United’s Chilean Reject Could Cause Arsenal Problems

Match Preview – Dinamo Zagreb vs Arsenal – Champions League – 16.09.15

Ce sont les meilleures équipes….Es sind sie allerbesten Mannschaften….The main event…Die Meister…Die Besten…Les grandes équipes…The champions!
Une grande réunion…Eine große sportliche Veranstaltung….The main event….Ils sont les meilleurs….Sie sind die Besten….These are the champions…Die Meister….Die Besten…Les grandes équipes…
The champions!!!

Champions League matches – as much as I abhor the farcical circus of political manoeuvring and rampant capitalism that is UEFA – are just magical. There’s something about the music that sets my pulse racing and releases a kaleidoscope of butterflies in my stomach. We often take the Champions League for granted because of the frequency of our participation but slightly less than we dismiss our perfect attendance record, since joining the European elite in 1998, in a weird form of asceticism in protest at our lack of a domestic league title.

These are nights to be enjoyed, savoured and remembered. The Champions League is a special competition and tonight we face opposition who have not lost in any competition for 41 matches, a run stretching back to October last season.

We are without Bellerin and Ramsey who have undoubtedly been rested for the Chelsea match – the early kick-off on Saturday. Debuchy will come in to deputise for the young Spaniard, who has been magnificent to reverse the roles with the senior player, and it is expected Oxlade-Chamberlain will take up the right-wing berth.

Personally, I would play Theo on the right. I’m a huge fan of Theo through the middle but I expect this to be a physical game that would better suit Giroud through the middle. Chamberlain has a bright future ahead of him but at the moment I feel he is too rash in possession and not as effective as Walcott in the final third – many will disagree with that statement because Ox is a much more explosive player than Theo and generally more exciting to watch run with the ball but statistically he is not as accurate nor as efficient as Theo.

Unless Wenger plans to start Theo against Chelsea, which I would have warned against had they not had such an amusing start to the season, then he should play tonight. Chamberlain needs games to improve but as a team we need to fine tune our finishing to gain some rhythm – we’re the most creative team in the league and need to swiftly improve our conversion rate – and the way to do that is to play your most efficient players. Theo also has fond memories of this ground having scored a hat-trick for England here.

Mertesacker is still recovering from illness and is likely to still be shaken from his small traffic accident so Koscielny and Gabriel will continue to play together. It will be interesting to see what happens when he is fully fit – I stand by my previous assertions that he will continue to be a first pick.

There will definitely be a few changes this evening and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Coquelin rested in favour of Arteta to keep him fresh for Chelsea at the weekend.

I’m not entirely sure what to expect from Zagreb but I do expect better finishing and the same high standard of chance creation from Arsenal as we saw against Stoke. I fancy Alexis to get on the score sheet tonight after twice hitting the post against Stoke.

Arsenal from; Cech, Ospina, Debuchy, Gibbs, Monreal, Gabriel, Koscielny, Chambers, Reine-Adelaide, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Flamini, Coquelin, Özil, Cazorla, Walcott, Giroud.

Predicted Line-up

Cech, Debuchy, Koscielny, Gabriel, Monreal, Arteta, Özil, Alexis, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Giroud

I expect to see substitute appearances from Walcott and Coquelin.

Match Quote

“We know we have some way to put that right [Monaco], that is a regret of the season last year. We know as well that we can show that we have learnt from that”  – Arsène Wenger

Last 2 Meetings

• Dinamo Zagreb 0-3 Arsenal (08.08.06)
  Arsenal 2-1 Dinamo Zagreb (23.08.06)

Form Guide

Arsenal Last 5
WWDWL

Zagreb Last 5
WWDWD

Opposition watch

Dinamo Zagreb are unbeaten in 41 matches and other than that I don’t know a great deal about their recent form, style of play or who the real danger men are. Ángelo Henríquez, formerly of Manchester United, is a national team-mate of Alexis and supposedly quite a good player – he has 6 goals in 10 games already this season. Whilst not exactly bobbins in England he barely made a mark at United making a grand total of zero competitive appearances however he did “win” the FA Cup with Wigan when he was an unused substitute in 2013. It would be so Arsenal to have someone so unremarkable in England, or unable to force his way into the first team of some pretty average United squads, score the winning goal against us.

Their manager has said we are the better team but they will look to cause us problems. I don’t wish to cast aspersions on him or his team (although he and his brother, the club CEO, are under investigation for tax evasion) but in “Premier League Speak” that means they plan to kick the crap out of us. I hope that’s not the case.

Factfile

• Arsenal played Zagreb in 2006 in the Champions League qualifiers, a clash which alerted Wenger to the talents of Eduardo when he scored the first European goal at the Emirates
• Theo Walcott scored a hat-trick for England on this ground in 2008
• Zagreb have not lost a single game since October 2014
• Dinamo have won the last 11 consecutive Croatian titles
• Arsenal kept a 3rd consecutive clean sheet against Stoke

Prediction

4-1 to Arsenal. I fancy us to find our scoring touch with Alexis bagging a brace.

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