[Pre-Match Thread] Arsenal (7) vs PSV Eindhoven (1) | 12th March 2025 | UEFA Champions League
๐ Kick Off: 20:00 GMT
๐ Location: Emirates Stadium, North London
๐บ UK Broadcaster: TNT Sports
๐๐ปโโ๏ธ Referee: Rade Obrenoviฤ ๐ธ๐ฎ
๐ด Arsenal Team News:
- Havertz is recovering from surgery on his hamstring.
- Saka remains in recovery following a hamstring injury.
- Jesus is in recovery following surgery on a torn ACL.
- Tomiyasu is recovering from surgery on his knee and is expected to be out for the rest of the calendar year.
โฝ Arsenal Form: ๐ง๐ฉ๐ง๐ฅ๐ฉ
๐ณ๐ฑ PSV Eindhoven Team News:
- Pepi is a doubts with a knee issue.
- Tillman is a doubt with an ankle injury.
- Bajraktarevic misses the game through a knee injury.
โฝ PSV Eindhoven Form: ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฉ
โ๏ธ Head-to-Head:
- PSV 1-7 Arsenal (4th Mar 2025, Champions League RO16)
- PSV 1-1 Arsenal (12th Dec 2023, Champions League Groups)
- Arsenal 4-0 PSV (20th Sept 2023, Champions League Groups)
- PSV 2-0 Arsenal (27th Oct 2022, Europa League Groups)
- Arsenal 1-0 PSV (20th Oct 2022, Europa League Groups)
๐ Match Facts:
- The 1-7 Arsenal thrashing of PSV was the largest winning margin of an away team in UCL history.
- The largest aggregate win in the history of the competition was Bayern Munich 12-1 Sporting CP. A 5-0 win for Arsenal would tie this record, and they would need a 6-0 to beat it.
๐ฒ Odds (Betway):
- Arsenal โ 17/40
- Draw โ 7/2
- PSV - 6/1
To Qualify:
- Arsenal - 0/1 (lol)
โ๐ผ Pre-Match Ramblings
Here we go, the most exciting game of the season so far. It's all to play for as Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven visit the Emirates Stadium in the hopes of overcoming a significant deficit after being demolished in the reverse fixture last week. Could they do it? No. Don't be silly.
It's hardly worth writing this post. The stadium will be half empty (or half full, depending on your philosophical standpoint) due to it being a Category A fixture which is quite meaningless. It shouldn't have been Cat A anyway, but our thrashing in the first leg really exacerbates the issue.
This game is a nice chance for some rotation. I expect a first start for Benjamin White since his surgery, perhaps a start for Tierney either at left back or left win. Sterling will likely get a run out, bless him. I wouldn't expect any debutantes - the academy players that would have seen minutes here are playing for Man United in the Premier League, but let's not go there. Expect to see Kiwior, Jorginho, and Neto in the starting lineup here as well.
This tournament is really all that's left for us this season, so it's nice that we're already through to the next round where we will face either of the Madrid clubs. Come to think of it, that game is on tomorrow at the same time as this one - it's worth keeping one eye (or two) on that game.