Arsenal return to Champions League football today with more than just three points at stake. A win will take Arsenal through to the knockout out phase of the Champions League and will also help to heal some of the wounds that the painful events of the weekend opened. Arsenal have been in red hot form in Europe and are the only team with a 100% record with only one goal conceded, while Club Brugge find themselves in the ‘relegation zone’ and facing potential elimination and have recently sacked their Manager, due to poor domestic form as well. That should point towards an away victory however, we all know that football doesn’t quite work like that and Arsenal will have to put in a real performance to come away from Belgium with all three points.
Areas of encouragement
The aforementioned European form of Arsenal should give them a real edge going into this one as they should be able to lean into their strong European performances to ease the pain of the most recent Premier League setback. Arsenal also have a decent record against Belgian teams in Europe although I don’t really see how that has much bearing on this individual game to be honest! Getting back to winning ways is absolutely vital right now however, Arsenal have positioned themselves into such a strong position in the Champions League, that they know a defeat would probably still see them keep their place at the top of the table, so that should hopefully allow the team to play with a degree of freedom.
Areas of concern
The ‘new Manager bounce’ is a very real thing in English football and I’m sure the same applies in Belgium so Arsenal need to be aware that Club Brugge will come out fighting for this one, with everyone determined to impress the new Coach. They may also be looking to turn to Europe to put a tough domestic period behind them as well and will almost certainly put in one of their best performances of the season to try and beat us and stay in Europe. I’m expecting a game similar to the one we had in Prague a few weeks ago, but possibly with a bit more quality, so it’s going to be really tough for Arsenal.
What I’d love to see
Arsenal have looked really tired in the last few games. A few players looked way off it against Villa so I’d really love to see an energetic performance from the off. Full of running and creativity and ready to really impose themselves on Club Brugge and play their own game. I’d love to see the Arsenal that played against Bayern Munich at the end of November. Especially in the second half. That would just be such a relief to know that they are still in there and we are back on track.
What I’d hate to see
Anything other than a win is going to be a really tough pill to swallow. We have been imperious for the vast majority of this season and have just started to falter slightly away from home in the Premier League in the past few week so we need to get back to winning ways. I’d really hate to see us put in another leggy performance, lacking confidence and creativity.
Key Battle
I’ll be honest and say I don’t really know too much about Club Brugge and their threats however, from what I’ve read, Nicolo Tresoldi seems like the main threat for the Belgians so I think how Timber/Hincapie deal with Tresoldi will be key in this one. Arsenal’s defence has been excellent in Europe so far this year so they’ll need to pull out another clean sheet if possible which will put them in a great position to take all three points in the Jay Breydel Stadium.
Lineup and Team News
William Saliba was apparently only ‘days’ away from returning to the Arsenal squad before we played Brentford a week ago so the news that he’s going to miss this one as well is very frustrating and leaves us bare at the back again. Riccardo Calafiori would normally be rested for this game, but with his domestic suspension due to kick in against Wolves on Saturday, I think he’ll start this one and maybe come off after about 60 minutes. The rest of the back five will have to stay the same as we have no other options.
Christian Norgaard absolutely has to start this game with Arsenal currently running Martin Zubminedi into the ground while Declan Rice hasn’t travelled so Mikel Arteta will either move Mikel Merino back into midfield or try again with the Eze/Odegaard midfield. I’m expecting the former rather than the latter with Ethan Nwaneri being given the nod ahead of a rested Martin Odegaard. I’d be very surprised to see Eberechi Eze return to the left wing any time soon and I’d actually be surprised to see him return to the starting eleven at all. Viktor Gyokeres will almost certainly lead the line and with Leandro Trossard also not travelling, I’d expect Gabriel Martinelli to get the nod on the left as Noni Madueke will likely start on the right in any case.
The sad news of Max Dowman’s injury in the recent behind closed doors friendly (I swear, this sort of thing can only happen to Arsenal!!) has had a sliding doors affect on the squad with Gabriel Jesus now permitted to join the Champions League squad in place of the younger winger, who’s Champions League group phase involvement is done. I don’t think he’ll start, but I definitely think he should get his first minutes of the season, which would be nice to see.
Predicted lineup:
Raya
White
Timber
Hincapie
Calafiori
Norgaard
Merino
Nwaneri
Madueke
Gyokeres
Martinelli
Substitutes:
Arrizabalaga
Setford
Lewis-Skelly
Zubimendi
Odegaard
Eze
Jesus
Saka
Nicholls
Salmon
Copley
PREDICTION
Just win. Just get back to winning ways. No matter how you do it, just bring home the three points and get our season back on track. It’s going to be tough though and I’m going for a nervy 1-0 win in Belgium.