By Richard Clarke in Brussels
THE QUOTE
“I am not a celebrator of birthdays. I just think what is important on Wednesday is that my team performs well. It is a big game for us and I’ll just dedicate all my energy to getting things right because, at the moment, I feel there is a difference between the quality of our performances and the points we get.”
THE SET-UP
Arsène Wenger is 65 today and, as ever, he eschews all the frivolities of the passing years. He requires one, singular ‘happy return’ to mark the event - and it is from Brussels with three points in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Team News
Arsenal: Debuchy (ankle), Giroud (leg), Koscielny (Achilles), Ospina (knee), Ozil (knee), Sanogo (hamstring), Szczesny (suspended), Walcott (match fitness), Gnabry (match fitness) Anderlecht: N'Sakala (knee), Nuytinck (toe - doubt), Suarez (unspecified - doubt) |
Arsenal partially repaired the defeat at Dortmund on matchday one by soundly beating Galatasaray last time out. Therefore most of the qualification requirements from Group D can be obtained in the back-to-back games against Anderlecht. However thoughts of topping it can only be re-visited with a brace of victories safely secured.
There was collateral damage to the keepers against the Turkish side. Keeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off and David Ospina aggravated his knee after replacing him. So Emiliano Martinez takes the gloves for the first time outside the Capital One Cup. Ryan Huddart, age 17, will be on the bench.
“If we want to win the group we know that it is important to win,” said Wenger. “But we are playing in the Champions League away from home against a good side.
“We have enough experience to know that will be a fierce battle, so let's focus on our performance.”
ARSENAL
While the only defeats of the season have come at the two toughest places Arsenal have visited - Dortmund and Chelsea - there have not been enough victories.
There is never one single reason for anything in football; the game is too dynamic, too dependent on a myriad of interdependent factors. That is why Wenger was loathe to pinpoint a lack of cohesion in defence, even though the backline has seen the most disruption.
“It is difficult to know,” said Wenger. “But at the moment, we want to add something to our game because we feel a huge potential in the team.
“We want to become more efficient when we dominate so much and lose a bit our defensive urgency - like we did on Saturday against Hull.
“If you look overall at the quality of the players we have, I think we can still be very efficient defensively.”
OPPOSITION
Anderlecht are unbeaten and top of the Belgian League; though with a record of P11 W6 D5 L0 perhaps they are guilty of drawing too many games themselves.
"We want to add something to the quality of our performance and get the points that we feel is there in the team"
A creditable draw at Galatasaray on matchday one was followed by a heavy defeat at home to Dortmund. This is Anderlecht’s third straight group appearance but they have finished bottom in each of those – and indeed their other four visits to this stage since 2001.
However there are dangers for Arsenal. Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic averages just under one goal in every two Belgian League games and started this season in fine form. Meanwhile it has been reported that Honduran winger Andy Najar is attracting attention from the Premier League.
“I see them as a young, very talented team,” said Wenger. “They are not here by chance.
"They played a very good game against Galatasaray, a lesser one against Dortmund but they could cause us problems on Wednesday.”
SUMMING UP
At their joint press conference on the eve of the game, Wenger and Jack Wilshere suggested Arsenal needed a ‘kickstart’ to their campaign. It is easy to see why. Both in the Premier League and Champions League, the side has spluttered at times. A few confidence-building victories may act as fine-tuning and there is no time like the present.
“We want to add something to the quality of our performance and get the points that we feel is there in the team,” Wenger concurred.
“That little percentage we can improve in the team is vital and I hope we get it from Wednesday onwards.”
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