Preview: Arsenal vs Paris Saint-Germain – stats, team news, line-ups
Arsenal will turn their attention to continental football on Tuesday evening as they go head to head with French champions Paris Saint-Germain in their second Champions League contest at the Emirates Stadium.
Both sides are still on the hunt for an elusive Champions League title, and they’ll be keen to get points on the board to boost their prospect of securing automatic qualification.
Arsenal were held to a goalless draw against Europa League holders Atalanta in their Champions League curtain-raiser, but they’ll welcome a PSG side that claimed a narrow 1-0 win over La Liga surprise package Girona.
The Gunners will be keen to secure a win that could be crucial to their qualification hopes, but the task at hand won’t be a walk in the park for Mikel Arteta’s troops, given the form of their French opponents.
With the Champions League switching to a new league phase format, Arsenal will need all the points they can muster to ensure they finish in the top eight and claim an automatic spot in the knockout rounds.
Fans keen to cheer the Gunners on from the home section at the Emirates can secure their Champions League tickets at Seatsnet.com, but they’ll watch with bated breath as Arteta’s troops take on the French champions.
Match Preview
David Raya’s heroics between the posts for Arsenal have reached new heights this season.
The Spanish shot-stopper first made headlines with an incredible save against Aston Villa, denying Ollie Watkins’ point-blank header with lightning reflexes.
At the time, it seemed like the save of the season, if not his entire career. However, just weeks later in the Champions League, Raya pulled off an even more extraordinary feat.
During Arsenal’s clash with Atalanta in Bergamo, Raya produced a sensational double save, stopping Mateo Retegui’s penalty and blocking the follow-up effort to keep the scores level.
His performance secured a hard-fought goalless draw for the Gunners, who were missing their creative lynchpin, Martin Odegaard.
Atalanta are renowned for their offensive prowess after dismantling both Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen last season, so keeping a clean sheet against the free-scoring Italians was a decent achievement for Arsenal.
The Gunners are sitting in 16th place in the Champions League standings with just one point to their name, but it’s far too early to read into the rankings.
Raya’s impressive form continued in the Premier League, though he could do little to stop two strikes from Leicester City’s James Justin.
Nevertheless, Arsenal pulled off another thrilling late show to claim a 4-2 victory over the newly promoted Foxes, moving level with reigning champions Manchester City in the Premier League standings.
With Man City set to be without their key midfield enforcer, Rodri, for the rest of the season, the race for the title is already shaping up to be another nail-biting affair.
Meanwhile, PSG narrowly avoided a disappointing start to their Champions League campaign on matchday one, as they struggled to break down a resolute Girona defence at the Parc des Princes.
Last season’s third-placed La Liga finishers looked set to hold the French champions to a goalless draw, despite Luis Enrique’s side dominating possession and creating multiple chances.
However, in the dying moments of the game, PSG were handed an unexpected gift.
Nuno Mendes delivered a cross into the box, which should have been easily collected by former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga.
Instead, the ball slipped through Gazzaniga’s grasp, allowing the French giants to claim all three points with a 90th-minute winner, leaving the Girona goalkeeper in despair after his costly mistake.
PSG showed more clinical form in their recent Ligue 1 fixture, easing to a 3-1 victory over Rennes. Bradley Barcola was the star of the show, netting twice to take his tally to six goals in the domestic campaign.
With five wins from their opening six league games, PSG sit atop the Ligue 1 standings, leading second-place AS Monaco on goal difference.
However, PSG’s recent record in England gives them cause for concern as they prepare to visit Arsenal at the Emirates.
Last season, they suffered a 4-1 defeat to Newcastle United, marking their third consecutive Champions League loss on English soil.
As they head into their next European clash, Luis Enrique’s men will be determined to erase the memory of those past failures and solidify their European credentials.
Key Stats
Arsenal will aim to continue their strong form when they take on PSG in the Champions League on Tuesday, hoping to avoid setting an unwanted club record.
Despite a prolific start to the season, where they have scored 11 goals in their last three matches against Leicester, Bolton Wanderers, and Man City, the Gunners are at risk of failing to score in three consecutive Champions League matches for the first time in the club’s history.
They’ve drawn blank in their last two continental outings and will be eager to reverse that trend.
Historically, Arsenal have fared well against PSG in European competition.
They are unbeaten in their last four meetings with the French side (W1, W3), while PSG have struggled to overcome the Gunners more than any other team in European competition.
The two sides last met in the 2016/17 group stage, but they settled for a share of the spoils in both games.
However, Arsenal have the upper hand in this Clash of the Titans, winning 2-1 on aggregate in the 1993/94 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup semi-finals before going on to lift their only European trophy.
Team news & potential line-ups
Arsenal are in a better place than their upcoming opponents in terms of the health of their squad, with only Ben White expected to miss Tuesday’s mouth-watering clash.
The England international has been struggling with niggling injury problems over the past couple of weeks and was absent from first-team training on Monday.
With White out, Jurrien Timber is expected to keep his spot at right back, although Arteta would be able to call upon Mikel Merino, Riccardo Calafiori, and Takehiro Tomiyasu after they were put through their paces in Monday’s training.
Over at PSG, Luis Enrique will be scratching his head at what to make of his injury-ridden squad ahead of Tuesday’s crunch showdown.
The Spanish tactician decided to leave former Barcelona ace Ousmane Dembele out of his Champions League squad after the pair had a falling out.
While Dembele’s absence isn’t due to injury, PSG still have Lucas Hernandez, Presnel Kimpembe, Goncalo Ramos, Desire Doue, Marco Asensio, and Gianluigi Donnarumma confined to the hospital room.
Left-back Nuno Mendes will have to pass a late fitness test to confirm his availability for Tuesday’s Champions League showdown after missing PSG’s last two Ligue 1 fixtures due to an illness.
Arsenal potential starting line-up:
(4-3-3): David Raya; Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori; Kai Havertz, Thomas Partey, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli.
PSG potential starting line-up:
(4-3-3): Matvey Safonov; Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Willian Pacho, Nuno Mendes; Fabian Ruiz, Joao Neves, Warren Zaire-Emery; Lee Kang-in, Randal Kolo Muani, Bradley Barcola.
