UEFA Champions League: Braga vs. Arsenal (Preview)
A chance to bounce back
Arsene Wenger and his men haven’t yet been handed the chance to redeem themselves from their disappointing derby defeat against Tottenham Hotspurs, which they eventually lost by three goals to two, despite scoring the first two goals of
the match. Arsenal will travel to Portugal to face the local champions for the fourth match of Champions League Group stage.
Moreover, Arsenal has already thrashed the Portuguese outfit by more than six goals in the first leg of this fixture held at Emirates.
However, Sporting Braga is in its first Champions League season and following their thrashing in the hands of Arsenal, which was also their ‘first’ UEFA Champions League match; the Portuguese champions have made a drastic recovery and
won two back to back matches against Belgrade.
Moreover, Sporting Braga counter parts, Arsenal had a dreamy start of UEFA Champions League as they went unbeaten in first three matches and scored 14 goals. However, their winning streak was ended by Shakhtar Donetsk; nonetheless they are still topping the
table with nine points and have already qualified for the Round of 16.
While, the host side are at third spot with six points to their name and only a point less than Shakhtar Donetsk, who are second in Group H.
In addition to that, both teams have lost their last domestic match and would look to bounce back to the winning ways. Arsenal was defeated by their fierce rivals, Tottenham Hotspurs on Saturday and on the other side Sporting Braga also lost Victoria Guimaraes.
However, a defeat for Arsene Wenger and his men would put their Round of 16 qualifications in jeopardy and Arsenal then must have to win its next two matches. A famous win of Braga will blow this group wide open and Arsenal could struggle
to qualify from a group which looked straight forward on paper.
Nevertheless a side boasting the talents of Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie will feel confident heading to the Estadio Municipal de Braga for the first time in their history after Braga lost their last game 2-1 Victoria Guimaraes.
Furthermore, Arsene Wenger and his men are on the verge of breaking Manchester United record for scoring the most goals in UEFA’s Champions League group stage. So far, Arsenal has scored fifteen goals in four matches and six more goals would engrave Arsenal’s
name in the Record books.
Manchester United scored 20 goals in the Group stage almost 10 years ago in 1998-99 season and went on to win their historic ‘Terrible”.
Arsenal Possible starting XI: Fabianski, Sagna, Squillaci, Koscielny, Gibbs, Tomas Rosicky, Song, Wilshere, Walcott, Van Persie and Nasri.
Braga Possible starting XI: Felipe, Garcia, Moises, Rodriguez, Elderson, Alan, Valdinho, Mossoro, Luis Aguiar; Lima and Mattheus.
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