Arsenal Vs Shakhtar Donetsk: The Gunners Looking For Perfect Record At Emirates

Arsenal want to keep the clean sheet and win at home (photo: x @Arsenal)

JAKARTA - After a painful defeat in the Premier League, Arsenal hopes not to experience a similar fate when they host Shakhtar Donetsk at the Emirates Stadium, London, in the Champions League continued on Tuesday night, October 22 or Wednesday morning WIB.

The Gunners have garnered four points from their early two games in the group stage this season, while Shakhtar Donetsk is currently outside the top 24 in the league stage standings.

Arsenal suffered a bitter weekend in their 0-2 defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League. William Saliba received a red card after committing a foul as the last player, while Ryan Christie's goal and Justin Kluiver's penalty confirmed Arsenal's defeat. The chance to temporarily top the Premier League standings has disappeared, even though Arsenal have a chance to bounce back before facing a big match against Liverpool this weekend.

In the Champions League, Arsenal have shown quite a solid game. After a 0-0 draw against Atalanta in the first match, Arsenal secured a 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain. Goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka, taking advantage of PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma's mistakes, ensuring their victory.

Arsenal are currently 13th in the group stage standings, and they have the chance to record three consecutive clean sheets in the Champions League for the first time since 2007. They are also unbeaten in the Champions League group stage at home since September 2015.

Meanwhile, Shakhtar Donetsk faced a 0-3 loss to Atalanta in the previous match, where Ademola Lookman performed brilliantly with one goal and one assist. After a goalless draw against Bologna in the opener, Shakhtar is still looking for their first goal in the Champions League this season.

However, Shakhtar managed to win two straight wins in the Ukrainian League with a 5-1 win over LNZ Cherkasy and 1-0 against Kolos Kovalivka. However, their inconsistent performance left them only in fourth place in the domestic league standings.

In the previous two visits to Emirates, Shakhtar always lost, including a crushing 1-5 defeat in 2010.

Arsenal most likely still have to play without Bukayo Saka, who is doubtful due to a hamstring injury. Jurrien Timber is also still having muscle problems, while Martin Odegaard, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Kieran Tierney are ruled out.

Saliba, who was sent off against Bournemouth, could still be played in the Champions League, but Mikel Arteta is likely to rotate several players ahead of the match against Liverpool.

In Shakhtar's camp, they are expected to come at full strength. The only player absent is the reserve goalkeeper, Tymur Puzankov, who is still recovering from an ACL injury.

Georgiy Sudakov, Shakhtar's main star, will be the key figure in this match with his impressive performance in the domestic league, scoring seven goals and two assists in nine games.

Player Composition Forecast

Arsenal (4-3-3):Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Havertz, Rice, Merino; Sterling, Jesus, Trossard.

Shakhtar Donetsk (4-1-4-1):Riznyk; Konoplya, Bondar, Matvienko, Henrique; Stepanenko; Zubkov, Bondarenko, Sudakov, Newerton; Sikan.