The Gunners will be looking to take advantage of a favourable Champions League last-16 draw when they host AS Monaco at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday. Arsenal finished second in their group but were lucky not to be drawn against the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Barcelona in the last 16. It will be a special encounter for Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who has managed Monaco between 1987 and 1994. This will be the first time Wenger meets his former club.
Arsenal will be without injured Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, so Arsene Wenger will most likely keep the same starting eleven that clinched a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace last weekend. AS Monaco will rely on former Premier League striker Dimitar Berbatov in attack, the Bulgarian forward has scored three times against Arsenal during his spells with Tottenham, Manchester United and Fulham.
The Gunners have won five of their previous ten matches against French opposition. AS Monaco are currently fourth in Ligue 1 but they have a good record as far as trips to England are concerned, they have lost just one of their five matches on English soil.
Probable line-ups:
Arsenal: Ospina - Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal - Coquelin, Cazorla - Ozil, Sanchez, Welbeck - Giroud
Monaco: Subasic - Fabinho, Wallace, Abdennour, Kurzawa - Toulalan, Kondogbia - Moutinho, Martial, Carrasco - Berbatov
My prediction: Arsenal to win 2-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Arsenal win - 1/2 Draw - 16/5 AS Monaco win - 7/1
vlado.mikic.50 9 years ago
Yes ,I agree with you kruno1414,very bad year for english teams.It looks like this is time when Spanish and German teams are dominating figures in European football.Outside them,only Chelsea I considere as a possible threat for a trophy in Champions League,but it is tough competition,you can never know what will happen.
Yes ,I agree with you kruno1414,very bad year for english teams.It looks like this is time when Spanish and German teams are dominating figures in European football.Outside them,only Chelsea I considere as a possible threat for a trophy in Champions League,but it is tough competition,you can never know what will happen.
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kruno1414
9 years ago
This was, at least for me, an easy win for Monaco . We all know that Monaco is playing ugly football without many goals , unattractive , but they showed that when you come into a match without pressure of winning you can do some great stuff . They deserved this win in a big margin and now they are big step into the quarter...
This was, at least for me, an easy win for Monaco . We all know that Monaco is playing ugly football without many goals , unattractive , but they showed that when you come into a match without pressure of winning you can do some great stuff . They deserved this win in a big margin and now they are big step into the quarter finals. Too bad for Arsenal and for other two teams that dropped from Europe League competition , Manchester City is also with one leg out of it , and Chelsea will have some hard time too . Bad year for English teams.
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vlado.mikic.50 9 years ago
Leandro Jardim is prooving his quality every day.His team does not have many top class player,but thay are playing disciplined,with a lot of confidence.At every moment of the game,they know exactly what should thay do on the pitch.They could do something that last year Atletico Madrid did.
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vlado.mikic.50 9 years ago
Yeah.mdacic,I agree with you,this is one of the biggest surprises in last few seasons.Nobody expected from Monaco to beat Arsenal in the middle of London.But it shows us that everything is possible,if you believe hard enough in it.Imagine if Monaco still has Falcao and James,thay would be able to even win a trophy in CL.
Yeah.mdacic,I agree with you,this is one of the biggest surprises in last few seasons.Nobody expected from Monaco to beat Arsenal in the middle of London.But it shows us that everything is possible,if you believe hard enough in it.Imagine if Monaco still has Falcao and James,thay would be able to even win a trophy in CL.
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mdacic 9 years ago
What a surprise !? I think that this is the biggest surprise so far in Champions league. Monaco won 1-3 against Arsenal in London, oh my god it is unbelievable. I don't understand what happened with Arsenal. They had their chances but Giroud was bad and I think that he is only man who is guilty for this bad result. Monaco...
What a surprise !? I think that this is the biggest surprise so far in Champions league. Monaco won 1-3 against Arsenal in London, oh my god it is unbelievable. I don't understand what happened with Arsenal. They had their chances but Giroud was bad and I think that he is only man who is guilty for this bad result. Monaco played hard, they have good defenders and they take their opportunities and earned a big win!
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Pera Zdera 9 years ago
I think that Arsenal is favorite in this match. Their form is variable in the league, but it seems to me that more and more progress. Monaco had a good team , but has sold the most useful and best players , and I think he will have a chance to win against the 'Gunners'.
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h34dhunt3r
9 years ago
Monaco isn't even near as they were last season. Rodrigez and Falcao leaving for Real Madrid and Manchester United contributed that a lot, ofcourse. But still, lot of money has been invested into them and being underdogs in Champions League best of 16 isn't what they wished for. Arsenal, on the other hand, isn't doing too...
Monaco isn't even near as they were last season. Rodrigez and Falcao leaving for Real Madrid and Manchester United contributed that a lot, ofcourse. But still, lot of money has been invested into them and being underdogs in Champions League best of 16 isn't what they wished for. Arsenal, on the other hand, isn't doing too bad this season. Ofcourse they invested a lot into their team last few seasons but they still seek better defence if they want to contend any trophies. They might qualifiy to quater finals, but that seems to be their maximum. My prediction: 2-0 for Arsenal tonight, and 3-1 overall. Monaco doesn't have quality, unfortunatly.
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seculla
9 years ago
Monaco have a very rich owner and he raised Monaco very quickly, but anyway this team is not playing as everyone expected. On the other side we have Arsenal, which have way better players and they are "hungry" to go as far as they can in Champions League this season. I'm pretty sure that Arsenal will win tomorrow and will...
Monaco have a very rich owner and he raised Monaco very quickly, but anyway this team is not playing as everyone expected. On the other side we have Arsenal, which have way better players and they are "hungry" to go as far as they can in Champions League this season. I'm pretty sure that Arsenal will win tomorrow and will go to "Stade Louis II" with advantage over Monaco.
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sharpe
9 years ago
Arsenal are the clear favourites in this one and I think they will shown the expirence and the class that they have and will win at least with 2 goals. Really dont think that Monako can cause Arsenal promlems if the gunners are at the top of their game, so I expect the London team to be a factor in this years tournament.
Arsenal are the clear favourites in this one and I think they will shown the expirence and the class that they have and will win at least with 2 goals. Really dont think that Monako can cause Arsenal promlems if the gunners are at the top of their game, so I expect the London team to be a factor in this years tournament.
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mdacic 9 years ago
I think that this is only chance for Arsenal to do something good in this season. They are far away from firs place in Premier league and they must take advantage of good draw in champions league and win against Monaco. For me Monaco is the worst team who play this stage of champions league and I think that Arsenal won't...
I think that this is only chance for Arsenal to do something good in this season. They are far away from firs place in Premier league and they must take advantage of good draw in champions league and win against Monaco. For me Monaco is the worst team who play this stage of champions league and I think that Arsenal won't have any problems against them.
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