Now the game plan would have been sound if it weren’t for Cesc Fabregas backheeling into the path of Iniesta on the edge of our box and also big game Bendtner failing to control a Jack Wilshere pass in the dying minutes. Oh and not to forget van Persie being sent off for shooting at goal a second after the referee had blown his whistle. Only Arsenal

Arguably the most difficult match of probably the hardest group in the competition takes place this evening. Borussia Dortmund are formidable at home and will want to win this game to put one foot into the door of qualification and also top spot.

We can expect Dortmund to play their high energy game based on winning the ball back and then springing speedy attacks in only a few passes. We shot ourselves in the foot at the Emirates and were caught with that exact quick break late in the game. A draw would have kept us comfortably in the driving seat for qualification, but that defeat in our last CL game could see us eyeing up second place instead if we do not stop Dortmund from winning.

I wonder if we will see a cautious approach from us this evening. I mentioned this in my blog in the early hours of this morning. A few years back we went away to Barcelona and defended for our lives, we were incredibly organised and kept them at bay. I remember thinking that this looked nothing like an Arsene Wenger team. Barcelona penned us in and pressed us like I’ve never seen before. None of our players were given more than a few seconds on the ball. We began to come back into the game in the second half.

Now the game plan would have been sound if it weren’t for Cesc Fabregas backheeling into the path of Iniesta on the edge of our box and also big game Bendtner failing to control a Jack Wilshere pass in the dying minutes. Oh and not to forget van Persie being sent off for shooting at goal a second after the referee had blown his whistle. Only Arsenal could have had all that gone against us in the same game. I suppose we cannot be too annoyed with Bendtner, his goal would have been chalked off for some made up reason anyway.

Getting back on track here, I wouldn’t be surprised if the plan was similar tonight but without all the madness. Hopefully.

Jack Wilshere continues to be out with his ankle problem which is a shame for him. He needs this run of games but set backs have become a familiar story. Hopefully not for long.

On the plus side, it means that Tomas Rosicky continues in the team and on a personal note for the player, gets to play in Dortmund after missing our last fixture there due to injury. I love the little dude, regular readers will be sick of me saying that by now, so apologies but his ball retention and tenacity will be important if we are to see out our plan successfully.

Kieran Gibbs is back after his calf problem against Liverpool but I wonder if Arsene will hold him back until Sunday just to make sure he is 100% fine. But we know that Arsene likes to use a settled side as often as he can. Synchronicity and continuity are so important to Wengerball so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gibbs continue both tonight and on Sunday. But that is the good thing about having two top players in the same position.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up:

Szczesny

Sagna Mertesacker Koscielny Gibbs/Monreal

Arteta Ramsey

Rosicky Ozil Cazorla

Giroud

Not many surprises there, to be honest without Podolski, Walcott, Flamini and Wilshere we do not have a great deal of surprises to pull out of the bag. Serge Gnabry is back in the squad but would be an unlikely starter. A nice option to have from the bench especially in the second half when scurrying legs are tired.

I think the priority tonight is to stay tight defensively. Master Aaron? no more dribbles through three Dortmund players on the edge of your box ok? Bac and Kieran/Nacho? No bombing forward at the same time ok fellas? Good. A clean sheet would be immense because qualification would still be very much in our hands.

Everyone is expecting Marseille to lose all of their games but I have a sneaky feeling that they will get something tonight against Napoli or maybe that is wishful thinking. In truth I thought the game was played in France until I just checked. It isn’t, Napoli will be at home. So Napoli will 100% win, I mean without a doubt win. There is no point even playing this one because Marseille will not get anything from this game etc etc

Napoli still have to go to Dortmund so there is plenty of life in this group left. First off, let us get a positive result tonight.

Soccerbase

Don’t forget to check out the match odds on http://www.soccerbase.com

I fancy an unlikely scorer tonight. Maybe a goal from a set piece. You’d probably get decent odds on Laurent Koscielny opening his account for the season.