I am not sure if Arsene Wenger is ready to take too many risks when he sets his Arsenal team up to face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, but as usual the Frenchman’s tactical options are a little restricted because of the injury situation.
With the Gunners needing just a point, the manager may well decide to play it safe. Jurgen Klopp is probably thinking along the same lines with his own injury problems and with Dortmund sitting two places off the bottom of the Bundesliga and facing a tough trip to Hamburg at the weekend. So now could be a perfect time to surprise the Germans and go on the attack.
And one way to do this would be to change the formation and play two strikers in a 4-4-2 formation. With Giroud available and Koscielny back to strengthen the back four, I think it would have been quite likely, but I reckon that Lukas Podolski could be just as good an option alongside Welbeck.
Podolski is all about experience and finishing, while Danny is all about pace, movement and work rate. Together they could complement each other and compensate for the weak points in the other. Wenger seems to be struggling to find opportunities for the German but he is desperate to play and while he may not do enough to be the lone centre forward, he might be ideal as part of a pair.
The final point in favour of this is that Dortmund are likely to be without their best centre back Mats Hummels and will not expe4ct to have to cope with a front two as well as the pace of Alexis and Chamberlain. It might just get the Gunners a vital and morale boosting win. What do you think?