Allianz Arena
Matchday 3 of this seasons Champions League will see last years beaten finalist Arsenal travel to Germany and the Allianz Arena to take on Bundesliga giants, Bayern Munich. With two victories from the Gunners first two opponents this season against Napoli and Lille, it is the matches against Bayern and other European greats which will surely test the progress made by Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal team over the past few seasons in the competition. Bayern are a formidable opponent and any result against them will lay down a marker again of Arsenal's intent to make another Champions League final appearance.
Bayern though have had the upper hand over the Gunners in previous years, especially on home soil where Die Roten have only lost one of their seven Champions League meetings against Arsenal winning five and drawing one. Further to that, they won the last three matches in a row, amazingly two of those were by a 5-1 scoreline, back in November 2015 and again in February 2017. So with the stats very much leaning towards a positive result for the Bundesliga champions, Arteta would love for a repeat of last seasons November 26th group match at the Emirates where Arsenal won by three goals to one. Goals from Timber, Madueke and Martinelli sealed the points on a night where the Gunners registered 14 shots with 8 of those on target against Bayern's two on target from 6 shots in total. A comfortable night in North London for the Arsenal and one which will give them confidence ahead of a tough encounter in Germany.
Michael Olise
The absence of French international, Michael Olise will affect Bayern's attacking prowess with Olise creating more chances in the Champions League than any other player since the start of last season. Replacements though are not all that hard to find at the Munich camp with former Arsenal academy graduate Serge Gnabry or the talented Lennart Karl able to deputise and drop in on the right wing, that's good news for the hosts knowing that they still have plenty of firepower in their ranks, even with Olise missing. Another player to watch out for is the Ballon d'Or nominated, Harry Kane, who ironically represented Arsenal at youth level and has chalked up 15 goals in 22 competitive outings against the Gunners during his career. The current Premier League champions however can point to an incredible run of 14 straight victories in the group stages of the Champions League stretching back to November 2024, when they lost 1–0 away to Inter Milan. Incidentally, Bayern last lost at the Allianz arena in a Champions League match way back in December 2013 in a 3–2 defeat to Manchester City. Vincent Kompany's Munich have won 37 of the 39 games during that period and will not want to surrender that record to Arteta's high flying Gunners.
Arsenal team news
Fit again Jurrien Timber is likely to start again at right-back with Gabriel, Ezri Konsa and possibly Riccardo Calafiori completing the back line, in midfield, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and one from Madueke, Mles Lewis Skelly, Bruno Guimaraes or Eberechi Eze will provide the chances for Victor Gyokeres who has started the previous two Champions League games. Kai Havertz is another possibility for the lone striker role with the German international sometimes preferred by Arteta in the big European nights and may get the nod over team mate Gyokeres. Martin Zubimendi is available again and “will be involved” after a minor hamstring issue as Arsenal attempt to puncture one of Europe's best home records in the Champions league.
Predictions
The Opta analyst website gives Bayern a 46.4% chance of victory compared to a 29.3% win probability for the Gunners and a 24.3% chance of the points being shared. Considering the home record of the hosts, a point each in this game would not be a disaster for Arsenal although claiming all three would be a major statement and a step in the right direction regarding qualifying for the knockout stages this season again.
Prediction 1-1
