Arsenal vs Besiktas: Gunners embroiled in a must win encounter

Hello #GoonerFamily! You know how it works ; when the Arsenal are playing it’s legally ARSENAL DAY!

Wenger’s men are playing hosts to the Turkish side, Besiktas in Europe’s most elite club competition in a return leg after the two teams played out to a goalless draw in Istanbul. 

Adding up to the already ballooning list of injuries which consists; Gibbs,Walcott, Gnabry and the doubtful 22 year old Sanogo.  With the transfer window set to close in 96 hours, the fans would voice their need to see Wenger splash some millions on a new striking cover,  since Giroud won’t be available till at least in the new year. There have been rumors concerning Podolski’s future at the club he so passionately love but the latest injury seems to have triggered the manager’s recent U turn stunt on the striker’s future. "Podolski is in the squad for Wednesday and will stay with us” 

he said in his pre-match presser which also featured England midfielder Oxlade Chamberlain. Giroud’s absence could see Sanchez lead the attack like he did against the Toffees before he was withdrawn at half time. Costarican combative striker; Campbell is also another prospect who could make his Champions League bow in the red and white colors after returning from a 3 year exile .
I can term it as a costly stalemate draw since it’s the match where we actually lost Arteta after the Spaniard limped off the field with a suspected ankle injury; Ramsey became another victim after the 23 year old midfielder picked up his first club marching orders. Fast forward; Giroud is set for a lengthy layoff on the sidelines after the French international appeared to have sprained his ankle moments after he scored a late equalizer in Saturday’s dramatic draw against Everton;

Tonight’s match is a must win, something which will actually make or break Arsenal’s season if they fail to make it to the group stage for the 17^th consecutive term.  Besiktas have proved to be a hard nut to crack after they controlled the tempo for the entire match last week, something which their Croat coach believes gave his troops a reason to be optimistic of downing the ‘big guns’. 'I was confident and my staff were confident before the first game. But maybe some of our players had a little bit of doubt because they had not played against those so-called "big guns".  Said the coach who will be forced to watch the match from the Emirates; stands after being sent off during last week’s draw. The players however, know what this match means to them and the club with not only confidence at stake but also the pride that comes with playing in the competition. To be able to see Besiktas off, the Ox knows exactly what needs to be done to ‘’finish off’’ the Turkish outfit.  "We need to defend well to start off with” he said 

“The main thing is to match them physically and competitively because they are going to come at us hard because they really want to qualify for this.”

With all said and done. COYG! Let’s make it 17 and rolling!

My predicted line up:                             Szczesny,

                                      Debuchy, Koscielny,Mertesacker,Monreal,

                                                              Flamini,  Wilshere

                                                       Cazorla, Ozil, Chamberlain

                                                                      

                                                              Sanchez

                                Subs; Podolski,Rosicky,Campbell,Chambers,Bellerin,Martinez

                                Predictions: Arsenal 2-0 Besiktas (Sanchez, Podolski)

Twitter: @bryoshavin.