So we all know the background as to our injuries and the fact that Arsenal need to beat Zagreb while Munich are destroying Olympiakos (we hope!). The fact that we will be without Francis Coquelin and Mikel Arteta is hardly materiel in what should be a routine win for the Gunners under normal circumstances.
What can go wrong? Well a repeat show of petulance from Olivier Giroud could put a spanner in the works, but we have no other choice for centre-forward so hopefully he will have learnt his lesson. As Wenger said: “I believe that we were absolutely unlucky in our first game there because we played with 10 against 11 and we were a bit unlucky with Olivier Giroud’s sending off.
“We are now in a mission which is not impossible, but a mission that does not allow you any margin for error. That is one advantage as the task is very clear, let’s go and win our games.”
Okay let’s look at the team that lost in the Croatian capital:
Ospina
Gibbs
Gabriel
Koscielny
Debuchy
Cazorla
Oxlade-Chamberlain
Alexis
Arteta
Ozil
Giroud
Obviously Cech is a big plus from the original team, I must admit I was worried that he may revert back to Ospina as he is now fit, but even Wenger knows there is no room for error at all.
So here is todays confirmed team:
Giroud
Sanchez Ozil Campbell
Flamini Cazorla
Monreal Koscielny Mertesacker Bellerin
Cech
As you can see Coquelin didn’t play in the first game either. Neither did Monreal, Mertesacker and Bellerin. Campbell still replaces the Ox and I’m not going to complain about that. He must come good sometime….
Anyway IMO this team is much stronger than the first one, especially defensively. Barring crazy accidents I believe we will win this 2-0…..