Arsenal lost their eighteen-match unbeaten streak at Villa Park at the weekend and will be looking to respond to the painful defeat in Wednesday's Champions League match at Club Brugge in Belgium. Although the victory against Bruges Mikel Arteta's will not yet mathematically ensure 100% certainty of direct promotion, so if they gain three points, they should not realistically miss out on a place in the TOP 8. It may seem like an unimportant detail, but in a packed schedule, the certainty of direct promotion two rounds before the end of the league phase is a huge advantage. Firstly, the club can spare its mainstays in the last two games and secondly, the obligation of another double-header for the next stage of the competition, which carries with it the risk of relegation in addition to a more demanding schedule, is eliminated. Despite the expected changes in Arsenal's line-up, the English side will certainly have something to play for and I dare say they will not miss the match in Belgium. On the contrary.
Form
To put it a little more bluntly, since the last national team break. more and more games played on the club scene every day. The December programme, especially in England, is traditionally bursting at the seams, so it is easier to assess the current form. But the players in Bruges have certainly not been bored recently either. So this time I will have plenty of evidence after a long time.
Arsenal
Sometimes it just had to come. In Saturday's match of the fifteenth round of the Premier League Aston Villa end Arsenal's eighteen-match unbeaten streak across all competitions. Although I was furious after the decisive Villans goal, which came in the last minute of stoppage time, and the anger stayed with me for days after the game, we need to put the defeat behind us, not make more of it than necessary and focus on the upcoming matches.
In the light of the last five competitive matches, the aforementioned defeat Arsenal's current form is rather below average. At least in relation to all this year's results. In terms of numbers, however, this is not a tragedy. Three wins, one draw and one defeat in all competitions. Every fan of the team from the Emirates Stadium knows Arsenal's record in the Champions League. Five games, five wins. The fact that Arsenal have dominated the matches of the millionaire competition this season can certainly help Mikel Arteta's charges mentally after the league defeat before Wednesday's match.
Club Bruggy
I'll start from the end here. Bruges are definitely not in ideal form, as confirmed by the day-old and surprising change of manager. The Belgian club has sacked now former manager Nicky Hayen after a series of poor results. replaced on the bench by Ivan Leko.
So how are the Bruges players with their current form? Not very well indeed. Two wins and three defeats. That's not really the best card. In the Champions League, the Belgian team is also not doing well. After five games, they have four points for a dominant 4-1 win against Monaco and a 3-3 draw with Barcelona. In the three remaining matches, it was logically not enough for points even once. Interestingly, both games in which Bruges scored were played at their home stadium. One thing is for sure, Bruges are quite unpredictable. Bruges is pretty erratic.
Team and expected line-up
After an extremely demanding schedule, which continues with the game in Bruges, I want to see as many changes in the line-up as possible. Of course, enough to make sense. I think Mikel Arteta himself feels that it is inevitable that some players will be given some rest, and therefore I expect that on Wednesday night we'll see a much-changed Arsenal starting eleven.
David Raya
To be honest, I also had the idea that at the Jan Breydel Stadium, we will see Kepa Arrizabalaga between the three sticks of the North London team. Why? The EFL Cup quarter-final is coming up, in which the Spanish goalkeeper will feature, so it would make sense for him to have some match practice before that game. That's not to put Brugge down in any way, Kepa is an above-standard number two, but getting him „unstuck“ would be a sensible move. However, knowing Mikel Arteta, he won't want to make any more changes in goal at this stage of the competition. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that between the sticks will be David Raya.
Ben White
Ben White lost a good part of the season opener, but now he's is fit and back in shape. Due to a wide defensive turnover, the English defender had to play, perhaps a bit unplanned, two games in three days. In Bruges, he will probably get another full portion of minutes. You can probably guess where I'm going with this. Ben White is expected to make his third straight start for the Gunners.
