Mikel Arteta enjoyed the heartiest of last laughs at the weekend when Arsenal scored two late goals to win at a raucous St James’ Park and close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to just two points.
It was a frenzied finish but the Gunners manager will bathe in a much more relaxed atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium when Olympiakos visit N5 for a Champions League group match.
The visitors from Piraeus have lost their last ten away days in the group stages while last year’s semi-finalists have won their last 13 group games on home soil and have not conceded in the last ten.
It leaves Olympiakos facing a mountainous task straight out of Greek mythology, rather like King Sisyphus who incurred the wrath of Zeus and was condemned to push a boulder up a steep hill for all eternity. Every time he neared the top it would roll back down and he would have to start again.
The visitors will know how that feels when they are on the wrong side of a walloping and the Gunners are 7/10 with William Hill to lead HT/FT while over 3.5 goals is 5/4 with BetVictor and a 4-0 home win is 9/1 with the same firm, bet365, Betfred and others.
Get personalised updates on Arsenal everyday
Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you.
Bukayo Saka can celebrate news he is in talks to sign a new contract by scoring the opening goal at 13/2 with bet365 and the England star is 13/8 with bet365 to hit the net at any time.
Newcastle can pick themselves up from 2-1 defeats at home to Barcelona and Arsenal by winning at Belgian champions Union SG at 11/10 with Betfred, with new striker Nick Woltemade, rapidly becoming a cult hero on Tyneside, 6/1 with bet365 to break the deadlock and 15/8 with the same bookmakers to score at any time.
Manchester City are the third English club in Wednesday night action and they are 5/4 with BoyleSports, StarSports and Bresbet to lead HT/FT at Monaco where Erling Haaland is the obvious choice to score the first goal at 3/1 with Unibet. Jeremy Doku is 15/8 with Ladbrokes and Coral to get on the scoresheet and a 3-1 City success is easy to find at 10/1.
Champions League odds: Barca and PSG is too close to call
Pick of the midweek Champions League action without doubt is the duel between Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain and with both sides having won five times with four draws in their previous 14 meetings any result is possible.
There have been 54 goals in the showdowns between two of the biggest clubs in Europe and, yes you guessed it, they have scored 27 each. It’s far too tempting to take the draw at 16/5 offered by Sky Bet, Betfred, bet365 and more with the latter two firms among those offering evens on over 3.5 goals while bet365 stand alone with 11/1 available on a 2-2 draw.
Marcus Rashford scored twice against Newcastle and is 12/5 with BetVictor to further cement his reputation with the Catalans by scoring at any time while Bradley Barcola is 3/1 with Sky Bet to reply for PSG.
Baseball odds: Brewers can toast World Series glory
And then there were 12. The first pitches are being thrown as the Major League Baseball postseason commences and the Los Angeles Dodgers, last year’s winners who have yet to enter the fray, are 5/1 second favourites to repeat that success with Ladbrokes and Coral, who go 9/2 the formidable Philadelphia Phillies emerge triumphant.
Keep an eye, though, on the Milwaukee Brewers. They are a well-balanced team despite having next to no superstars on their roster and won 97 regular season games, the best record in the MLB, making the Brew Crew worth an each-way flutter to go all the way at 8/1 with the same two firms and bet365.