Arsenalvs.Dinamo Zagreb

Mikel Arteta's men will be virtually assured of a guaranteed place in the last 16 by beating their Croatian foes, having entered matchday seven in the top three of the 36-team league phase table.

The Gunners have dropped just five points in their six UCL games so far, being held to a goalless draw by Atalanta BC first up before their 1-0 loss away to Inter Milan in November.

Since going down to the Nerazzurri, Arsenal have been on the European warpath, thrashing Sporting Lisbon 5-1 in Portugal and most recently easing to a 3-0 home success over Ligue 1 giants Monaco.

Should Arteta's side also prevail on Wednesday by a three-goal margin or more, it would mark the first time in their history that they have won three consecutive European Cup/Champions League games by at least three goals.

Arsenal chasing club Champions League first in Dinamo Zagreb clash

While the Gunners have never achieved that feat in Europe's elite tournament, they did register four such consecutive wins under Arteta during the group stage of the 2020-21 Europa League.

Dundalk (3-0), Molde (4-1 and 3-0) and Rapid Wien (4-1) were Arsenal's victims in that sequence, but the Gunners still fell short of glory as they were dumped out by Villarreal in the semi-finals.

However, since swapping the Europa League for the Champions League, the Gunners have been near-flawless on their own patch, winning seven and drawing one of their eight Emirates matches since the start of last season.

Furthermore, all seven of those victories have seen Arteta's men keep clean sheets, including each of their three home Champions League successes this season against Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco and Shakhtar Donetsk.

The North London giants' hopes of maintaining that perfect defensive record have suffered a huge blow thanks to William Saliba's hamstring injury, though, and Arteta has conceded that the influential Frenchman will play no part in this game.

Arsenal set for double boost despite Saliba blow

As one defender misses out, though, another could return, as Riccardo Calafiori is on track to make his comeback from the muscular problem that has sidelined him for each of Arsenal's last three matches.

In addition, 17-year-old attacking protege Ethan Nwaneri rejoined team training alongside Calafiori on Tuesday, and the Premier League's youngest-ever player is expected to make the squad on Wednesday too.

However, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu remain out for Arsenal, who have only won one of their last five games in all tournaments after Saturday's 2-2 Premier League draw with Aston Villa.

No Croatian side has ever prevailed against an English team away from home in the Champions League, though, and both of Dinamo Zagreb's previous trips to the Emirates in 2006 and 2015 ended in defeat.

Written by

Ben Knapton