Jurriën Timber
On social media, they started to appear positive news surrounding the health of Willam Saliba, but that doesn't mean Mikel Arteta will immediately put the French defender in the starting lineup. Personally, I think he'll be back in the centre of defence at right-back. Jurriën Timber. It is possible that William Saliba will be part of the nomination, but I wouldn't count on him in the starting lineup.
Riccardo Calafiori
The Italian defender unfortunately picked up his fifth yellow of the season in the last league game against Aston Villa has been cleared for the next Premier League game. That's why I think Mikel Arteta will take advantage of it in the Champions League. Piero Hincapie, who had to replace the injured Gabriel in the lineup after a relatively long injury, has played a lot in the last few days. This is probably the most important reason why I'm leaning towards the option in which against Bruges will start Riccardo Calafiori.
Myles Lewis-Skelly
Myles Lewis-Skelly will most likely be the man to replace Riccardo Calafiori on the left edge of defence in the next Premier League game. Why am I mentioning this now? The reason is simple, the young English defender needs match workload. Combined with the maroon that plagues Arsenal's defensive line, he's Myles Lewis-Skelly's start virtually a sure bet.
Christian Nørgaard
The experienced Danish footballer has to wait for every chance on the pitch at Arsenal, but this time would Christian Nørgaard shouldn't be missing from the starting lineup. The demanding schedule and injuries play a bit in his favour. Besides, Christian Nørgaard has his qualities. He is not the type of footballer who will stand out on the pitch with his technical finesse and brilliant passing, but out of the spotlight, he'll be doing the black work. That's his strength and anyone who understands football knows that you need players like that in every team.
Mikel Merino
Spanish universal Mikel Merino should be back in the middle of the midfield. His national teammate Martín Zubimendi will probably sit on the substitutes' bench to get some rest in a difficult period, while Declan Rice might not even be part of the matchday squad. Mikel Arteta doesn't have many other options, and so the deployment of Mikel Merino in the starting lineup is highly likely.
Martin Ødegaard
I'm not at all sure about position ten.. There are more than enough options to choose from. Eberechi Eze, Ethan Nwaneri or Martin Ødegaard? My personal guess is that the Spanish manager will bet on the Norwegian footballer. The reason? He needs to get up to speed and get fit after his injury. On the other hand, the Arsenal captain has played two full games in three days and it might make sense to leave him out of the starting eleven against Bruges. The aforementioned Nwaneri would certainly deserve a chance after a long time. Not to prolong this unnecessarily, I expect Martin Ødegaard to start in the starting lineup, who will be replaced by Ethan Nwaneri during the game.
Noni Madueke
Bukayo Saka needs rest and now that he is fit Noni Madueke, there's not much to argue about. Madueke is a more unnatural alternative to Saku, who I think Mikel Arteta will save. Moreover, in the match against Brentford, in which Ben White and Noni Madueke played together on the right side, their cooperation worked well. I expect Noni Madueke to start on the right wing.
Gabriel Martinelli
Gabriel Martinelli is Arsenal's biggest weapon in the Champions League this season. Four starts, four goals and one assist. An excellent record for the Brazilian international, which he will have the opportunity to improve against Bruges. I am convinced that Spanish manager uses ace Martinelli from the first minute.
Viktor Gyökeres
Viktor Gyökeres, who had to deal with a muscle injury after the Burnley game, he's already managed to come off the bench for three games, but his health has not yet allowed him to start from the first minute in any of the games. Perhaps his return was also delayed a bit by a broken finger on his left hand. But now the Swedish striker could finally return to the starting line-up. I expect Viktor Gyökeres to start from the first minute in Bruges, but I don't think Mikel Arteta will leave him on the pitch until the end of the game. And who knows, maybe he'll be replaced by another returnee from the sack, Gabriel Jesus.
