William Saliba is the latest Arsenal player sidelined by injury, and his colleagues certainly noticed his absence as they wasted a two-goal advantage to tie with Aston Villa on Saturday. Manager Mikel Arteta criticized his defense, saying they were “far from the benchmarks” they’ve set for themselves. His backline has kept a UEFA Champions League (UCL) record seven home shutouts since the start of last season, but secured just one in their last nine matches across all tournaments.
The Gunners should feel optimistic about stabilizing their campaign in the UCL as they aim to solidify their hold on a top-eight spot (W4, D1, L1). Arteta’s squad has yet to allow a goal from open play in the competition this term, while they also claim the most UCL home victories since the start of last season (seven) – threatening figures for next opponents Dinamo Zagreb.
The Croatians are predictably heavy underdogs as they frantically hold onto a position in the knockout play-off rounds. This will be Dinamo’s first official match in a month, but their winter break came at a fortunate moment as they had won just one of their prior eight encounters across all tournaments before the pause (D4, L3).
That led to a prominent coaching change, with Nenad Bjelica succeeded by Ballon d’Or-winning Italian center-back Fabio Cannavaro in charge. He’s tasked with steering Dinamo to a maiden away triumph against English teams in the UCL (D1, L3), but his squad may carry quiet optimism since they’ve won their last two away fixtures in this competition – more than they achieved in their initial 25 such attempts in this tournament (W1, D3, L21).
Players to monitor: Bukayo Saka has contributed to 14 of Arsenal’s 30 UCL goals over the last two seasons (G8, A6), but his unavailability has given a chance to Gabriel Martinelli – the Gunners are unbeaten in the last 38 games he’s found the net in (W32, D6). For the visitors, Sandro Kulenović has already struck three UCL away goals this campaign, second only to Jamie Gittens before the round. If he adds another, he’ll match his club’s historic record for away goals in a single season in major European tournaments.
Key stat: Arsenal have won their last two UCL games by 2+ goal margins, and they’ve never achieved this in three consecutive matches in the competition.
