Arsenal travel to Prague on Wednesday with a club record behind them and two big names still missing. Bukayo Saka and William Saliba are out again, but Mikel Arteta’s team are unbeaten in their last 18 Champions League games.
That is the longest unbeaten run in the competition in Arsenal’s history. It has 13 wins and five draws, and Slavia Prague are the next team to try to end it. The game kicks off at 21:00 CET.
Flying after Anfield
Arsenal arrive in very good shape. On Sunday they won 1-0 at Liverpool, with Kai Havertz scoring early, and they are now three points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Europe has gone well too. Arsenal won 1-0 away at Napoli, beat Lille 3-0 at home and then drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich in Germany. Seven points from three games puts them in a strong spot in the league phase.
The bad news is in the treatment room. Saka has a thigh problem and Saliba has a back injury, and neither will play in Prague. Both also missed the win at Anfield.
Slavia are still waiting
Slavia Prague have the opposite problem. They have not won any of their last 18 European games. That run has six draws and 12 defeats. It is the longest run without a win in the club’s history in UEFA competitions.
This season they have only one point from three Champions League games. Arsenal have also caused them pain before. They beat Slavia 7-0 in London in 2007, and they won 3-0 in Prague in last season’s league phase.
Slavia have never scored at home against Arsenal in three European meetings. Arsenal, for their part, have kept a clean sheet in all six of their away games in the Czech Republic.
Our take
On paper this looks like an easy win for Arsenal. The numbers are all on their side, and Arteta’s team are playing with real belief after Sunday.
The risk is that they take it too lightly. Slavia’s fans will be loud, and a home team on a long winless run in Europe can be dangerous when it has nothing to lose. Arteta may also rest some players with another league game coming at the weekend.
Still, it is hard to see the run ending here. A win would give Arsenal ten points from four games.
Can Arsenal make it 19 unbeaten in Prague without Saka and Saliba? Tell us in the comments.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Bukayo Saka by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0), William Saliba and Viktor Gyökeres by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0), Declan Rice by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0), Viktor Gyökeres by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0).
