Viktor Gyokeres has improved as the season has unfolded, netting 17 goals in his 43 appearances across all competitions with 10 of these goals coming since the turn of the year. 

He’s playing with plenty of confidence right now having scored in both games for Sweden over the international break which helped them to secure a spot at the World Cup in the summer. He also marked his return to domestic duties with a goal against Southampton as Arsenal exited the FA Cup.

Gyokeres has scored four goals across his seven starts in the Champions League this season, managing 22 shots across these games (3.57 per 90), with 11 of these efforts finding the target (1.78 per 90). He should be motivated to extend this decent record when he lines up against his former club. 

These metrics are an improvement on his domestic stats, which suggests that Gyokeres prefers playing in the Champions League compared to the Premier League - probably because of the extra time and space he gets in Europe given the slightly slower pace of games.

I think Zubimendi has been brilliant for Arsenal over the course of the season. He’s attracted some criticism recently, but I think you could extend that to the entirety of the Arsenal squad with Mikel Arteta’s side exiting two cup competitions across their last two matches.

Zubimendi only played 11 minutes against Southampton, so should be fit enough to start here, he committed a foul in the cup final just before the international break and has committed 27 fouls across his 30 starts in the Premier League this season (0.93 per 90). 

Zubimendi has also committed a crazy 17 fouls across his eight starts in the Champions League this season (2.25 per 90) - a massive increase on his numbers in the Premier League which I found quite interesting as you’d expect his numbers in the more intense competition to be more inflated. 

This is a good sign for our selection though, and possibly even warrants testing higher lines for Zubimendi fouls. His direct opponent here is likely to be Trincao who has won seven fouls across his nine starts in the Champions League this season (0.81 per 90).

Kylian Mbappe cut a bit of a frustrated figure over the weekend as Real Madrid lost ground in the title race with a 2-1 defeat to Mallorca on the road. Mbappe was very lively in that game, and should have really scored, with six shots overall - seeing three of these attempts find the target. 

Mbappe walked away with a personal xG tally of 0.59, accounting for a large chunk of the 1.28 xG that Real Madrid generated in the game overall. He’s been brilliant in the Champions League this season, netting 13 goals across eight starts from a crazy 46 shots (5.66 per 90). 24 of these efforts have found the target (2.95 per 90) - giving Mbappe really healthy underlying metrics for our selection.

Unsurprisingly, Mbappe is the top scorer in the Champions League this season which remains the case if you look at his open play goals (10). He’s also pitched in with three penalties, which can act as a route to goal for Mbappe if he doesn’t quite get the opportunities to find the target at least twice from open play.

This looks like it’s going to be a really fun tie. Real Madrid lost more ground in the LaLiga title race over the weekend as they lost 2-1 to Mallorca while Barcelona registered a 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid. This is important because it leaves the Champions League as the most achievable trophy for Real Madrid, a success which is expected at a club the size of Real Madrid despite the turbulence which has hit the club throughout the season.

Real Madrid have seen BTTS in each of their last four matches across all competitions. This includes victories over the likes of Atletico Madrid and Manchester City, so Real Madrid aren’t struggling massively at the moment but it is clear that their defensive solidity is lacking right now. This has been the case all season with injuries and poor recruitment contributing to a backline which is constantly changing and vulnerable to the attacking talent of Bayern Munich. 

Bayern Munich have seen BTTS in four of their last five matches across all competitions, I’d also say they are a bit of a top heavy side in that their attacking talent far exceeds the quality of their backline. With both sides clearly having incredible attacking quality, it’s hard to see how both sides don’t end up on the scoresheet in the first leg of this quarter final clash.

Yamal has registered nine goal contributions across eight starts in CL this season.

Yamal created 5 chances and had 7 shots when these sides faced off at the weekend.

Yamal is already just three goal contributions away from matching his tally from last season (39-36). 

Lewandowski has won 2+ fouls in each of his last four CL starts.

Lewandowski is averaging 2.43 fouls won per 90 in CL this season.

He will be up against Le Normand (0.95 fouls per 90) and Lenglet (1.62 fouls per 90) - Lenglet committed two fouls and was shown a yellow card when these sides played at the weekend.

Dembele has scored 42 goals across his last 62 matches, stretching back to January 2025.

Dembele scored against Chelsea in PSG’s most recent Champions League home game.

Dembele scored a brace against Toulouse over the weekend.

Dembele registered 14 goal contributions across 13 starts in the Champions League last season. 

Neves has committed seven fouls across eight starts in CL this season (0.95 per 90).

Will be up against Gravenberch, who is very strong when it comes to winning fouls (1.84 fouls won p/90 in CL).

Neves has committed a foul in four of his last five CL appearances.

Haji Wright got a bit of a rest on Friday night, as Ellis Simms led the line for Coventry’s 3-2 win over Derby, earning them three points which have really strengthened their chances of clinching the league title. 

Wright is Coventry’s top scorer this season with 16 goals in the Championship. This is particularly impressive as Coventry have quite a lot of firepower, with Wright battling with the likes of Thomas-Asante and Simms week on week for a starting role. 

Wright has taken 86 shots across his 27 starts in the Championship this season (3.40 per 90), seeing 34 of these attempts find the target (1.34 per 90). He should get service here given that Coventry have scored 41 goals across their 20 away matches in the Championship - more than any other side on their travels in the division.

Oli McBurnie has been a reliable performer for Hull City this season, netting 13 goals across his 26 starts - making him Hull’s joint top scorer in the Championship this season, alongside Joe Gelhardt. 

McBurnie has also registered seven assists in the Championship this season, taking his overall goal contribution tally to 20. No player in the Championship has registered more goal contributions than McBurnie this season, with the forward exceeding his xG + xA of 11.6.

He’s achieved this goal tally from 55 shots (2.09 per 90), 27 of which have managed to find the target (1.02 per 90). Hull have scored 32 goals across their 20 home matches in the Championship this season, so we can expect them to carry an attacking threat in this clash as they look to maintain their playoff spot.

Coventry are often an entertaining watch, and their recent clash against Derby was a good example of the end to end nature of their games in the Championship this season. Coventry ran out 3-2 winners over Derby on Friday, with both sides registering an xG in excess of 2.0 (2.21-2.05). 

Coventry have avoided defeat in 15 of their 20 away matches in the Championship this season, but all of these games have been fought in a similar fashion, with Coventry seeing 66 goals across these matches (3.3 per game), including conceding 25 goals. 

I expect Hull to also get on the scoresheet with their scoring output at home this term. They’ve netted 32 goals across their 20 home games, and interestingly have conceded the exact same amount of goals in front of their own supporters. They also saw BTTS in their Good Friday fixture as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Oxford - marking the fourth occasion across their last five games where they’ve seen BTTS.

The initial league meeting between these sides produced 10 match corners, with Coventry doing most of the heavy lifting on that occasion. Frank Lampard’s side forced eight corners as they tried to break the deadlock, but Hull remained resilient and managed to come away with a 0-0 draw - being one of only a few sides that has stopped Coventry scoring at home this season.

Coventry are seeing 9.95 match corners per game in the Championship this season, with this average increasing slightly when looking at their away matches (10.15 per game). Their style lends itself to a high match corner count with Coventry not being afraid to get involved in end to end matches, trusting their scoring power to get them over the line.

Hull are seeing 9.35 match corners per game at home in the Championship this season, a slight decrease on the 10.20 match corners per game they’re seeing in the Championship overall. However, they should be motivated to contribute to the corner count given the situation they find themselves in, with their playoff spot still far from secure.