Arsenal Hoping For An Easy Game & Not Another Banterlecht Performance

Arsenal V Anderlecht Match Preview Champions league 4.11.2014

After two comfortable home and away games in the Barclays Premier League, Arsenal will be looking to close the gap on group leaders Borussia Dortmund with a home game against Anderlecht. They proved in their last game against Anderlecht, that they can push forward after going 1-0 down to secure a win, as has been the case in other games this season.

Alexis Sanchez has been on top form for the Gunners scoring four in two to secure wins in the past two league games. Arsenal have been getting back into form as of late compared to their slow start of the season where they had only won two games out of eight drawing 5 losing 1.

After securing a late goal to secure a group win against Anderlecht - dubbed Banterlecht - the Gunners face a tough tie at the Emirates this evening. The Belgian side will be looking for their first win in their Champions League campaign. Wojciech Szczesny is eligible to play after serving a one-match ban for his sending off in the 4-1 win against Galatasaray. It's a slight boost to the Arsenal side, as they had to put their faith for the last game against Anderlecht in the hands of 22-year old keeper, Emiliano Martinez who played well in his first Champions League game for the club.

Image © www.arsenal.com 

Arsenal always prove their worth in this prestigious European cup. They have managed to secure a place in the top flight for 17 consecutive seasons and if they win over Anderlecht at the Emirates, it can be suggested that they will reach the knockout stages once more. Although it should be another win for a more in form Arsenal side, it will take commitment and focus to break down a determined Anderlecht team looking to show that they belong in the UEFA Champions league.

Arsenal will be without midfielder Jack Wilshere who missed training this week as he is suffering from a sickness bug, which also affected Aaron Ramsey at the beginning of last week. However, they have players that can fit into his position, demonstrated by the three link up of players of Santi Cazorla, Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. I think the game will be a tough one with Anderlecht pushing Arsenal with their defensive tactics, but I think Arsenal will edge this game to get those all important points to catch Dortmund.

Last 3 Meetings

• Arsenal 2- 1 Anderlecht 22.10.2014
• Arsenal 3 - 0 Anderlecht 28.04.1970
• Anderlecht 3 - 1 Arsenal 22.04.1970

Factfile

• Arsenal and Anderlecht have met twice before in a two-legged Fairs Cup Final with Arsenal winning 4-3 on aggregate
• Anderlecht's last English opponents were those lot up the road and they helped Spurs to a 1-1 draw
• Anderlecht has not won a Champions League game this campaign and sit 3rd in the group after securing one point against Galatasaray

Injuries

At the time of writing, Mathieu Debuchy, Laurent Koscielny, Mesut Ozil, David Ospina, Olivier Giroud, Yaya Sanogo and Serge Gnabry are all unavailable.

Possible Starting XI

Szczesny, Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal, Gibbs, Arteta, Flamini, Chamberlain, Sanchez, Cazorla, Welbeck

Goonersphere's Prediction

Arsenal 2- 0 Anderlecht

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