Arsenal prepare to take part in the Champions League semi-finals for a second season running as they lock horns with Atletico Madrid this week.
The home side reached this stage of the competition by beating Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate. It's been a fairly disappointing campaign for the Spanish outfit domestically, but they have a wealth of European nouse under Diego Simeone and they've once again harnessed that this season to make a deep run.
Their form heading into this game is poor on the whole, with three wins and seven defeats from their last ten games. Their form at home, though, is much stronger, with seven wins from their last ten in front of their own fans.
Contrary to popular belief, they're an extremely high-event side these days, with over 2.5 goals being scored in eight of their last ten games. Similarly, BTTS has occurred in eight of their last ten outings.
Arsenal come into this game amidst a similar run of form. The Gunners remain deeply embroiled in the Premier League title race but have won only four of their last ten games.
In this competition, they narrowly progressed by beating Sporting Cp 1-0 over two legs in the last eight, winning a tricky away fixture in Lisbon 1-0 before being held to a 0-0 draw at the Emirates.
The Gunners may take heart from the fact they beat Atletico 4-0 in the group stages, but they might also be well aware of how little that means - evidenced by the disparity in results between most Premier League sides' group phase and knockout phase campaigns.
The Gunners will likely aim to keep this one tight while Atletico will push to take a first leg lead, but two quality sides in similar form feel likely to cancel one another out.
Atletico Madrid 1-1 Arsenal
