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Arsenal will host Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Tuesday night, hoping to come back from a loss in the Premier to West Bromwich Albion. The Gunners have not had the best Champions League season so far as they have lost 3 games out of four in their group stage matches.
Dinamo Zagreb, the team that gave Wenger his first loss this season away from home, will be the opponents who will try to make things worse for Wenger and his men. The results for Arsenal has made this tie a do or die for the Gunners as they might crash out of the competition if they fail to get a result out of this game.
The visitors are equal on points with the London club and will be hoping that they can repeat their heroics when these two teams met the last time around. They won with a 2-1 score line when they hosted Arsenal in Croatia and will be jubilant if they can repeat their performance.
But the interesting factor for both sides will be that they will only be in the running for the knockout stages if Bayern Munich beat Olympiacos. If Olympiacos manage to get a result, both Arsenal and Dinamo will be out of the Champions League before the last matchday.
Here is the preview of this Champions League group stage encounter.
Kickoff and Live Telecast
Channel: Ten Action
Live Stream: tensports.com
Date and Time: Tuesday, 24 November 2015 – 19:45 GMT (Wednesday, 25th November 2015 – 01:15 IST)
Venue: Emirates Stadium, London.
Team News
Arsenal:
Arsenal are going through a tough phase when it comes to injuries. They have up to 9 players missing from the squad. Francis Coquelin and Mikel Arteta picked up injuries in their last game against West Brom and will not be available for this game.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is also expected to return next week and will not be available. Arsene Wenger must quickly come up with a plan B as he has not been able to use his best XI for a long time.
However, Aaron Ramsey is expected to return to the squad for this fixture and it will come as a great news for the Gunners. Meanwhile, Tomas Rosicky, Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere remain sidelined with long-term injuries.
Dinamo Zagreb:
Whereas, for Zagreb, their 24-year-old midfielder, Arijan Ademi was dismissed by FIFA and will not be able to play for the club for the next four years due to the doping tests he was found positive for.
The rest of the squad have already made their intent clear that they want to dedicate this season to their star player. Dinamo will be without suspended defender Josip Pivaric after he was sent off in the defeat to Olympiakos.
Gordon Schildenfeld and Domagoj Antolic are also both out. Apart from this, the visitors have a fit squad and will hope that they can get a result out of this game.
Probable lineups
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Cazorla, Flamini, Sanchez, Ozil, Gibbs, Giroud.
Dinamo Zagreb (5-2-1-2) : Eduardo, Borna Sosa, Ivo Pinto, Matel, Taravel, Hodzic; Goncalo, Sigali; Machado; Rog, Henriquez.
Form
Arsenal:
A 2-1 defeat to West Brom was the worst possible return from the international break for Arsenal. It continued what is now developing into a dire run of form for the Gunners.
Arsenal have now won just one of their last five, conceding 11 in the same period and crashing out of the League Cup. They have lost three games in the meantime, drawing the other one against Tottenham before the international break.
The 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in the last round of Champions League fixtures could potentially be the most damaging. Though taking three points off Bayern prior to the group stages would have appeared an excellent return. Olympiakos’ two wins over Dinamo has left Arsenal needing two wins – and a win for Pep Guardiola’s men– to qualify.
The injuries, however, could not have come at a worse time for Arsene Wenger, who faces the very real risk of his pursuit of glory in Europe and the Premier League collapsing as his star players lie on the treatment table.
The remaining men will have no room for mistakes against Dinamo, who defeated Arsenal in Croatia in the opening round of fixtures. Anything less than a win and Wenger's side will be out of the competition.
Last 5 games: L-W-L-D-L (Last match: West Bromwich Albion 2-1 Arsenal)
Dinamo Zagreb:
Dinamo Zagreb, on the other hand, are winless in Europe since they stunned their English opponents in the opening round of the Champions League in September and have endured a relatively tough time in the Croatian league. Back-to-back defeats in late October have seen Zoran Mamic’s side concede top spot in the table to Rijeka.
However, they will go into the match at the Emirates feeling confident after a 2-1 victory over Wenger in September, when Olivier Giroud was sent off in a disastrous night for the Gunners.
Last 5 games: W-L-L-W-W (Last match: Slaven Koprivnica 1-2 Dinamo Zagreb)
Key Stats
- It will be the fourth meeting between the two sides in the Champions League; the Gunners have won two meetings however Zagreb won the most recent clash between the sides.
- Dinamo Zagreb have not managed to win any of their last 11 away games in the Champions League (D2, L9), failing to find the net in eight of those games.
- Arsenal were victorious in their last home game in the competition (2-0 v Bayern Munich) but have not won consecutive Champions League games at the Emirates since 2012.
- Alexis Sanchez has been directly involved in four of Arsenal's six Champions League goals this term; scoring once and claiming a career-best three assists already.
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Only Maccabi Tel Aviv and BATE Borisov (both 11) have conceded more goals in the competition this season than Arsenal (10).
The Gunners have conceded more goals from outside the penalty area than any other side this season in the Champions League (3) and more goals from a corner situation than any other team (3).
Key Battles
Olivier Giroud vs Jeremy Taravel
A battle of the French Internationals, Taravel and Giroud will go head to head in front of the Zagreb goal on Tuesday. Giroud has hit a goal scoring form off late and is looking dangerous in set-pieces.
He has scored 7 goals in the last 10 games for the Gunners in the league. He will hope that he can take Arsenal to the next round but will face an experienced 28-year-old who is known for his aerial ability.
It will be interesting to see how Taravel will cope with the presence of Giroud in the penalty area. The battle should decide who will come out on top on the night.
Angelo Henriques vs Laurent Koscielny
The Chilean national Henriquez is one of the best players for Zoran Mamic’s side. He has a very good eye for goal and has already played in England as a loanee for Wigan Athletic.
But the challenge he now faces is larger than any he has ever faced. He will be up against Koscielny who has looked solid at the back for the Gunners. Both the players are good readers of the game and this battle may well decide the outcome of the game, but Koscielny will be expected to do well at home in front of the Emirates’ crowd.
Prediction
If you want to be a top side, then Arsenal have to bounce back from their defeat to West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League but with all the injuries, they might find it hard to maintain their run.
They will have to fight it out against the Croatian outfit to stay alive in the competition. But they have enough fire-power to see this test off and the manager will hope that his players put in a better performance than when the teams met the last time around as they are playing at home.
Two goals to the Gunners at home should be enough to improve their Champions League campaign.
Predicted score: Arsenal 2-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Betting odds (bet365)
Arsenal – 2/9
Draw – 6/1
Dinamo Zagreb – 14/1
