Arsenal's first Champions League appearance in six and a half years. Wednesday's Group B opener sees Arsenal take on PSV Eindhoven. Arsenal have earned a place in Europe's top competition thanks to winning the runners-up spot in the 2022-23 league, while their Dutch opponents avenge last summer's humiliating play-off defeat to Rangers.
In retrospect, the last time the spotlight shone on a Champions League match at the Stade des Emilettes was during Arsenal's 2016-17 season, when Arsene Wenger's Arsenal side attempted to turn around a 1-5 Round of 16 deficit against Bayern Munich only to suffer another woeful defeat in front of their own fans. After that 10-2 defeat, with Wenger's belated departure, the unfortunate era of Emery, and a rare season without any form of European soccer, Arsenal will finally be among Europe's highest in the coming weeks once again, even though qualification is just a consolation prize for their woeful defeat in the title race late last season. Despite never having won a Champions League trophy, the **Handlers have managed to avoid an even more horrific draw in the group stage as two struggling sides - Lens and Europa League champions Sevilla - will also be battling it out for the top two spots in Group B. Despite Arsenal's mediocre season on the attacking end, Leandro Trossard provided the necessary spark to help his side beat Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park. There, Arsenal hadn't won since the 2017-18 season during Arsene Wenger's reign, while they remain unbeaten in all competitions this season. However, Arsenal have failed to keep a clean sheet at home for 11 consecutive matches, the only time being against Wolverhampton in the final round of last season. And the upcoming North London derby could also put pressure on the Atleta's players.
Penalized to the group stage of the Europa League due to their loss to Rangers in last year's final qualifying round, PSV Eindhoven beat Arsenal 1:0 at Emiletus and then 2:0 a week later at the Philips Stadium. Eindhoven's dream of winning the Europa League was quickly crushed by eventual winners Sevilla in the playoff stage, but this time they were not beaten by GERS again. After comfortably beating Sturm Graz in the qualifying rounds, Peter Bosz's side put the Scottish giants to bed with a 7-3 aggregate scoreline. Eindhoven returned to the Champions League group stage for the first time since the 2018-19 season on the back of a 5-1 home win. And the peasants still only have one European Cup to their name, which they won on penalties over Benfica in the final of the 1987-88 season. The 2005 semi-final was Eindhoven's deepest game since their first victory 35 years ago, but Bosz's side have found their best shooting boots this season, cementing their lead at the top of the table with a ruthless 4-0 win over NEC in the weekend's Eredivisie game.
Now unbeaten in 26 games, the Eindhoven side have scored at least two goals in their last eight games and beat Arsenal 2-1 on aggregate in the last 16 of the 2006-07 Champions League, but they have scored just one goal away from home against Arsenal and will have to make the most of their recent goal-scoring record to spoil the party in North London.
Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli was injured in the Sept. 17 match when he strained the posterior thigh muscle while running and scoring the goal that was eventually ruled out. The Brazilian's injury will be assessed by Wednesday, but Trossard is expected to be named in the starting lineup for his impressive performance in the Goodison Park fixture. There, David Raya is also coming on for Aaron Ramsdale, but Arteta says he will continue to tweak the goalkeeper as the season progresses. It's anyone's guess who will be the last line of defense for this week's *** handlers, and Arteta could be tempted to bring Gabriel Jesus into the game for his first game of the season after Eddie Nketiah struggled to get into the game at Everton.
In strikingly similar fashion, Eindhoven also expressed concerns about their key attacking players over the weekend as winger Noah Long became a doubt for the trip there after he was forced to leave the field 11 minutes into the second half against NEC. However, Bosz has a ready replacement in Hirving Lozano, who made his debut for Eindhoven at the weekend, but the defense trio of Armando Obispo, Frederic Opegard and Mauro Littlewing have all been treated in the treatment room. Eindhoven solved their ongoing defender problems with a loan deal for Southampton's Almer Bela Kotchap, who should be named in the starting lineup at Emiletus, while captain Luke Derong has made 14 goal contributions in nine games this season - nine of his own and five Assists.
SCORE PREDICTION: Arsenal 2-1 PSV Eindhoven PSV Eindhoven may have dominated Arsenal in their most recent fixture 11 months ago, but without Javi Simmons or Ibrahim Sangare to take control of the game, even the most goal-happy of the Rood-witten teams may feel the pressure against higher-ranking opposition in North London. Arsenal's persistent defensive shortcomings mean Arteta's side may yet have to fight fire with fire, but the **Handlers should be able to take their chances and make the most of their Group B campaign, especially with a talented array of players ready to make an impact from the bench.
