Arsenal will welcome Dundalk to the Emirates Stadium tonight for their Europa League group stage match.
The Gunners opened their European campaign with a win away to Rapid Vienna last week, coming from behind to snatch a 2-1 win late on, and will be eyeing another win tonight to close in on top spot.
Dundalk suffered the opposite matchday, giving up a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 to Norwegian side Molde, and will be weary that another loss could well leave them a mountain to climb in their bid to reach the next round of the competition.
The Irish side also struggled domestically at the weekend, losing 1-0 to Waterford, a morale blow which they could really have done without.
Arsenal are also going into the match on the back of a loss, with Leicester having enacted a smash-and-grab performance which painfully stole the three points, but this won’t worry the players too much this evening.
While a number of squad members will be expected to get the nod tonight, with one eye on Manchester United’s visit this Sunday, Mikel Arteta will still be aiming for all three points against Dundalk.
I can’t see anything other than a comfortable win at the Emirates this evening, regardless of how many changes are made, and I don’t expect to be conceding tonight either.
Dundalk do not possess enough to hurt our side if we keep to our gameplan, and I trust that Mustafi will put the weekend’s defeat behind him n be fully ready.
I’m predict a nice 3-0 win, with our side opening the scoring in the first-half, with Nicolas Pepe getting a much-needed confidence boost in front of goal.
What are your early predictions for tonight’s clash?
Patrick