With their Premier League title challenge already faltering, Arsenal have some domestic mistakes to rectify in Wednesday's Champions League blockbuster clash with Inter Milan at San Siro.
While the Gunners were bested 1-0 by Newcastle United at the weekend, Simone Inzaghi's side survived a huge scare at home to Venezia in Serie A and share their visitors' seven-point total in Europe this season.
Match preview
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Helplessly watching on for almost two months due to an ankle injury, Martin Odegaard was believed to have had an outside chance of coming back into the Arsenal team for their trip to Newcastle on Saturday lunchtime, but Mikel Arteta was without his captain and chief creator again.
The Norwegian's absence has not been majorly felt in some matches over the past several weeks, but Arsenal were crying out for a touch of his ingenuity at St James' Park, where Alexander Isak's bullet header from Anthony Gordon's pinpoint delivery made the difference.
With neither Bukayo Saka nor Gabriel Martinelli able to get the better of their inspired full-back opponents in Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall, Arsenal put in an incredibly toothless showing that we have not been accustomed to seeing from Arteta's side, who are now outside the top four in the Premier League table and are seven points behind leaders Liverpool.
Enduring a miserable three-game winless streak in the Premier League, Arsenal have also been rocked by the news that award-winning sporting director Edu is set to leave the club, as Arteta prepares to wave goodbye to one of his closest allies at a time where he needs them more than ever.
However, an unconvincing 1-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk on Champions League matchday three moved Arsenal onto seven points from their opening three matches of the 2024-25 edition - a respectable tally that has them ninth in the 36-team table - and the visitors are still yet to concede a single goal in Europe this season.
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The same is also true of Arsenal's hosts Inter, renowned for their defensive mastery under Inzaghi, as the Nerazzurri held 2022-23 final foes Manchester City to a goalless draw in their opening fixture and are now seeking a third successive triumph in the tournament.
A 4-0 demolition of Red Star Belgrade preceded a narrow 1-0 victory over BSC Young Boys on matchday three, where Marcus Thuram was the hero of the hour for the reigning Serie A champions in second-half injury time, but it was almost the opposite for Inzaghi on Sunday.
Leading relegation-threatened Venezia thanks to a Lautaro Martinez header, Inter briefly threw two points down the drain right at the death, but Marin Sverko's equaliser was disallowed for handball following a VAR review and the Nerazzurri survived by the skin of their teeth.
Thanks to Napoli's slip-up against Atalanta BC, Inter are now just one point behind Antonio Conte's leaders in the Serie A table and have now been victorious in seven of their last eight matches across all tournaments, the outlier being a frenetic 4-4 draw with Derby d'Italia Juventus.
Shutting Arsenal out on Wednesday will see Inter keep four Champions League/European Cup clean sheets in a row for the first time ever, but the Italian giants were famously ripped to shreds by Arsene Wenger's Gunners in a 5-1 Milan mauling during the 2003-04 group stage, albeit after the Gunners had suffered a 3-0 Highbury humbling.
Team News
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Now in the final stages of his comeback from an ankle injury, Odegaard trained on Tuesday, boarded the flight to Milan and is in with a strong chance of making his return on Wednesday, but Arteta may hold off bringing him back into the first XI.
The Gunners will definitely be missing Inter-linked defender Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Kieran Tierney (hamstring) and Riccardo Calafiori (knee) for the trip to Milan, as well as Declan Rice due to his fresh blow, but Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes both shook off their own concerns to feature at the weekend.
White was only considered for minutes off the bench but will surely be a candidate to start Tuesday's tie, as Arteta ditches the Thomas Partey right-back experiment and moves the Ghanaian back into midfield, potentially at Leandro Trossard's expense.
Inter suffered a defensive injury scare of their own in the showdown with Venezia, as Alessandro Bastoni had to be taken off with 20 minutes of normal time remaining, although the Italian is only said to have been suffering from cramps and ought to be fine for Wednesday.
As a result, Inzaghi's only absentee for the midweek blockbuster should be Carlos Augusto - the Brazilian left-back is expected to be out until after the international break due to a hamstring injury - although Matteo Darmian is now reportedly set to come in for Federico Dimarco on that side.
Reuniting with the club he joined in an unsuccessful swap transfer with Alexis Sanchez, Henrikh Mkhitaryan runs the show in the Inter midfield, where Hakan Calhanoglu should also be reintroduced over Piotr Zielinski.
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Pavard, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Mkhitaryan, Calhanoglu, Darmian; Taremi, Martinez
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Havertz, Partey, Merino; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli
We say: Inter Milan 0-0 Arsenal
Even if Odegaard is given the green light to make his return in Milan, he is highly unlikely to start, and Arsenal's attacking endeavours should therefore prove fruitless against a dogged Inter backline.
Inzaghi's team were found wanting in the attacking third themselves at the weekend, though, and as the visitors have a near first-choice defence available, a goalless draw is not beyond the realm of possibility.
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Ben Knapton
