Arsenal vs Bayern Munich Preview, Team News, Likely Line-Ups, Key Man + Prediction

Arsenal entertain Bayern Munich at the Emirates Stadium tonight for the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.

The Gunners head into the match as the firm underdogs as they prepare to face the reigning European Champions, but that tag may suit Arsene Wenger’s men more than if the onus was on them to get the win.

Bayern are no doubt a formidable looking outfit this season as they run away with yet another Bundesliga title having won 17 of their 19 fixtures so far, including their last 13 in a row, and are yet to taste defeat in the league this campaign.

However, Arsenal will take great confidence from the result the last time these two met, with the north Londoners pulling off a surprise 2-0 win at the Allianz Arena this time last year. It wasn’t enough to see us through to the quarter finals as we crashed out on away goals, but that win was the catalyst for a superb last 12 months.

We’ve suffered a mini blip in the league of late, taking just 5 points from 12, but we’re still in the mix for the Premier League title and have an FA Cup quarter final to look forward to.

Team News

Arsenal have no fresh injury worries to deal with, although Mikel Arteta misses the game through suspension having been sent off against Napoli in the group stages.

Arsene Wenger is expected to make a number of changes having rested several first team players for Sunday’s 2-1 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup. Wojciech Szczesny, Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs are likely to be recalled while Jack Wilshere should come in alongside Mathieu Flamini in midfield to replace Arteta.

Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky are also in line to return and could replace Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lukas Podolski, with both unfortunate to miss out having scored our goals at the weekend.

We’ll continue to be without the injured Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Kim Kallstrom, Thomas Vermaelen and Abou Diaby. Yaya Sanogo could keep Nicklas Bendtner out the squad once again after an impressive debut against Liverpool, but Olivier Giroud will start up front.

Bayern will be without the injured Frank Ribery after he underwent surgery on a burst blood vessel and his replacement Xherdan Shaqiri is also out after picking up a hamstring injury at the weekend.

However, Bastian Schweinsteiger is back in contention after a lengthy injury pay-off with the midfielder making substitute appearances over the past two games.

Likely Line-Ups

Key Man

Lahm: The former full-back has been turned into a holding midfielder under Pep Guardiola and he’s flourished in his now role. He’s now the linchpin in the side and dictates their passing, so we’ll have to either stop the ball getting to him or cut off his distribution channels to disrupt their game.

Prediction

Arsenal 1-1 Bayern Munich: This is a huge ask for the Arsenal players and while I’d love to predicted a home win, I think we’ll end up with a score draw. It won’t be the worst result but we may have to pull off another win at the Allianz to progress to the last 8.

What would be your starting eleven and whats your predicted score? Share your views below.