Last Word on Football brings you the latest team news and the confirmed lineups for Leverkusen vs Arsenal at the BayArena, Leverkusen. The first leg last-16 Champions League tie will kick off at 17:45 GMT. Leverkusen came through a two-leg play-off tie against Olympiacos, winning 2-0 on aggregate to reach the last-16. The Gunners are still in the hunt for a historic quadruple season, while their opponents have plenty of injury concerns, sitting sixth in the Bundesliga.
Champions League Last-16: Leverkusen vs Arsenal, Team News and Confirmed Lineups
Leverkusen Team News
As Leverkusen go into this huge tie against Arsenal, Leverkusen boss Kasper Hjulmand has plenty of injury problems to contend with, including top scorer Patrick Schick, who has been missing the last two games through a muscle injury.
The club’s first-choice goalkeeper, Mark Flekken, will be out through injury, as will Artur, Loic Bade, and Lucas Vazquez. Nathan Tella and Eliesse Ben Seghir are nearing a return, but this game may have come too soon for them.
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Arsenal Team News
In the pre-match press conference, Mikel Arteta discussed the importance of his players changing their mindset for knockout games:
“Yes, you start the second part of the campaign and you know what is at stake. We start to play games where you are in or you are out, there is no margin for manoeuvre, and we’re going to face a very difficult contest tomorrow against a really good team,” said Arteta.
Arteta confirmed the Gunners will be without Martin Odgaard, but did tease the possible return of Riccardo Calafiori and Leandro Trossard.
The Arsenal boss also confirmed Gabriel, William Saliba, Declan Rice, and Martin Zubimendi will all be available for selection.
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Leverkusen Confirmed Lineup
Leverkusen: Blaswich, Quansah, Andrich, Terrier, Tapsoba, Poku, