Overview
The flying team Arsenal will aim for their third consecutive victory in the UEFA Champions League this season when welcoming Atletico Madrid to Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta's team entered the match with full confidence after continuing to lead the Premier League with a 1-0 victory over Fulham. Leandro Trossard scored the only goal for the Gunners.
Arsenal have started their impressive European campaign with two consecutive 2-0 victories over Athletic Bilbao and Olympiacos, although hosting Atletico Madrid could be their most difficult challenge in the Champions League group stage this season.
However, Diego Simeone's side have won just one of their last nine against English sides in Europe (D2 L6). That only win was a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the round of 16 of the Champions League in March 2022.
Atletico have also never won away from home against an English side in the group stage or the Champions League main round, with 2 draws and 3 losses, including a 0-4 defeat to Chelsea in London in October 2009.
Reversing that achievement against a Arsenal side in good form will not be an easy task. The "Gunners" and Inter Milan are the only two teams yet to concede a goal in the 2025-2026 Champions League.
Since Bukayo Saka made his Champions League debut in September 2023, the Arsenal striker has shown incredible consistent form. With 89 goals, Saka has the second best goal contribution rate among wingers with more than 500 minutes of play, behind only Raphinha of Barcelona (69).
However, Diego Simeone also has his own reliable attacking star - Julian Alvarez. The Argentine striker has scored 13 goals in 11 appearances in the Champions League since the start of the 2023-2024 season, an impressive performance reinforced by his excellent finishing ability. He is currently far ahead of his expected goals (xG) total in the tournament, with +7.6 (13 actual goals compared to 5.4 xG goals).
Alvarez continued to show high performance when scoring from the penalty spot in the 5-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the most recent match in the Champions League. However, he was absent due to injury in Atletico's 2-3 defeat to Liverpool on October 1.
Simeone will find it difficult to play a free-flowing attacking style of play away at the Emirates and is likely to continue to stick to the familiar philosophy. They will prioritize solid defense and quick counter-attacks. The Argentine will put his faith in Conor Gallagher and Marcos Llorente as a locking down midfield, to limit Arsenal's creativity to the maximum.
Head-to-head record
The two teams have only met twice in European competition, when Atletico Madrid eliminated Arsenal in the 2017 2018 Europa League semi-finals with a total score of 2-1 after two matches.
At that time, Diego Simeone's team held the Emirates to a 1-1 draw despite Sime Vrsaljko being sent off after only 10 minutes. In the return match, Diego Costa scored the only goal to help Atletico win 1-0 and go straight to the final.
However, Mikel Arteta may not be too concerned about that sad memory. Arsenal have won all 6 of their most recent matches against Spanish teams, overcoming 4 different opponents in this series - Real Madrid (2 times), Sevilla (2 times), Girona and Athletic Bilbao.
This is also the longest winning streak of a team against Spanish representatives in the history of the Champions League. And Arsenal will aim for their seventh consecutive victory when hosting Atletico in the middle of this week.
Score prediction: Arsenal 1-2 Atletico Madrid
The match between Arsenal and Atletico Madrid takes place at 2:00 am on October 22 (Vietnam time).
