Champion’s League Match Preview: Arsenal v Besitkas; It’s all in the balance

Well, this early season has been anything less than expected. Coming off of an FA Cup win, a Charity Shield win and an influx of new signings, the attitude around the faithful was bouyant. Then, the season started.

To call the start of Arsenal’s season “sputtering out of the blocks” would be an understatement. A team that looked at a minimum the same as last season hasn’t hit all cylinders in any of the 3 matches played. Against Palace and Everton last minute heroics saved the day and the trip to Istanbul was well, less than memorable.

So you’d forgive Gooners if they weren’t overtly positive or excited for tonight. As a matter of fact their is more of pal cast over the faithful as many are feeling that Arsenal could find its 16 year run in the group stages over.

Still, there are reasons to believe that this squad will make it to the next stage of Europe’s pre-eminent tournament. It may seem doom and gloom or just expectations of the worst possible scenario and that is understandable. Conversely, you have to believe that this team has enough within it to move on in the tournament.

The field
Maybe we’re spoiled rotten, the Emirates is as pristine a playing surface as you can play on. In Istanbul they could’ve played on Sunday league pitch and had better results. Yes, I know this seems “small beans” but playing on a pitch that can benefit their playing style is huge.

For the lack of scoring in the first leg, there were opportunities for Arsenal to carve open Besitkas. However, the normally smooth passing into a teammate lacked precision due in part to the pitch itself. You’d have to expect that should Arsenal be given the space they had last week, the will enjoy more success in the final third as their passes aren’t going to get caught up in a torn up pitch.

The squad
Simply put there is plenty of talent in the squad, even with Giroud, Ramsey, Arteta, and Gibbs out to see past Besitkas.  The biggest loss is clearly Ramsey who has been talismanic over the last season and the start of this one. Still, his absence tonight means the likes of Jack Wilshere can step into the void and shine.

Let’s face it. Jack is showing signs of improvement but he needs to continue to grow this season. If this opportunity can be taken by him he is just the type of player that can be the one to win a match for a team. But Jack isn’t the only talented player on the pitch. The likes of Mesut Özil, Alexis Sanchez, Alex Oxlade Chamberlain and Santi Cazorla can all be called upon and have it within themselves to put Arsenal ahead. This doesn’t include the talent on the subs bench either.

Besitkas
For all of Besitkas efforts last week one thing stood out to me until they were one man up – deep in the 2nd half, Besitkas had clearly run out of ideas. With their early efforts wasted they had nothing left in them to try and break down Arsenal. As a matter of fact up until Ramsey’s Red Card, they looked intent to settle for the draw and hope to fight their way out of the Emirates.

It will be interesting to see if they come out as open at the Emirates as they did at home in Istanbul. The clearly wanted to make a statement and had only their wayward shooting been better, they likely would’ve been the happier of the two teams coming into this match.

It’s at home
Let’s be honest, playing in Turkey sucks. We’re home now and with so much on the line the faithful will be working diligently to will the team to success. The “friendly” confines of home better suit this team and its one of the many reasons why I think the boys will be up for it.

Of course. . .
There are reasons why Arsenal could also lose this match. And it’s a distinct possibility. A lacklustre approach cannot be taken to start this match off. Arsenal have to find it within themselves to start this match at a high tempo and take it to the visitors. Anything less, could confine us to unknown territory, the Europa League.

Players to Watch:
Arsenal. Mesut Özil. Özil is back and firmly within the fold of the Arsenal squad. His creative passing was missed in the first leg and will be needed if the Gunners are to proceed to the group stages.

Besitkas. Demba Ba. The Turks newest signing almost put his team ahead early in the tie with an aduacious shot from the get-go. Not lightening quick, but still dangerous enough to make Arsenal pay.

Projected Lineups:
Arsenal: Szczesny; Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal;  Flamini,Wilshere; Özil,  Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla; Sanchez

Besitkas: Tolga; Kurtuluş, Franco, Gülüm, Motta; Koyunlu, Uysal, Kavlak, Şahan; Pektemek, Ba

Arsenal Injuries and Suspensions:
Gibbs (hamstring), Sanogo (hamstring), Arteta (ankle), Giroud (ankle)

Head to Head Tournament Stats:

Match Official

Referee: Pedro Proença (POR)
Assistant referees: Bertino Miranda (POR) , Paulo Soares (POR)
Additional assistant referees: Hugo Miguel (POR) , João Capela (POR)
Fourth official: Antonio Godinho (POR)

Broadcast Information:
US: FoxSoccer 2 Go 2:45 PM EST

UK: Sky Sports 5 1945 GMT/20.45 CET

YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal 3 – 1 Besitkas

Manager’s Comments:

Arsène Wenger

Giroud will not play. He will see a specialist [on Wednesday] and afterwards we will make an announcement about how long he’ll be out. It could be [a long-term injury], we will see. It’s sad, but at the moment we are focused on this game.

Nothing is unthinkable because it [not qualifying] has happened to 99% of all the big clubs in Europe, but what we want is to be in there and we are highly determined to do it. We have a home game that we want to win. The task is clear and we know we can do it, so let’s do it.

Experience plays a big part and we have a lot of it in the Champions League – big experience of playing in high-pressure games that we can use tomorrow. What is more important, though, is the performance on the day. It’s important that we turn up and deliver a strong performance.

I’m confident this group will be strong, that it is mentality prepared, has a great togetherness and is ready for the fight. That is the most important thing – that we are prepared and ready to go out and do our best

Slaven Bilić

It’s going to be a massive game for us. We showed from our performance in the first leg that we are capable of giving them a game. We played well. We had our chances and they had theirs. We were not totally happy with the result as I think we deserved to win, but we go into this game full of confidence.

We are confident. I was confident, my staff were confident and the players were confident before the first game. Maybe before the first game some of our players had a little bit of doubt because they had not played against those so-called ‘big guns’, but after the game they were very confident, which I don’t mind as long as you do not become big-headed.

Of course we are not the favourites. They are the favourites – they are Arsenal – but we have a dream, a hope. It’s more of a plan though, and we are going to do everything we can to fulfil it. We have prepared our game, our plan. I have big belief in my assistants and they are going to do the job.

Tell us what you think? Will Arsenal fare better at in the second leg? How are you feeling so far by what you’ve seen from the team?

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