Arsenal will guarantee their place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday night if they beat Dinamo Zagreb at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners have won four of their previous six games and despite disappointing trips to Italy, they are close to securing a top-eight finish in the inaugural league stage of Europe's premier competition. That means they go straight into the round of 16, avoiding a potentially challenging play-off clash.
Arsenal have won all three home games in this year's competition and will be strong favorites for Dinamo's visit. The Croatian giants have somewhat recovered from their 9-2 mauling at the hands of Bayern Munich during the opening round of league stage matches, securing two wins and two draws from their next five matches that put them in the frame to qualify for the knockout stage.
Here it is 90 minutes guide to a major European clash in North London.
Head-to-head results Arsenal – Dinamo Zagreb (all time)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Arsenal |
Dinamo Zagreb |
|---|---|
|
Arsenal 2-2 Aston Villa – 18/01/25 |
Dinamo Zagreb 3-2 Varazdin – 22/12/24 |
|
Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham – 15/01/25 |
Lokomotiv 3-1 Dinamo Zagreb – 14/12/24 |
|
Arsenal 1-1 (3-5p) Man Utd – 12/01/25 |
Dinamo Zagreb 0-0 Celtic – 10/12/24 |
|
Arsenal 0-2 Newcastle – 07/01/25 |
Dinamo Zagreb 1-1 Slaven – 24.12.06 |
|
Brighton 1-1 Arsenal – 04/01/25 |
Hajduk Split 1-0 Dinamo Zagreb – 01/12/24 |
|
country |
TV channel/live streaming |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports Ultimate, discover+, discover+ app |
|
United States |
Paramount+, ViX |
|
Canada |
DAZN Canada |
Mikel Arteta will be cursing his latest injury luck with William Saliba adding his name to an extensive list of absentees. The Frenchman missed the weekend's tie with Aston Villa due to a hamstring problem and may be absent for at least a few weeks.
Saliba joins fellow defenders Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu in the treatment room, but Riccardo Calafiori is available again after overcoming an injury of his own.
of course, Bukayo Saka is still out for the Gunners and they will miss their talisman's creativity and wit on Wednesday and beyond. Gabriel Jesus is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL suffered in the third round of the FA Cup, but Ethan Nwaneri is back fit and should be part of the matchday squad.
Arsenal predicted formation against Dinamo Zagreb (4-3-3): Ribbon; Timber, Gabriel, Calafiori, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice; Sterling, Havertz, Martinelli.
ex Ballon d'Or winner Fabio Cannavaro has taken over at Dinamo and will oversee his first outing for the Croatian side on Wednesday. He will aim to make a positive impression on the club's fans with a lively display in north London.
However, the Italian will be without striker Bruno Petkovic for Dinamo's first competitive game of the calendar year, with the forward missing with a muscle problem. He has been joined by Petar Sučić on the sidelines.
Dinamo Zagreb predicted formation against Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Nevistic; Ristovski, Teofile-Katerina, Mmaee, Pierre-Gabriel; Ademi, Stojkovic; Cordoba, Baturina, Pjaca; Kulenovic.
Arsenal's perfect home record in Champions League should remain unstained by Dinamo's visit to the Emirates. Even with a growing injury list plaguing Arteta's squad selections, they should have little trouble dispatching the side that almost conceded double figures in Bayern in September.
Giving Villa a two-goal lead on Saturday it wasn't the most advisable warm-up for Wednesday's meeting, but Arteta should be able to rest and rotate while also avoiding a slide. Dynamo may be rusty after having a long winter break and may have problems early in Cannavaro's reign that Arsenal can exploit.