Substitutes
Before the sixth round of the Champions League, Mikel Arteta will have to deal with a number of uncertainties, so I'm going to conceptualize the composition of the bench a bit differently today. First, let's take a look together at the players who shouldn't be missing from the squad. There should be two substitute goalkeepers Kepa Arrizabalaga and Tommy Setford. The players will be ready Piero Hincapié, Martín Zubimendi, Ethan Nwaneri, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus.
The fact that Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus will not be missing from the Spanish manager's squad this time is confirmed by the fact that the club has added him to the roster for the Champions League matches at the expense of the youngster Max Dowman. We will definitely see more faces among the replacements than I mentioned a few lines above. William Saliba, Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard did not attend the last team training session before their departure to Belgium, so there is a question mark over their nomination against Bruges. Ideally, they will all be part of the squad, otherwise the youths from the academy will fill the bench. Sixteen-year-old defender Marli Salmon, who was also on the bench at Villa Park at the weekend, will have the best chance.
The three players who will definitely not be involved in the match remain unchanged. Missing will be Gabriel, Kai Havertz and Cristhian Mosquera.
About the opponent
I will have to be brief here this time. Club Brugge is undoubtedly one of the most famous Belgian teams, but still I have no practical knowledge of its history, system of play or even the players. I've already written about the current form, I've also mentioned the fresh change in manager, so we can still look together at the table position in the domestic competition or the Champions League. Finally, I'll move on to the players, as usual, where we won't dwell too much either.
Club Bruggy dropped down in the league table due to three defeats in the last four games 3rd place with the loss to the first Royale Union SG being five points. From my point of view it is not a catastrophic scenario, but the club management probably perceived it differently when they decided to change the manager. In the Champions League, Brugge are still nursing hopes of progressing to the next stage. The Belgian team has has only 4 points and is in 27th place, but he is only two points away from the twenty-fourth place. Apart from the Arsenal game, Bruges have a pretty good draw. In the millionaire's competition, they will face Kairat Almaty (away) and Marseille (home).
Looking at the roster I only know two players. The first is Simon Mignolet, an experienced goalkeeper who spent many years in the Premier League with Sunderland and Liverpool. The other is Carlos Forbs, who came through Manchester City's academy and was even a guest at Wolverhampton last year.
Match
Although, as I've mentioned a few times today, I don't know Club Bruggy much about the game, I think, that Arsenal, even with a changed line-up, should dominate the game. The quality and breadth of the North London squad is such that it simply has to be reflected in the game and the result. If the Spanish manager's charges approach the game responsibly, which I believe they will, they should go for another three points in Belgium. Moreover, Bruges is not in the best of moods. The form is far from ideal and on top of that there was a surprise change in manager just before the Arsenal game. On the other hand, the home side will be able to play without much pressure because no one will expect anything from them against the Champions League leader.
As for the match itself, I'll build on what I started with. I expect the Arsenal players to dictate the pace of the game from the very start. That doesn't necessarily mean that I'll be peppering the Brugge defence with centres and shots. On the contrary, I expect The Gunners will patiently control the game, hold the ball for a long time and wait for a mistake in the opponent's defensive line. I'd love to be wrong (as with the Aston Villa game) but I don't think we're in for up and down football and attractive spectacle. I'm more inclined to think we'll see a match similar to the one at Eden in Prague. But let's be surprised. Now there is only one thing left, the traditional tip for the exact result. I predict Arsenal to win 2:0.
Next match
Next up for the Gunners is this weekend's Premier League fixture when they welcome the hopelessly last Wolves of Wolverhampton to north London. The match between Arsenal and Wolverhampton will kick off on Saturday 13 December 2025 at 21:00 (CET). After that, Mikel Arteta's charges will be able to relax for a while, because their next game will be a week from Saturday, when they will play Everton again in the domestic league competition.
See you next time, I'll look forward to it!
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Editor, administrator and editor of the True Gunner Diary website, but above all a devoted Arsenal fan. I started with sports articles at the Tipsport bookmaker, where I have published more than 100 blogs. If you want to know more about me, check out the section of the same name here on the site.