Dinamo Zagreb vs Arsenal preview: Match time, live telecast, possible lineups and prediction

Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta (L) is set to return to the starting XI after Arsene Wenger rested Aaron Ramsey, who did not travel to Zagreb for the Champions League group stage match

Arsenal travel to Zagreb to take on Croatian football league champions Dinamo Zagreb in their Group F encounter. Zagreb were unbeaten in the last season and haven’t lost a match in 11 months while Arsenal have had a mixed start to this season. With the new seeding format seeing Arsenal in Pot 2, they were drawn with big guns Bayern Munich in the group stages itself and have a tricky away fixture to tackle at the very first hurdle itself.

Team News

Arsenal are without a number of players for this trip. Both Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere have been ruled out with long-term injuries while Tomas Rosicky has also been on the treatment table for a while. Aaron Ramsey and Hector Bellerin have stayed behind in North London after Arsene Wenger decided to rest them ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea this Saturday.

Per Mertesacker is doubtful after he was involved in a car accident when he lost control. The German defender wasn’t injured but was reportedly quite shaken up after skidding off the road which was slippery after heavy rainfall.

On the other hand, Zagreb have no players out injured and everyone is fit for selection. Manager Zoran Mamic has a full squad to choose from as Wenger’s side visit. The man to watch will be Angelo Henríquez who scored 20 goals last season and signed permanently from Manchester United this summer.

The Stadion Maksimir was reportedly hit by a small earthquake on Tuesday which measured 3.2 on the Richter scale

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Live telecast and Kickoff

The match kicks off at 12:15 AM IST on Wednesday (7:45 PM BST and 8:45 PM local time) at Stadion Maksimir. The match will be telecast live on Ten HD.

Team Form

Dinamo Zagreb are currently top of the table this season after nine games. They have won five and drawn four, scoring 20 goals and conceding only four. Arsenal are currently fourth in the Premier League after five games. They have won three games, drawn one and lost one (the opening fixture against West Ham at the Emirates). They are currently five points behind Manchester City in the table.

Dinamo Zagreb: W-D-D-W-W (Last match: Dinamo Zagreb 4-1 Skenderbeu)

Arsenal: L-W-D-W-W (Last match: Arsenal 2-0 Stoke City)

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Head-to-head & Key stats

• This is Arsenal’s 18th consecutive season in the Champions League – a record bettered only by Real Madrid (19 seasons).
• The last time Dinamo Zagreb played Arsenal, the Gunners beat the Croatian side 5-1 on aggregate in the 2006/07 season.
• Dinamo Zagreb have never beaten an English team in six matches, conceding 16 goals in these six games.
• Zagreb have also never qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League. They have qualified for the group stages four times.
• Dinamo Zagreb haven’t lost their last six matches in the Champions League (including UCL qualifiers)
• Arsenal have failed to keep a clean sheet in nine of their last 10 away games in the group stage

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Possible Lineups

Dinamo Zagreb (4-3-3): Eduardo; Pinto, Taravel, Sigali, Pivaric; Rog, Antolic, Machado; Pjaca, Fernandes, Henriquez

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Cech; Debuchy, Gabriel, Koscielny, Gibbs; Arteta, Cazorla; Walcott, Ozil, Alexis; Giroud

Dinamo Zagreb vs Arsenal - Possible starting XIs

Prediction

Arsene Wenger will be looking to get three points in the bag as they look to start their Champions League group stage on a high after the two Manchester sides failed to get any points on Tuesday night. With Bayern Munich favourites to beat Olympiacos in the other group game, the Gunners cannot drop points against Zagreb. Arsenal won the last fixture between the two sides (3-0 in 2006) and still remain favourites because of their seeding and Zagreb’s inexperience in Europe.

Predicted score: Dinamo Zagreb 0-1 Arsenal

Betting odds (bet 365)

Dinamo Zagreb: 6/1

Draw: 10/3

Arsenal: 8/15