Arsenal kick-off their UEFA Champions League campaign this Wednesday evening with an away trip to Eastern Europe against Dinamo Zagreb. They’ll be looking to secure the three points to get their group stage fight on the right track.
The game, being played at Stadion Maksimar, is Arsenal’s first match of a group stage that is kinder than that of recent years. They’ll be looking to secure maximum points against Zagreb and Olympiacos, to give themselves the best possible chance of bettering Bayern Munich in the group, to give them an, especially for Arsenal, all-important top seeding.
Arsene Wenger’s side have had a largely positive start to their league campaign. Despite failing to win two of their first three games, Arsenal have made it two wins in the row, last weekend beating Stoke resoundingly by a score of 2-0. The Gunners have got four wins – and four clean sheets – from their last six games, and the team appears to be flowing and combining well, so the morale of the camp should be at a high going into this occasion.
Something Arsenal will take solace from is how well their midfield linked up last weekend, and how that can be emulated in Croatia. The Gunners held 68% of the possession, created a host of chances and rattled off 29 shots on the afternoon. Alas, with the goalkeeping heroics of Jack Butland and the rustiness in front of goal from Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott, the side in red and white only found the net twice. The below graphs show the 22 players’ average positions, via BBC Sport, showing how much Arsenal dominated the attacking proceedings:
Arsenal pushed Stoke and forced them to return to their own half, something that they will try to replicate on Wednesday – so they have the space to roam and execute their possession-based style to a good standard.
With goals from, perhaps ironically, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott, Arsenal cruised to a 2-0 win at Stoke where they were defensively strong, controlled the game and created some great chances. Positives like the Gabriel-Koscielny partnership coming to fruition – Arsenal are unbeaten in the 11 games the Brazilian has appeared in, and have only conceded four times in this period – as well as the fluidity of the Gunners in the middle of the park will be promising things to build upon. Mesut Ozil was Arsenal’s Man of the Match, getting his second assist of the league campaign in that match with a fantastically lofted ball into Theo Walcott. A near-flawless performance, and one Wenger and co. will be looking to build upon.
Looking to the opposition, it’s important not to underestimate who Arsenal are taking on, despite the relatively unknown name of Dinamo Zagreb. This Croatian side have been unbeaten in the last 40 games, going the whole of the last Croatian campaign undefeated – but have only won half of their last six matches (drawing three), perhaps giving light to a hope that they aren’t able to kill a game off at the moment. Zagreb are up for the challenge though, with defender Leonardo Sigali commenting: “Arsenal need to take us seriously or they are in for a surprise. We are creating chances and looking dangerous.”
A player Zagreb will want to keep an eye out for is Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean is clearly bursting to get off the mark for the season, hitting the post twice in the early stages of the game last weekend versus Stoke. Arsenal’s Player of the Season is looking energetic, much more involved in team-play and ready to score, so expect him to terrorise the Croatian side’s defence.
Arsenal will need to be wary of the Zagreb defence however. With a 40 game domestic unbeaten streak, a defensive solidarity is essential in stopping your record from ending. The Croatian champions can offer this so it’s important the Gunners don’t get caught with their eye off the ball.
Theo Walcott will have fond memories of the Stadion Maksimar. The forward scored his first hat-trick in England colours, at the tender age of 19, in a 4-1 away win, all the way back in 2008. He feels a lot older than 26, doesn’t he?
The last time these two teams met was all the way back in 2006. Zagreb lost 2-1 to Arsenal at the Emirates, their only goal coming from a man who was, at the time, soon to become a cult hero of sorts at the Emirates – Eduardo. This result meant that Arsenal progressed from the third qualifying round with a 5-1 win on aggregate.
If Arsenal can replicate their performance of recent days against Zagreb, then they’ll be in for a promising start to the 15/16 Champions League campaign. It may take a while to break down this Croatian defence, but once the floodgates open, it should be fairly easy for Arsenal to impose their quality on the night.
Match facts:
– Arsenal are playing in the Champions League for the 18th consecutive season, only Real Madrid (19) can boast a longer current streak.
– Arsène Wenger has taken charge of 168 games in the Champions League, more than any other current manager. Only Alex Ferguson can boast more games (190).
– Dinamo Zagreb have lost their last six meetings with English opposition, conceding 16 goals in the process.
– The Gunners have won their last three Champions League away games. They have not won four in a row on the road since February 2006.
– Dinamo Zagreb are winless in 15 Champions League games (D2 L13), last winning against Sturm Graz in September 1999 (3-0).
– Arsenal have kept just one clean sheet in their last ten away group stage games.
– Dinamo have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last eight home games in European competition (all qualifiers).
– Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey has scored three goals in his last two Champions League appearances.
Team News:
The treatment room stays the same this time round. Danny Welbeck will be out until Christmas and beyond after surgery on his knee, Jack Wilshere may be out for roughly a month longer than expected with his ankle problems, and Tomas Rosicky is still nursing a knee injury. The first two are very frustrating – promising English players whose progress is stunted by persistent injuries.
Predicted XIs:
Zagreb (4-2-2): Eduardo; Ivo Pinto, Sigali, Taravel, Piravic; Fernandes, Machado Antolic, Pjaca; Soudani, Henriquez.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Cech; Debuchy, Gabriel, Koscielny, Gibbs; Cazorla, Coquelin; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Sanchez; Giroud.
Match Prediction:
A 2-0 win to the Arsenal, with the goals coming late in both the first and second half. Santi Cazorla will notch the first through a penalty and Alexis Sanchez will seal the game off in the latter stage to open his account for the season. It promises to be a game in which Arsenal should perform well, which should set them up nicely ahead of the difficult tie of Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.
