Date: Tuesday, October 1 Venue: Emirates Stadium Kick-Off: 19:45 Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger comes up against a familiar foe tonight as Rafa Benitez's Napoli visit Emirates Stadium for this Champions League encounter in Group F.
Team News
Arsenal will welcome midfielder Tomas Rosicky back into their squad for Tuesday night's visit of Napoli in the Champions League. The Czech international suffered a hamstring injury while on international duty on September 10th. Theo Walcott (stomach), Santi Cazorla (ankle), Yaya Sanogo (back), Lukas Podolski (hamstring), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Abou Diaby (both knee) all remain sidelined. Napoli will be without right-back Christian Maggio, who has recently undergone knee surgery, but manager Rafa Benitez has no further injury concerns. Gonzalo Higuain and Marek Hamsik are set to earn recalls having been rested against Genoa at the weekend. (Sky Sports)
Key Stats
Arsenal have kept a clean sheet in each of their last five home games against Italian sides, qualifiers included (4 wins, 1 draw). Napoli have scored in all nine of the Champions League games they have played. Rafa Benitez has never managed a winning side away at Arsenal, losing five and drawing four of his visits as a coach. Gonzalo Higuain will line up against the Gunners tonight. He was a transfer target for Arsene Wenger in the summer window.
Likely Line-Ups
Arsenal Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Flamini, Ramsey, Rosicky, Ozil, Wilshere, Giroud Napoli Reina, Zuniga, Albiol, Britos, Mesto, Inler, Behrami, Hamšík, Callejon, Pandev, Higuain
Match Preview
There will be quite a few familiar faces in the away dressing room at Emirates Stadium tonight. Former Liverpool and Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez makes his return to our shores with new club Napoli, and will be bringing goalkeeper Pepe Reina with him. He will also be arriving in London with his side in a rich vein of form, with the Italians defeating last season's Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in matchday one of the group stages. Napoli, runners up in Serie A last season, will certainly pose a stern test for an Arsenal team bereft of several key players. Despite the injury pile-up, though, Arsene Wenger's side are also in good health, having won their nine subsequent fixtures in league and cup since defeat against Aston Villa on August 17. They also saw off Marseille a fortnight ago and will be looking to make it two wins out of two in Group F. Benitez has never managed a winning side away at Arsenal, losing five and drawing four of his visits as a coach of Liverpool and Chelsea. He will be hoping for a reverse in fortunes here, and this one has all the ingredients of a classic even in these preliminary stages of the competition.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
