Arsenal vs Galatasaray
Arsenal news:
In a critical period for Arsenal football club, Arsene Wenger is called to find solutions instantly. At the time when one key player gets injured after the other, Arsenal has been left six points back from the top in Premier League. They have started with defeat in the Champions League. On Saturday, in London’s derby against Tottenham Hotspur, they showed problems in creating chances. They were left back in the score due to mistakes in defense. During the last half hour they were running to fix all the problems. They equalized by Chamberlain (74′) and they have another big derby in front of them, the one against Chelsea (away).
They were unready in the premiere of Champions League. They easily lost 2-0 to Borussia Dortmund (which is fair enough) and as Wenger said, today’s match is very crucial. The French coach, tonight completes 18 years on Arsenal’s bench (took over in 1st October 1996). What interests him today is simply to win: “The only thing I’m thinking right now is the game against the turkish team. Clearly it is a great honor to be 18 years on the bench of this club, but there is no time for flashbacks. Maybe this will be done some time in the future. Now all i care about is to defeat Galatasaray.
“As for the many injuries that arose, he called it “inexplicable phenomenon”. He stated that he has confidence in his team: “The most important in Champions League is to do three home wins. You also have to try and get some points away. So today’s match is very important. I have confidence in my team and I believe that we will succeed.”
They face new injures from the match against Tottenham. Most important of them are these of midfielders Ramsey and Arteta, who will be absent for Arsenal. Basic player, Wilshere, is also injured but he’ll possibly be prevented from the game. Diaby’s participation, who comes from a serious injury and recovers slowly, will not be risked. Other known problems are long time absences of: Debuchy (right back), Giroud (striker), Monreal (left back), Walcott (winger), Gnabry (winger) and Sanogo (striker).
In the plans of the starting lineup, a lot will depend on the presence of Wilshere. If he succeeds to play, he is expected to take a position in midfield along with Flamini. If not, Wenger will give the role of the second defensive midfielder to Cazorla. Otherwise, he will bring Chambers in Arsenal’s midfield. In this case Bellerin will play right back, as in the match against Dortmund.
Galatasaray news:
They got an extreme point playing at home against Anderlecht in the premiere of Champions League (1-1), equalizing in 91′ by Burak Yilmaz. They were minimally threatening, chasing the score from the 52′. They succeeded because of the home funs and the pressure they put, sometimes even unorthodox.
For the SuperLig, they came back to victories, after two games in the league. They took a difficult victory against Sivasspor on Friday at “Turk Telekom Arena”. Despite the quick goals by Chedjou and Burak Yılmaz, they got nervous after deduction of score. They lost possession and were threatened to be equalized in the end. Once again Cesare Prandelli shuffled the deck. The Italian changed the scheme and the players constantly. In the last match he planned a 4-3-2-1 with three midfielders and Adin often coming as a second striker. During the game he changed to 3-5-2, a scheme that Roberto Mancini insisted last year (and was fired by the end of the season!).
In six official games till now, Prandelli has never retained the same team. “We face a quality and experienced team. We will try to play our game and withstand the pressure. Arsenal has many injuries, but we will not change our philosophy. There is no reason. Concentration and patience is needed” said Prandelli. He is the only one of the 32 coaches in Champions League groups who does not know English (he only speaks Italian).
Didier Drogba visited the team’s hotel, as a player of Galatasaray until last year, sat for some time, chatting mostly with Sneijder and Burak Yilmaz.
Galatasaray is complete and will play with a 3-5-2 scheme in London tonight. Sneijder can play ahead of the four of the midfield, in a free role. The Brazilian midfielder, Felipe Melo, will be in a role as a libero which is another tactic used by Mancini last year but did not work. Galatasaray‘s left back Telles becomes midfielder. Speedy winger, Adin, fights for the position as a partner of Burak Yilmaz, in front of the Skopjan newcomer Pandev.
History : Arsenal vs Galatasaray : The two teams have never met before.