please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Arsenal travel to Germany this Tuesday to take on Schalke 04 at the Veltins arena. The Germans won the reserve fixture at the Emirates, and that win meant that Schalke were the first foreign team since Inter Milan in 2003 to beat the Gunners on their home turf. It was also a win that put Schalke on top of group B. Arsenal go into this game on the back of a defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford, the result was not unexpected but the Gunners put in yet another disjointed and lacklustre performance this season. Robin Van Persie scored against his old team and it was a goal that many expected and Van Persie duly delivered by making Thomas Vermaelen pay for his mistake. Patrice Evra doubled United’s lead in the second half and the game was over as a contest as soon as Jack Wilshere got sent off. Santi Cazorla scored a consolation goal but the score-line did not tell the fully story. Arsenal were lucky not to take another hammering from United and they will go into the game against Schalke trying to again bounce back from defeat. Having already been outplayed by Schalke, the Gunners can’t be that confident and with their away record in Europe being as bad as it is, the Arsenal fans will fear the worst. Schalke’s winning run was halted when they faced Hoffenheim last Saturday. And with Bayern Munich winning, it was a result that really dented Schalke’s title challenge. The Germans having beat Arsenal at the Emirates, will be confident of recording another win against the Gunners in front of their own fans. But, Schalke could only draw against Montpellier in the Veltins arena when they were expected to beat the French side. Schalke’s effective counter attacking game caused Arsenal all sorts of problems in the previous game. The Germans identified and targeted Andre Santos as the weak point in the Arsenal team and they took advantage. Atsuto Uchida and Jefferson Farfán ran riot on the right and both of Schalke’s goals came from that right hand side. It’s important that Arsenal do not get beat again, because a point will still leave them in a very good position, whereas a defeat could mean that their fate will go down to the wire in Greece against Olympiacos. Arsene Wenger will have to rally his troops for this encounter and the Arsenal fans will hope that Arsenal can find some of that form they showed before the international break. Schalke did not invest heavily in the summer and their team is more or less the same one from the previous season. But they did make one shrewd one move in transfer window and that was to get Ibrahim Afellay on loan from Barcelona. The talented Dutchmen has seen his career disrupted by injuries but his talent is not in question. An attacking player who can play through the middle as well out wide has the pace and trickery to cause any team in the world problems and on his day he can be a match winner. Up front, Schalke have one of the most lethal finishers around in Klaas Jan Huntelaar. Last season he scored an amazing 44 goals in all competitions and he was hailed as one of the best centre-forwards In Europe. While, Huntelaar does not possess the all round game of our top forwards in Europe he does know a thing or two about goals and that makes him as dangerous as any player in Europe. Since leaving Ajax in 2008, Huntelaar has played at three different clubs and finally at Schalke he seems to have found his place. The Dutchmen already has seven goals to his name this season. The two Dutchmen have already scored against Arsenal this season and they will again pose the biggest goal scoring threat this Tuesday. Schalke also have two of the more highly regarded young players in Germany in Julian Draxler and Lewis Holtby. Draxler scored against Montpellier in the last round of Champions League fixtures and in doing so he became the youngest German player to score in the competition. Holtby has scored three times from midfield this season and he has provided Schalke a goal threat from midfield. A win here for Schalke will put them on the brink of qualification and their fans will make sure that Arsenal are in for a noisy night. The Veltins arena is a stunning stadium and like all German fans the Schalke fans know how to create an atmosphere. Arsenal did win their one away game this season in Europe, but over the last few years, they have been very poor on the road in Europe. Arsenal will have improve tenfold from their recent performances to get something from the trip to Germany this week. Arsenal have lacked any sort of pace in their team over the last few weeks and with that in mind, Walcott will be key. Theo Walcott scored a hat-trick against Reading last week and in doing so he dragged Arsenal from the brink in the league cup and. Walcott has seven goals to his name and that makes him the top scorer at the club. With Walcott still not signing a new contract, Wenger has been reluctant to play him, but after watching his side unable to get in behind the Manchester United defence last Saturday, Wenger will have to ease his stance and start the Englishmen if he wants to get a result against the Germans. Lukas Podolski returns to Germany this week and he will be keen to impress, but the German has gone off the boil in recent weeks. Wenger needs to get the best out of his German international and Podolski needs to get involved more if he is to have an impact. His movement has simply not been good enough in recent weeks and if he is not careful, then he could lose his spot in the first team. Olivier Giroud was once again ineffective against Manchester United and the difference between Giroud and Van Persie was so stark it was unreal. With Gervinho injured and Wenger reluctant to use Podolski or Walcott through the middle, Giroud should get another start this week. Arsenal will have to respond to the defeat against Manchester United, and they can do that by going to Schalke and getting a positive result, and if they do that, then the Gunners will edge closer to the last 16. Team News: Arsene Wenger: Three Key Match-ups: please log in to view this image Klaas-Jan Huntelaar please log in to view this image Lewis Holtby please log in to view this image Christian Fuchs Previous Meeting: please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Group B: please log in to view this image First Round Results: Montpellier HSC 1 - 2 Arsenal Olympiacos 1 - 2 Schalke 04 Second Round Results: Arsenal 3 - 1 Olympiacos Schalke 04 2 - 2 Montpellier HSC Third Round Results: Arsenal 0 - 2 Schalke 04 Montpellier HSC 1 - 2 Olympiacos Fourth Round Fixtures in Group B: Schalke 04 vs Arsenal Olympiacos vs Montpellier HSC Managers Views: Arsene Wenger on responding against Schalke 04: My Team: please log in to view this image Final Score: please log in to view this image
We were pretty woeful in the game at Emirates. If anything, I think being away from home might suit us in this game. Shalke will be out to win and if we defend well, I think we could nick something on the break. For me Walcott has to start this game.
Vito Mannone James Shea Bacary Sagna Thomas Vermaelen Mikel Arteta Johan Djourou Per Mertesacker Laurent Koscielny Jack Wilshere Olivier Giroud Santi Cazorla Andre Santos Lukas Podolski Theo Walcott Andrey Arshavin Carl Jenkinson Francis Coquelin Marouane Chamakh The squad that are travelling to Germany for the game. So Ramsey the latest player to get injured. No update on Chamberlain,Gibbs,Diaby and Chensey. Which is just pathetic. In fact, Wenger has not given a proper update on the progress of any of those players for a while.
Vermaelen will play - he's Captain. I hope Santos doesn't play. If he does, it shows Wenger is afraid to drop players IMO. Bould needs to stand up and tell him it's ridiculous to play him. I'd play Arshavin as AM, Pod up front, and Cazorla & Theo on the wings. They need pace & creativity.
Chamberlain was meant to be a '60-40' for the game against QPR. Not heard a peep about him since. Gibbs and Diaby could be dead for all we know....
Wenger should give a press conference tomorrow, hopefully he'll give an indication of what's happening. We're looking a bit thin at the moment. I think the reintroduction of Diaby, Gibbs and Oxo will give our team a much needed boost.
He limped off against Chelsea and that game was on the end of September It's been over a month, mate.
In my mind, I have ruled out Diaby for the rest of year. Not buying another midfielder on the basis that we had Diaby back was one of the more idiotic decisions made at the club.
He'll come back for 2 games in January and play like a beast so Wenger won't buy anyone. Then he'll crock himself again
We'll see what happens with Diaby. Hopefully he can come back again and make a big contribution to the team this season. I think it's a bit premature to rule him out for the whole season just at the moment.
