Lee Dixon names Premier League concern in Arsenal Champions League prediction

Former Arsenal star Lee Dixon believes Arsenal can go on to win the Champions League after squeaking past FC Porto in the Round of 16. The Gunners defeated the Portuguese giants on penalties, but not before putting in two disappointing performances across the two legs.

Mikel Arteta's men did not look like Champions League winners, but they did show character to come from behind in the second leg and progress to the quarter-finals. Arsenal don't know who they will face in the quarter-finals, at time of writing, but former Gunner Dixon believes a first Champions League title could be attainable based on what he has seen so far.

“After last night’s result against Porto, Arsenal can go all the way in the Champions League and win it,” Dixon told BetVictor. “They’ll definitely have to play better than they did against Porto over the two legs, even though they went through, that’s for sure. I didn’t think across the two games they were brilliant, but you don’t have to be – it’s a cup competition and all you have to do is get through, which they did.

 “If Arsenal can get a decent draw in the next round and get their performances peaking towards the end of the competition then why can’t they go all the way to the final? They’ve got the ability to beat every one of those teams that are in the last eight of the Champions League – be it a Real Madrid, Manchester City or Bayern Munich. It’s just a matter of everything clicking for them on the night.”

The big question for Arsenal is whether a Champions League run may impact their bid to win a first Premier League title in two decades. Dixon also spoke about the Premier League bid, and he has concern about the upcoming Manchester City clash, a game Arsenal must wait two weeks for.

“To be in a first Champions League quarter-final in 14 years is massive for the club and for Mikel Arteta’s reign,” he added. “That result against Porto will be fuel to their title challenge. It keeps everything ticking over moving forwards for the season. When you’re in Europe, everyone at the club is excited. Being in Europe in the latter stages gives everyone at the club a lift and the more they can keep that going the more it will spread around the club.

“However, they’ve got a bit of break now until they face Manchester City, which can work in their favour or go the other way… When you’re playing like this you want to play every three days and knock teams over. The fact they are in such good form means a three-week break before playing against their title rivals could count against them.

“Having said that, they’ll be doing a lot of work on the training pitch and Mikel Arteta will have to manage those three weeks of training before the next game, which is a rarity. He’s a young coach still too, let’s not forget, so he’s still learning. On the other hand, last time they had a lengthy break, they came back from warm-weather training in Dubai and knocked everyone aside! So it can be a positive.”