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Arsenal vs Shakhtar Donetsk: Preview for Champions League clash

By on October 21, 2024

Arsenal celebrations

Arsenal are back in Champions League action as they welcome Shakhtar Donetsk to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Gunners will be looking to bounce back from a nightmare weekend in the Premier League that saw them crash to a shock 2-0 defeat away to Bournemouth on Saturday evening. Once again, there was huge controversy surrounding the Arsenal match as the fans were left incensed by William Saliba’s crucial sending off midway through the first half.

The Frenchman was initially shown a yellow card for bringing down Evanilson near the half-way line as the Bournemouth striker tried to get on the end of a stray Leandro Trossard pass. However, the VAR suggested a red card was the correct outcome and the referee overturned his decision to send Saliba to the stands.

The decision had a huge impact on the game and Arsenal slumped to their first defeat of the season after Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert [penalty] scored for the south coasters. The dismissal means Saliba will also miss Arsenal’s huge showdown with Liverpool next week, so it was a costly decision from the VAR on Saturday.

With Manchester City scoring a last gasp winner away to Wolves on Sunday and Liverpool beating Chelsea at Anfield, it was a horrid weekend for the Gunners as they now sit three points behind City and four off leaders Liverpool after eight games.

However, Mikel Arteta needs to pick his players up as they prepare to welcome Shakhtar Donetsk to North London in the Champions League. Arsenal have picked up four points from their opening two games following a draw at Atalanta and a 2-0 win over PSG, so they can take a huge step towards the knockout rounds with a win on Tuesday night.

How to watch

The game will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime on Tuesday night. Subscribers can follow all the action on their TV or via the app on mobile or tablet devices.

Alternatively, match-going fans can buy tickets for the game and official reseller Go Sport Travel have some excellent packages that you can check out here if you want to be in the stands at the Emirates.

Team news

Arsenal were without Bukayo Saka against Bournemouth on Saturday after he was ruled out by a hamstring injury that he picked up while away with England during the international break. Saka will be assessed to see if he can return to face Shakhtar on Tuesday but Arteta won’t take any chances.

Ben White has made a successful return from a knee injury while Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli both featured at the weekend after recovering from knocks that they picked up during the break.

However, Jurrien Timber missed the trip to Bournemouth with a muscle injury and remains a doubt tomorrow night. Martin Odegaard is still working his way back from an ankle injury while Takehiro Tomiyasu is out with a knee injury after suffering a set-back.

Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling and Oleksandr Zinchenko are pushing for recalls while youngster Ethan Nwaneri could start after impressing off the bench at the weekend.

As for Shakhtar, they have virtually a fully fit squad to choose from. The only absentee is fourth-choice goalkeeper Tymur Puzankov who is out with an ACL injury.

Prediction

Arsenal will still be ruing the defeat to Bournemouth but they have to put it to the back of their mind and focus on the task at hand. Even before Saliba’s dismissal, Arsenal weren’t at their free-flowing best going forward so Arteta will be demanding a better display tomorrow night.

Shakhtar are capable of causing Arsenal problems but the Gunners should prove to be too strong for their Ukrainian counterparts. Therefore, we’re predicting a routine 2-0 win for the hosts. Arsenal 2-0 Shakhtar