1-5 Gunners given golden chance to qualify

ARSENAL have avoided the potential nightmare of a Champions League playoff against Athletic Bilbao and will be reasonably pleased at the prospect of facing Besiktas for a place in the group stage of the competition.

Life could certainly have been more difficult for the Gunners in Friday’s draw and that is reflected in the betting.

Arsenal, who yesterday agreed a fee with Barcelona for the sale of Thomas Vermaelen for £15m, are 1-5 to make it through the two-legged fixture with Besiktas at 10-3.

Arsene Wenger’s side are away for the first match and rated 5-6 shots to take a lead back to the Emirates, while Besiktas look set to rely heavily on summer signing Demba Ba for their hopes of causing a European upset.

Ba, who signed from Chelsea, scored a hat-trick in the last round as Besiktas beat Feyenoord home and away, although Slaven Bilic’s side are lucky to be in the competition.

They finished third in Turkey but champions Fenerbahce remain banned from taking part in European competitions after allegations of match-fixing.

However, that good fortune is nothing compared to Celtic’s, with lady luck smiling down on the Bhoys in a number of ways.

Not only were Celtic reinstated in the Champions League after Legia Warsaw were kicked out for fielding a player who was suspended but then Celtic were selected to play Maribor in yesterday’s draw.

Celtic are now 4-11 to make it through to the group stages, although those who saw them look woefully outclassed by Legia may still be interested in taking the Slovenians at 2-1.

For betting purposes Legia were settled as the winners in the to qualify market but Ladbrokes have also paid out on Celtic.

The Europa League lacks the razzmatazz of the Champions League at this stage but with the winners now getting a pass into Europe’s elite competition more teams will be interested in competing seriously in the lesser tournament.

Everton are already in the group stage and Tottenham will be confident of joining them in the next round after being drawn to face AEL Limassol.

The Cypriot outfit were eliminated in the last round of the Champions League qualifiers against Zenit after losing 3-0 in St Petersburg.

Hull have a trickier assignment against Lokeren but the Belgians have lost their chief forward threat after 22-goal Hamdi Harbaoui was recently sold to a club in Qatar.

For those still to place ante-post bets Coral are still running their best-price promise across a number of European divisions. They report Chelsea and Leyton Orient are proving most popular.

Champions League playoff draw: Maribor v Celtic, Salzburg v Malmo, Aalborg v Apoel, Steaua Bucharest v Ludogorets, Slovan Bratislava v BATE Borisov, Besiktas v Arsenal, Standard Liege v Zenit, Copenhagen v Leverkusen, Lille v Porto, Napoli v Athletic Bilbao.

Europa League playoff round: FK Sarajevo v Borussia Monchengladbach, Astana  Kazakhstan  v Villarreal, Apollon Limassol  v Lokomotiv Moscow, PEC Zwolle v Sparta Prague, Young Boys v Debrecen, Asteras Tripoli v Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Spartak Trnava  Slovakia v FC Zurich, AEL Limassol v Tottenham, Dnipro v Hajduk Split, Dinamo Minsk v Nacional, Karabakh v Twente, Petrolul Ploiesti v Dinamo Zagreb, HJK Helsinki v Rapid Vienna, Trabzonspor v Rostov, FC Zimbru v PAOK, RNK Split v Torino, Omonia Nicosia v Dinamo Moscow, Aktobe v Legia Warsaw, Lyon v Astra Giurgiu, Lokeren v Hull, Neftchi v Partizan Belgrade, Ruch Chorzow v Metalist Kharkiv, IF Elfsborg v Rio Ave, PSV Eindhoven v Shakhtyor, Karabukspor v St Etienne, Stjarnan v Inter, Panathinaikos v FC Midtjylland, Feyenoord v Zarya Luhansk, Grasshoppers v Club Brugge, Real Sociedad v Krasnodar, Rijeka v FC Sheriff.