Filed under: Arsenal, Champions League, Football, Match Previews
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: ESTADIO AXA, TUESDAY NOVEMBER 23, 2010. KICK-OFF: 1945 GMTThis game comes three days after Arsenal's north London derby defeat to Tottenham Hotspur although it will be considerably longer before time has healed that particularly painful memory for Arsene Wenger and his players.
Wenger was incensed by the way in which his side capitulated at the Emirates Stadium, allowing Spurs to overturn a 2-0 half-time deficit and claim a victory that prompted manager Harry Redknapp to declare his side to be title challengers.
As angry as he was, Wenger must now ensure his players have moved on and re-focus their efforts on once again securing a place in the knock-out stages of the Champions League.
The Gunners began their campaign with a 6-0 thrashing of Braga but defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk in their last European outing has left Wenger's side needing a point against the Portuguese side to render their final group game, at home to Partizan Belgrade, academic.
Should Braga win, however, they will move level on points with the Premier League side, albeit with a vastly inferior goal difference, ensuring an unnecessarily stressful ending to Arsenal's Group H campaign when the last round of matches is played on December 8.
Wenger remains sufficiently confident about the likely outcome to leave Andrey Arshavin and Robin van Persie behind at home. Arshavin will granted some much needed rest while van Persie will undergo additional training to improve his level of fitness.
Form Guide: Arsenal appeared unstoppable in winning their opening three group games and scoring 14 goals in the process. They should still qualify comfortably but the defeat in Donetsk, as well the more recent reverse to Tottenham in the Premier League will have raised Braga's hopes. The Portuguese were overwhelmed at the Emirates Stadium and then at home to Shakhtar but back to back victories over Partizan have rekindled their campaign.
Head to Head: Matheus (Braga) v Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal): Koscielny hardly covered himself in glory against Tottenham, appearing uncertain in his centre back role and spuring a glorious headed chance that could have secured victory for the Gunners. Brazilian forward Matheus will head the Braga attack and will attempt to exploit any weakness among the Arsenal defence.
Odds: Braga 3/1, Arsenal 10/11, Draw 13/5
ARSENAL:
Searching for explanations for the weekend defeat, Wenger suggested a congested fixture list was beginning to impact on his side. If that is the case, then he has further cause for concern with this game coming soon after an intense derby, particularly as Braga enjoyed a weekend off.
"I believe some players could not maintain the pace of the game because they played Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday," Wenger said. "It's too much.
"They played 90 minutes for their national team on Wednesday night - that doesn't work.
"I didn't have to [play them]. But they all played [in internationals]. We play again on Tuesday and we were at home so you sometimes think you will get away with it, you can play an hour with a top players and then make the changes."
Wenger expects Braga to provide more formidable opposition this time although the manager is confident his players will be anxious to redeem themselves.
"A game away from home in the Champions League is a different game and Braga is a good side that impressed me in the first 20 minutes in the first game [in London]," the manager told arsenal.com.
"On the other hand we have an opportunity to bounce back on Tuesday night and qualify so we want to take this opportunity.
"With what happened to us on Saturday I think everybody will be focused and prepared for a game where we want to perform at our best. We know we have an opportunity to qualify and people will expect us to bounce back."
While the Champions League is his immediate priority, Wenger conceded this season's Premier League title race is the most open he has known.
"It's like a rollercoaster," he said. "Every team goes for a run then they lose a game they don't expect to lose. It makes it interesting. At this stage I have never seen the league as compact."
And he added: "You cannot deny that mathematically it is possible for many other teams to win the title. teams like Liverpool and Aston Villa are not out of it.
"The most important thing is to be consistent but at the moment no one is managing that except Manchester United who are unbeaten. But they are not consistently winning games, they are drawing lots of games."
Strategy: Wenger conceded after the Tottenham game that his side has a worrying tendency to lose concentration at the back and the Gunners will be aware they cannot afford similar slips in Braga. An early goal for the home side could make life difficult for Wenger's team but Arsenal should have enough forward power to put the game beyond Braga's reach.
Injury Update: Gael Clichy has been ruled out with a back problem while Arshavin and Van Persie are rested. Manuel Almunia (elbow), Abou Diaby (ankle) and Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles) remain sidelined.
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