Inter vs Arsenal LIVE: Team news and line-ups as Gunners face tricky Champions League outing
Mikel Arteta will want his team to continue their impressive start to the campaign
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Your support makes all the difference.Arsenal travel to Italy this evening when they take on Inter Milan in the league phase of the Champions League. The Gunners have made a strong start to their European campaign but sit just outside the automatic qualifying spots after three games.
Mikel Arteta’s men are unbeaten from their first three matches with wins over Paris Saint-Germain and Shakhtar Donetsk following a goalless draw with Atalanta on the opening gameweek. The Champions League offers Arsenal the chance to get back to winning ways after losing to Newcastle at the weekend. They have seven points and will keep in touch with the teams near the top of the table should they leave the San Siro victorious.
For their part, Inter Milan have similarly performed well with confident wins over Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade coming after a draw against Man City. They are currently second in the Serie A table and are on an eight-game unbeaten streak since a 2-1 loss to AC Milan in September.
Follow all the Champions League action with our live blog below:
The Arsenal decision behind Edu’s exit and what it means for Mikel Arteta
In terms of timing, the news that Edu is set to leave Arsenal couldn’t really have been worse for the club. They’re on this bad run, and it suddenly paints the picture of dysfunction behind the scenes that could further affect what happens on the pitch.
The reality is that this news stems from discussions that have been going on from back when results were far better. The Evangelos Marinakis ownership group has wanted Edu for some time, and they have been willing to more than treble his wages and increase his power. The Brazilian is understood to have been on a salary of around £2m at Arsenal.
From that perspective, it makes rather simple sense. There are still questions, not least over what it means for Arsenal, as well as the power dynamics at the club. The Marinakis ownership group is meanwhile clearly intent on expanding.
The Arsenal decision behind Edu’s exit and what it means for Mikel Arteta
The Brazilian is set to leave the Gunners after playing a pivotal role alongside Mikel Arteta in the club’s excellent transfer business in recent years
‘The new format is more challenging'
Lots of talk this week has centred on the new Champions League format in which sides play eight matches in a new ‘league phase’ with finishing positions determining who goes through to the next round or must face a play-off match.
Simone Inzaghi believes the changes have made the Champions League more difficult saying: “The new format is more challenging.
“Whereas before you prepared for three opponents, now you have to consider eight. It’s more fascinating and, if it improves the spectacle, we’re happy.”
Inzaghi addresses how he’ll beat Arsenal
The Inter Milan boss is confident his team can overcome the Gunners tonight especially with home advantage spurring his side on.
In his pre-match press conference, Simone Inzaghi touched on his gameplan and how he plans on beating Arsenal.
He said: “We want to keep the ball as much as we can. Arsenal can cause us problems when they have ball, but we can do the same when we’re in possession.”
‘We know we are working well'
Inter Milan head coach Simone Inzaghi says his team are in great form ahead of Wednesday night’s visit from Arsenal and believes his players have what it takes to secure three points.
He said: “We know we are working well. In the last eight games, we have seven wins and a draw. We know what awaits us – Arsenal are among the strongest teams in Europe – but we are playing in our stadium and we believe in our chances.”
Arsenal receive Martin Odegaard boost but Declan Rice adds to injury concerns
Martin Odegaard is set to hand Arsenal a major boost by making his comeback against Inter Milan, but Declan Rice has missed out on the travelling squad.
Odegaard – who has been out of action since September with an ankle injury – trained alongside his team-mates at Arsenal’s London Colney base on Tuesday morning.
And it is understood Odegaard will travel to Milan ahead of his side’s Champions League fixture at San Siro on Wednesday. Rice, however, has not travelled to Italy but only as a precaution ahead of the crucial London derby with Chelsea on Sunday.
Arsenal receive Martin Odegaard boost but Declan Rice adds to injury concerns
Odegaard has not featured for the Gunners since picking up an injury at the start of September while on international duty with Norway
Inter vs Arsenal predicted line-ups
Here’s how we see the two teams lining-up this evening. Arsenal seem to have a fairly decent squad available though they will probably be without influential captain Martin Odegaard once again.
Inter XI: Sommer; Pavard, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Mkhitaryan, Calhanoglu, Dimarco; Taremi, Martinez.
Arsenal XI: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Partey, Merino, Trossard; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Arsenal early team news
Martin Odegaard is moving closer to a return for Arsenal after missing much of the last two months with an ankle injury and has made the trip to Italy.
Declan Rice has not travelled, however, as a precaution ahead of Sunday’s clash against Chelsea.
Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes were able to feature against Newcastle after overcoming their issues, but defensive trio Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kieran Tierney and Riccardo Calafiori remain sidelined.
Inter Milan early team news
Alessandro Bastoni exited Inter’s league win against Venezia prematurely to spark injury fears, but it appears the defender was only dealing with cramp rather than anything more serious. He may therefore take up his place in Simone Inzaghi‘s back three.
How can I watch it?
Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on TNT Sports 1, with coverage on the channel from 7pm GMT. Subscribers can stream the action via discovery+.
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