Arsenal resume their Champions League campaign today, playing host to Lille in the League Phase. The match is the Gunners’ only home contest in their opening four CL matches, making three points seem even more important than usual. You’re “supposed” to win your home contests anyway. But as ever, there are no easy games in the Champions League.
Lille are are off to a strong start in Ligue Un — they sit second on 13 points. They dropped their first CL match at home however, losing 3-2 to Real Betis.
Lille shipping three to Betis is of particular note. They’ve given up a stingy four goals through six domestic matches. Hopefully the French side are more the one that lost to Real Betis than the one that drew PSG 2-2 in late August.
The Gunners failed to make it 10-straight wins in all competitions a few weeks ago against Brighton. They’ve got another chance for a 10-match winning streak today: 10-straight Champions League League Phase wins. It’s both a bit of a silly “record” to be concerned with and one that shows how dominant Arsenal have been in the opening stage of the competition. Mikel Arteta has led his side to the best combined record in the League Phase since the change in format — 14-1-1. You’ll never sing that!
Arsenal will be without Piero Hincapie and Martin Zubimendi, who both picked up injuries in the warm-down following the Leeds match over the weekend. The fullback will reportedly miss about three weeks of action. Zubimendi could be available for this weekend’s Premier League match against Nottingham Forest. Christos Tzolis will be out for a couple weeks with the hamstring injury suffered over the international break. He’ll hopefully be back in action towards the end of October. William Saliba is training on grass and reportedly targeting a November return.
The visitors will be without Ethan Mbappe (yes, Kylian’s brother), who is serving a three-match suspension for a straight red card against Real Betis. The French side will also be without Hamza Igamane, who is nearing a return from last season’s torn ACL, but not quite ready.
Lille right back Tiago Santos suffered a torn ACL and meniscus from a heavy challenge at the weekend. The French club have requested the incident, which was given as a foul but without any booking, be reviewed further by the league’s disciplinary committee and stated that they’re “examining all possible legal avenues…to take any legal action necessary to obtain compensation for their losses.” Yikes.
The French side “lost” Ayyoub Bouaddi and Matias Fernandez-Pardo to Premier League transfers over the summer, too. The club’s start to the domestic season suggests they’re doing alright without the young talents, but early in the Champions League season, I always cast an eye over which players clubs have lost from the roster that got them into the competition.
WHO: Arsenal vs Lille
WHAT: Champions League league phase MD2
WHERE: The Emirates Stadium, London
WHEN: Tuesday, October 13th, 12:00 pm PT | 3:00 pm ET | 8:00 pm GMT
HOW TO WATCH: Streaming on Paramount+
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