Arsenal and Bayern Munich are the best sides in Europe this season, and they are now set to meet at the Emirates in the UEFA Champions League.
Arsenal are one of the in-form teams in Europe heading into Matchday 5 of the UEFA Champions League; this time around, they will take on familiar foes in the continental arena in the form of Bayern Munich, with the two sides last meeting two seasons ago in the Champions League quarterfinals.
The Gunners are coming into this clash on the back of a smashing victory in the North London Derby, demolishing Tottenham with a 4-1 scoreline. However, the challenge ahead on Wednesday will be daunting to a different degree, as the result in this clash could dictate the top end of the Champions League standings.
Arsenal do not have a particularly good record in the past against the Bavarians, but their most recent clashes were at least competitive than before. The North Londoners are also the most in-form team defensively in the Champions League, having conceded no goals in their four games, all of which resulted in wins so far.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich are also coming into this clash with Arsenal on the back of a smashing victory over SC Freiburg, despite going two goals down. Both of those goals conceded came from a set piece, although Die Roten have since responded by scoring six strikes of their own to stay top of the Bundesliga standings.
The Bundesliga champions may not be as defensively sound as Arsenal, but the richness of attacking talents have seen them put in massive goalscoring performances so far on all fronts. Much like the Gunners, they have yet to suffer a single defeat in the Champions League, and their only result that was not a win across all competitions came against Union Berlin before the International break, which was a 2-2 draw.
Bayern Munich and Arsenal will both come into this mammoth clash in a bid to win and continue their momentum. This clash is already billed as one between two of the best teams on the continent at the current moment, which will make for a good watch, especially with both teams unbeaten in the competition so far.
Team News & Tactics
Arsenal
The victory on Sunday saw Noni Madueke return to action for Arsenal, and in further good news, Martin Odegaard was in training ahead of the Bayern Munich clash. There are no fresh concerns over fitness after the win over Tottenham, meaning Mikel Arteta will have a full set of players to choose from apart from those sitting out with injuries.
Those are currently Kai Havertz, Viktor Gyokeres, Gabriel Magalhaes, and probably Max Dowman, who was not involved in training. The injury list, which looked long not so while ago, seems to have eased up, especially as Gabriel Martinelli was also part of the bench on Sunday.
Arteta is not expected to heavily rotate his ranks, especially for a big clash, as the manager would like to keep the momentum in his players, especially ahead of the weekend. Hence, the likelihood of any changes are unlikely, meaning Piero Hincapie might once again deputise for Gabriel at the back, while Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino are all pencilled in to start.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Eze, Trossard; Merino
Bayern Munich
There are some concerns over the fitness of Serge Gnabry and key midfielder Joshua Kimmich, with the duo nursing knocks. They have travelled with the Bayern Munich squad for the trip to London, but there will be questions over their participation from the get-go against Arsenal.
The former has been nursing a knee injury, although it is the latter who is likely to start at the Emirates. The big miss will be Luis Diaz, who went from hero to zero in the clash against PSG, after his brace proved enough to secure a point, but a nasty tackle on Achraf Hakimi ended up in a red card and a three-game ban in the Champions League.
Hence, the Colombian international is unlikely to play again in the competition in 2025, with Vincent Kompany needing to find the right solution for the left wing. With Gnabry also a doubt, the German international would have been the automatic choice there. However, should the manager decide not to risk him from the start, Bayern Munich’s youngest-ever Champions League goalscorer, Lennart Karl, will get the nod.
The game will also be a return for Harry Kane to North London, with the England captain’s impressive form as well as his record at the Emirates likely to be the main talking point. Overall, Kompany is expected to name a familiar team to face Arsenal.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Laimer, Upamecano, Tah, Guerreiro; Pavlovic, Kimmich; Olise, Karl, Gnabry; Kane
Key Stats
- Arsenal are unbeaten in their four UEFA Champions League games so far this season and yet to concede a goal.
- Arsenal and Bayern Munich are set to meet for the 5th time in a group phase game in the Champions League, with the Gunners winning just once in that run.
- Bayern Munich have four wins in their Champions League campaign so far.
- Bayern Munich are the joint top scorers in this season’s UEFA Champions League with 14 goals.
- Arsenal and Bayern Munich are two of the four teams who didn’t trail at all across their opening four matches in the UEFA Champions League this season (along with Internazionale and Manchester City). Meanwhile, Bayern have been the team to have led for the most minutes across the opening four matchdays (345:49 – 89% of their total match time).
Player to Watch
Declan Rice
This is a game designed for midfielders to seize control of the occasion and help their respective teams dominate. The prospect of seeing Kimmich and Aleksandar Pavlovic going against Rice and Martin Zubimendi already seems mouthwatering, with Rice probably set to come into focus.
Rice has been immense for Arsenal this season, and the clash against Tottenham was another such example of how he allows the Gunners an edge in proceedings. It will be interesting to see how he fares against the likes of Kimmich and Pavlovic, as the winner of this midfield battle will probably dictate which team comes out on top in this mammoth clash.
Prediction
Arsenal 2-2 Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich are the attacking phenom in the Champions League and Bundesliga, as they meet a defensive wall of Arsenal in what could be a top-notch battle of wits between the two managers. There’s the difficulty of picking a winner, as this clash could have the hallmarks of the result back in the 2023-24 Champions League quarterfinals, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
Arsenal also boasts an impressive attacking record in the competition this season, and it will be interesting to watch which teams get the best out of the other. Hence, the game has all the hallmarks of a highly entertaining draw, with both teams set to find joy on the attacking end of things.