Overview
Although rated higher than the opponent, Arsenal's 7-1 victory over PSV in the first leg was still a surprising result. Remember, the "Gunners" attack is devastated by injuries, along with having to play away.
The victory in the Netherlands almost helped Arsenal reach the quarter-finals of this year's Champions League. In the history of the tournament, a team has never been eliminated after winning with a difference of 6 goals in the first leg.
With such a huge advantage, it is not ruled out that coach Mikel Arteta will keep some key players to avoid unnecessary injuries and create conditions for young players to compete. This is even more important because next weekend, they will have to play the London derby against Chelsea in the Premier League. Although the chance to chase Liverpool is not much, The Gunners will not easily give up.
After a heavy defeat in the first leg, PSV tried to anger Heerenveen last weekend by controlling the ball 69% and launching 25 shots. However, coach Peter Bosz's team only won with a score of 2-1.
Despite being the team with the strongest attack in the Dutch national championship this season (75 goals after 25 rounds), winning by at least 6 goals against Arsenal is still too far away for the home team at Philips stadion. The last time PSV did this in the Champions League was in the 1992-1993 season, when they beat an unknown team, Zalgiris of Lithuania 6-0.
In addition, PSV's current away form is also quite unstable. Peter Bosz's side have lost three, drawn one and won one of their last five trips. It is likely that the Dutch representative will continue to be defeated by Arsenal.
Personnel situation
Arsenal will not have the services of Takehiro Tomiyasu, Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus in this match due to injury.
On the other side of the front line, Malik Tillman, Ricardo Pepi and Esmir Bajraktarevic are still absent, but they have no new injury concerns.
Expected lineup:
Arsenal: Neto, White, Kiwior, Calafiori, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Odegaard, Lewis-Skelly, Sterling, Martinelli, Tierney.
PSV: Benitez, Ledezma, Flamingo, Obispo, Junior, Veerman, Schouten, Bakayoko, Til, Lang, De Jong.
The match between Arsenal and PSV takes place at 3:00 am on March 13 (Vietnam time).
