Arsenal have had several scares already during this season’s Champions League, from a very narrow victory in the play-off stage to being throughly outplayed by Dortmund on the opening night, before losing a three goal lead at home to Anderlecht. Thankfully, for Arsene Wenger and everybody else associated with the Gunners, they still done enough to qualify for the knockout stage. They have paid the price in previous seasons for failing to top their qualifying group but compared to previous seasons where they have been drawn against Bayern Munich, the draw has been kinder this time around.
Despite losing key players such as James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao over the summer, Monaco have made a very good fist of life in the Champions League. Although their group was seen as one of the easier ones, they were short of experience at this level but that never showed as they lost just once, finishing top by a point from Bayer Leverkusen. They certainly were not the entertainers of the competition having scored only four goals from their six group games. The reverse of that, however, is the best defensive record, conceding just one goal.
The signings of Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez over the summer were a sign of intent from Wenger and even though both have contributed (Sanchez has been excellent) the same old failings still seem to be evident. Their seems to be a mentality or attitude problem within the squad which prevents them from going to the next level of challenging for the top competitions. Reaching the quarter finals would probably be seen as a success, all things considered, but the supporters will be expecting better for the money they have spent, recently.
With their two stars moving on last year, few expect Monaco to reach this stage but they are here on merit, even if their brand of football is not the most riveting. They scored only one goal away from home in the group stage but still managed to pick up four points by keeping two clean sheets. Domestically they have kept four clean sheets in their last five away games, emphasising that their philosophy is very much based on being hard to beat, first and foremost.
This will be a special match for Wenger who has never faced Monaco in a competitive match since his departure in 1995. He will be aware of what’s in-store ahead of tomorrow’s match and will be telling his players to be patient. Monaco will not be very adventurous, which Arsenal have struggled with in the past as it reduces the space they have to play in, in the final third. I think they’ll have enough quality to get a victory here but I see it being end to end and they may just settle for a one goal lead heading into next week’s game, glad of keeping a clean sheet.
Arsenal to win to nil 11/10 @ Stan James
