Arsenalvs.PSV

Records were sent tumbling in the Gunners' 7-1 annihilation of Peter Bosz's side in the first leg, but Mikel Arteta's returned to their toothless ways in the Premier League over the weekend.

Match preview

To say that the 7-1 scoreline did not tell the full story of the first leg seems ludicrous, but Arsenal will be under no illusions that they were let off the hook a couple of times in Eindhoven, specifically Ismael Saibari smacking the woodwork from a few yards out and Myles Lewis-Skelly avoiding a third red card of the season before his premature substitution.

However, when the Gunners broke forward in numbers, they did so with rigour and ruthlessness, finding the back of the net seven times from eight shots on target to become the first side to ever score seven goals away from home in a Champions League knockout game.

Following what should be the most stress-free match of the season for the home crowd, a tantalising quarter-final with either Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid will be next on the menu, but not before Arsenal bid to equal another Champions League goalscoring record on Wednesday night.

Indeed, Arteta's men could become just the second English team to score 10 goals across a two-legged Champions League tie after Manchester City's 10-2 slaughter of Schalke 04 in 2018-19, and the hosts have won each of their last four European games at the Emirates without conceding.

Arsenal's pummelling of PSV in Eindhoven did not translate into a mauling of Manchester United at the weekend, though, as it took a fine Declan Rice strike to salvage a 1-1 draw in the Premier League, where simply securing a top-four finish may be a bigger concern than a fanciful title push at this point.

A word to the travelling PSV fans still making the journey to the Emirates after last week's destruction, as Bosz's men were humiliated all over the park on their own patch, in stark contrast to their creditable beating of Juventus in the playoff round.

Whether that says more about Arsenal's quality or Juventus' lack of is still up for debate, but what is surely not up for debate is the fact that PSV's Champions League journey will come to an end in North London, meaning that their wait for a first quarter-final appearance since 2006-07 will go on.

The Dutch outfit coincidentally overcame Arsenal in the last 16 that year, but simply avoiding another European embarrassment will be the priority on Wednesday evening, and they at least managed to restore a marginal sense of pride at the weekend.

Saibari and Guus Til's strikes saw PSV end their three-game losing run in all competitions with a 2-1 Eredivisie win over Heerenveen, although much like Arsenal, the title remains a long shot for the Rood-Witten as they sit eight points behind leaders Ajax in the table.

Bosz's side will at least be able to focus all their energy onto domestic matters after Wednesday's second leg, where they will attempt to snap a 15-game run without an away clean sheet in the Champions League since shutting out Atletico Madrid in 2016.

Arsenal's lacklustre attacking display versus Man United and the fact that there is virtually nothing at stake on Wednesday means that ending that nine-year streak is not beyond the realm of possibility, but it will only prove trivial in the end.

Arsenal Champions League form:

L

W

W

W

W

W

Arsenal form (all competitions):

L

W

L

D

W

D

PSV Eindhoven Champions League form:

L

W

W

L

W

L

PSV Eindhoven form (all competitions):

D

W

L

L

L

W

Team News

There was a pleasant surprise on the Arsenal teamsheet on Sunday, as Gabriel Martinelli made an unexpected return from a hamstring injury off the bench, but he will miss the first leg of the quarter-finals if he is cautioned and could therefore be held back on Wednesday.

Raheem Sterling and Jurrien Timber are also one booking away from a European ban, and while the former may still come into the first XI with little on the line, Arteta could take this opportunity to hand Ben White his first start of the calendar year.

Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jorginho, Jakub Kiwior and Kieran Tierney will also vie for promotion to the XI - there could even be a spot in goal for Neto too - but Bukayo Saka (hamstring), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Kai Havertz (hamstring) and Gabriel Jesus (knee) are still out.

As for PSV's availability, Bosz is still missing Malik Tillman (leg), Ricardo Pepi (knee) and Esmir Bajraktarevic (unspecified), but the Dutch outfit did not sustain any fresh blows in their triumph over Heerenveen.

Ex-Arsenal striker Lucas Perez was an unused substitute in that top-flight clash, but the recently-signed veteran is ineligible for the Champions League and will therefore not enjoy an Emirates homecoming on Wednesday.

Bosz will not want to see his side roll over and accept defeat, so still expect a full-strength Rood-Witten side - led by evergreen centre-forward Luuk de Jong - to take to the field in the English capital.

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Neto; White, Saliba, Kiwior, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice; Sterling, Trossard, Tierney

PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:

Benitez; Ledezma, Flamingo, Obispo, Junior; Veerman, Schouten; Bakayoko, Til, Lang; De Jong

We say: Arsenal 1-1 PSV Eindhoven (Arsenal win 8-2 on aggregate)

After the chaos of last week's first leg, the entertainment value should plummet on Wednesday, as a rotated Arsenal side spare their energy for the weekend's blockbuster Premier League outing with Chelsea.

Written by

Ben Knapton

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