Overview
Having tasted "bitter medicine" from their own set pieces in Germany, Arsenal seemed to have collapsed before Robert Andrich's header from a corner kick in the first leg against Bayer Leverkusen last week.
Coach Mikel Arteta's team at that time faced many difficulties against Leverkusen's disciplined defense and were almost powerless for most of the match.
However, two pivotal changes by Arteta changed the situation. Noni Madueke was brought on to replace Bukayo Saka who played below par and immediately made a difference when he brought in a penalty in the final minutes.
From the 11m spot, Kai Havertz coldly defeated his old team to bring an important advantage to Arsenal. The German midfielder celebrated quite restrainedly, but the away team's fans present at the away stadium burst into tears.
That victory helped Arsenal take control of the Champions League quarter-final ticket for the third consecutive season, despite losing their winning streak in this arena.
Arsenal's record at the Emirates in UEFA tournaments is also extremely impressive. In the last 22 home matches, they have only lost once - against Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals last season.
That high form continued to be maintained in the Premier League last weekend. Arsenal defeated Everton 2-0 thanks to a close-range goal by Viktor Gyokeres and a record-breaking goal by 16-year-old talent Max Dowman.
This victory helps the "Gunners" create a 9-point gap with Manchester City in the championship race. Interestingly, the gap between the top team and the second-placed team in the Bundesliga is also 9 points. Last weekend, Leverkusen partly helped Dortmund in the race against Bayern Munich when they drew with Vincent Kompany's team.
Playing with more players after Luis Diaz and Nicolas Jackson had to leave the field, Kasper Hjulmand's students still only got a 1-1 draw. That result continued to consolidate Leverkusen's reputation as a "net specialist". 5 of their last 6 matches in all competitions ended in a draw.
However, if they want to reverse the situation against Arsenal, another draw is certainly not an acceptable result. However, Leverkusen still shows certain stability when they have only lost one of their last 14 matches in all competitions.
However, their away form is not too convincing when they have only won 4 in the last 10 matches. Head-to-head history is also not on the side of the Bundesliga representative. Leverkusen has never beaten Arsenal in three official encounters.
The last time they traveled to Emirates - in the pre-season 2024 period - the team led by Xabi Alonso at that time also suffered a heavy 1-4 defeat.
Personnel situation
Dowman becoming the youngest scorer in Premier League history at the weekend has captured the full attention of the media, to the point that Arteta was almost not asked about Jurrien Timber's injury status.
The Dutch defender was injured in the first half of the win against Everton and his ability to play in the second leg against Bayer Leverkusen is still open.
Besides Timber, Arsenal is also monitoring the condition of Martin Odegaard (knee injury) and Leandro Trossard (light injury). Meanwhile, Mikel Merino is definitely absent as he is still recovering from a foot injury.
On the other side, Leverkusen coach Kasper Hjulmand also faces new personnel issues after the draw with Bayern Munich.
Midfielder Aleix Garcia left the field due to a head injury, while striker Martin Terrier had an ankle problem.
Expected lineup:
Raya, Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Rice, Madueke, Saka, Martinelli, Gyokeres.
Bayer Leverkusen: Blaswich, Andrich, Quansah, Tapsoba, Poku, Fernandez, Palacios, Grimaldo, Maza, Terrier, Kofane.
The match between Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen takes place at 3:00 AM on March 18 (Vietnam time).
