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Slavia Prague have gone five games without conceding – three in the Czech league, one in the Cup and a goalless draw at Atalanta in the Champions League. Something has to give tonight – or not, as the case may be.
Mikel Arteta: “[Slavia] usually press high, man-to-man, so we’ll need different attributes. Very intense and direct, they’ll make it uncomfortable [Merino] is learning the position, he scored goals last season … we need people to adapt with the injuries we have. Ethan [Nwaneri] deserves a start, he is getting better and better.”
A vision of football’s future, from David Squires.
No Viktor Gyökeres tonight for Arsenal – the striker suffered a muscle injury in the win over Burnley, so Mikel Merino will reprise his role as a stand-in centre-forward. There are three further changes from Saturday’s line-up, with Piero Hincapie in for Riccardo Calafiori at left-back. Christian Nørgaard and Ethan Nwaneri replace Eberechi Eze and the suspended Martín Zubimendi in midfield.
Team news
Slavia Prague (3-4-3): Markovic; Vlcek, Chaloupek, Zima; Moses, Zafeiris, Sadilek, Mbodji; Provod, Chory, Sanyang.
Subs: Stanek, Rezek, Saracevic, Hashioka, Kusej, Chytil, Boril, Doudera, Toula, Prekop, Jelinek, Kolisek.
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Norgaard, Rice, Nwaneri; Saka, Merino, Trossard.
Subs: Setford, Mosquera, White, Eze, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman, Harriman-Annous, Rojas, Sagoe Junior.
Preamble
Since losing at Anfield on the last day of August, Arsenal have won 10 out of 11 games in all competitions. They’ve won their last eight matches on the bounce, and their last seven wins have come without conceding a single goal. The last time they achieved eight clean sheets in a row, in 1903, Arsenal were a second-tier side based in Woolwich.
Standing in the way of history tonight are Slavia Prague, who sit 28th on the big Champions League ladder with two points and two goals in three games; their visitors are in third place with three wins from three (and no goals conceded, naturally). The Czech champions are also pretty solid defensively, conceding eight goals in 14 games during an unbeaten start to their league campaign.
Look, I’ve been in the live blogging game for a few years now, and I can’t recall many conclusions as foregone as this one: Arsenal are surely destined to win this game two- or three-nil, rarely venturing out of second gear before a tougher run of fixtures – Sunderland (A), Spurs (H), Bayern (H) and Chelsea (A) – further tests their resolve.
Still, this is football and you can never be certain. Any given Tuesday (early) evening, and all of that. Kick-off at the Eden Arena is at 5.45pm GMT; team news to follow.
