Arsenal vs Monaco Match Preview

First leg of this R16 tie will be played at the Emirates Stadium
Photo courtesy: Twitter @Arsenal

   The day we've been waiting for since December has come. It's the UEFA Champions League Matchday! Arsenal take-on Monaco in North London at the Emirates Stadium tonight.

   Its going to be a match of two teams with contrasting style of football. On one hand there is Arsene Wenger's Arsenal who are renowned for their attacking football philosophy and on the other hand there is AS Monaco who have been playing compact defensive football under the management of Leonardo Jardim.

   This French outfit plays with their defense sitting deep and inviting pressure from the opposition. As a result, they see less of ball possession. In the pre game presser, Jardim gave a little insight of strategy for this game which sounded similar to this approach.

   We all know the quality of gunners in ball possession game which ranks among the best on the continent as acknowledged by all. And considering the form of their attacking players namely Santi, Özil and Giroud and their free-flowing football on display week-in week-out since January, this approach may prove suicidal.

   There have been talks of defensive solidity of the Ligue 1 side with stats of 3 goals conceded in last 17 matches and just 1 conceded in the group stage of this competition but with all due to respect to the teams who have encountered this Monaco side, the figures may go for the toss when they face a team of Arsenal's Calibre who are perfectly shaped and structured with 'one-touch quick-ball movement football' which I believe is good enough to counter their defensive football tactics. So I think Monaco are going to strike the hammer on their own foot if they persist with their style.

   Moving on to team news, Arsenal have updated Coquelin, Giroud and Gabriel in their UCL squad for the knock-out rounds and they all are certain to feature in the 18 man lineup tonight. As for the playing XI, it will be similar to the one that faced Palace with a few changes in form of Bellerin coming on Chambers and Walcott moving in for Welbeck. Chamberlain may feature on bench in place of Wilshere who was rested from training yesterday. Though I am not sure of any but all are likely.

   Finally, I foresee a pleasant evening for Wenger and his Men with a 2-0 win (provided they play true to their potential) and would like to see Özil and Sanchez on scoresheet ending their 'mini goal drought'!