The rumours that was circulating about Mesut Özil not being in the squad turned out to be spot on. The German has picked up a slight foot problem which is apparently not serious, let us hope that is correct. He has been replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain so we can expect to revert to more of a 4-3-3 formation.
Arsene Wenger has fielded a much stronger team than I expected him to do today. For a start I certainly did not expect Petr Cech to start the game but it is interesting to see that Ospina does not make the bench, perhaps there is more going on there than meets the eye. Mathieu Debuchy however is on the bench and I was hoping he would have given Bellerin a rest. Iwobi has been preferred to the Jeff and it will be interesting to see who out of the Ox or Iwobi starts centrally.
A few interesting changes made today from the boss, or should I say non changes in some positions. Gabriel might be feeling the pinch a little today after a top class performance against AFC Bournemouth. Mathieu Flamini comes back into the team in place of Calum Chambers but that is more understandable.
Arsène Wenger has stuck with the same 11 that triumphed over Manchester City 2-1 last Monday night. With the games coming thick and fast over this festive period, Arsene had a decision to make. Would he make rotate tonight and for the game coming up against AFC Bournemouth? The other option was to send the same successful 11 to go again tonight and hope they can do the business in a ground that has proved to be a tricky venue for us in recent years, even if the Saints form is not so great today. Hopefully we can get through the game without further injuries and also hopefully picking up some very important 3 points to boot.
Arsène Wenger names the same starting 11 that beat Aston Villa in our last game. Alexis Sanchez doesn't make the squad which is a slight surprise given his super human healing powers. Wenger clearly feels that
Arsène Wenger is clearly going for goals with an attacking looking line up tonight. Theo Walcott replaces Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right with Joel Campbell moving to the left behind Oliver Giroud.
Tough call for the boss to make today given that Joel Campbell put in his best performance in an Arsenal shirt so far against Zargreb in midweek but as I explained in my preview, Aaron Ramsey is the type of player you want to have away from home, games in which you need to wrestle the control in our favour and have another passing option in the middle of the pitch. We have missed his impact on the side so I am very pleased to have him back once more. It means that Joel Campbell drops down to the bench and that gives us some options from the bench should the need arise.
The Gunners are hoping to shake off the disappointment of the weekend with tonight's match against Dinamo Zagreb at the Emirates. Only victory today will give us any hope of making the knock out rounds and that is assuming that Bayern Munich can do to Olympiacos what they have done to pretty much everyone else at the Allianz Arena.
Ok, I didn't see that one coming. Kieran Gibbs starts on the left wing after his impressive cameo against Tottenham the last time we took to the field. Gibbs made an impact when he came onto the pitch and managed to get the goal late in the second half. What I find most interesting will be how Alexis will function assuming he will be moved to the right of the pitch. His special move of cutting inside his man and driving into a central position may not work quite the same from the right but perhaps he will go past his man on the flank a little more from that side. We shall see.
The team sheets are out for the Bayern Munich vs Arsenal match. We've been dealt another blow as Laurent Koscielny misses the game with a hip injury. The knock does not seen serious as he takes his place on the Arsenal bench. That means that Gabriel comes back into the side in his place. The rest of the team is unchanged from the side that won 3-0 at Swansea at the weekend, so the rumours of Kieran Gibbs starting on the flank was a load of rubbish.