquelin will be in there. I say unfortunately because even though he's got that graft the team are lacking, he also has a red card in him. Then I'd like to see Granit Xhaka in there to make up three in that middle area to protect the defence.
Arsene Wenger will go with Sanchez up front and I'd play Theo Walcott and leave Alex Iwobi out as I think Theo is more of a goal threat on the counter-attack.
If they get this system right then I think Arsenal can walk away with a 1-1 draw, but I fear Laurent Koscielny will get exposed by Robert Lewandowski.
Charlie predicts: 2-1 and Lewandowski to score first - 15/1 with Sky Bet
Real Madrid might be top of La Liga with a couple of games to spare, but they are not in their best form either. Cristiano Ronaldo is still in one of those 'give me the ball and I'll score' moods.
I'm quite disappointed with the fluency Zinedine Zidane has got in his team. They're still not an amazing side to watch and with Isco now back in, they are a bit one-paced for my liking.
Napoli, led by their main man Marek Hamsik, are quite an unpredictable side and have a physical threat and can sit in and hit you on the counter-attack.
I think Real will grind out the win and the man I'm backing to get another crucial goal is one I don't really enjoy watching, but is such a threat at set pieces, Sergio Ramos.
Charlie predicts: 1-0 and Ramos to score first - 95/1 with Sky Bet
And here is what Charlie tipped for Tuesday's games...
Charlie predicted...
Charlie predicted: Benfica 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
Result: Benfica 1-0 Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund have sprung back into a bit of life after the winter break with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, although they slipped up again at the weekend so you'd imagine the Champions League has become their real priority.
Benfica are having a strange season as well as they struggled through the group stage, but they are still competing for their title and are always tough to beat at home.
Ousmane Dembele looks a real prospect for the visitors. He's a raw athletic talent and he'll enjoy the Champions League because it should be more open as he's getting quite closely marked in the Bundesliga.
With Real Madrid's eyes fixed on a new striker, Aubameyang will be out to prove he's the man to replace Karim Benzema and should be the difference between these two sides.
Charlie predicted: PSG 2-2 Barcelona
It should be a cracking game this as PSG will be aware that they need to go for it being at home.
PSG have struggled to be as dominant in the league without Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Edinson Cavani has scored a lot of goals but isn't the same quality, although his pace and movement is exceptional.
Luis Enrique has chopped and changed Barcelona's defence but Samuel Umtiti is looking more solid. Their midfield has been lacking something with Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets just coming back from periods out. Ivan Rakitic is a good workman in the team, but he's not a real playmaker.
Neymar scoring at the weekend is a boost as he's been pretty poor, so the three amigos will be up for this and I'm expecting plenty of goals.
