Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid preview: Gunners aiming to maintain perfect record in the Champions League

The Champions League returns to the spotlight as Premier League leaders Arsenal welcome Atletico Madrid to the Emirates on Tuesday night.

The Gunners are fresh off a 1-0 victory away to Fulham and top the PL after winning four of their last five matches and are sitting three points clear of Manchester City in second.

Mikel Arteta’s men have started their UCL on a high with two wins from two, with their last Champions League outing being a 2-0 home victory over Olympiacos.

Atletico Madrid returned from the international break to defeat Osasuna 1-0 in La Liga.

The Rojiblancos had a rough start to their UCL campaign as they fell to a 3-2 narrow defeat to Liverpool and bounced back by thrashing Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in their last UCL fixture.

Match preview

This will be the third meeting between these sides, with the recent one being the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League semi-finals, which ended in a 2-1 aggregate score in Atletico’s favour.

Arsenal have won each of their last five, four without conceding, including a 1-0 win away to Fulham at the weekend, a fixture they had failed to win in each of the last two campaigns.

Defensively, Arsenal have been rock-solid, particularly in Europe. Alongside Inter Milan, they remain one of only two teams yet to concede a goal in this season’s Champions League.

As for the visitors, Atletico Madrid are still searching for their first away win of the season.

They’ve failed to win any of their five games on the road in all competitions (D3, L2), and their recent record against English sides in Europe doesn’t inspire much confidence either. They have just one win in their last nine, and that came against Manchester United in the 2021/22 campaign.

The Rojiblancos have won four of their last five matches in all competitions, including a thumping 5-2 win over local rivals Real Madrid, and they’re unbeaten in six games across all competitions since they fell to a last-minute defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in September.

Team news

Arsenal

Gunners’ skipper Martin Odegaard is still out with a shoulder injury.

Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke, and Gabriel Jesus are all unavailable for the host with injuries.

Atletico Madrid

Winger Nico Gonzalez is doubtful for the trip to London after he suffered a head injury and was taken off against Osasuna last time out.

Thiago Almada is out with a calf injury, and Johnny Cardoso also misses out with an ankle injury.

Predicted line-ups

Arsenal: David Raya, Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Eberechi Eze, Martín Zubimendi, Mikel Merino, Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Viktor Gyökeres.

Atlético Madrid: Jan Oblak, Marcos Llorente, Robin Le Normand, Clément Lenglet, Matteo Ruggeri, Giuliano Simeone, Conor Gallagher, Pablo Barrios, Giacomo Raspadori, Antoine Griezmann, Julián Alvarez.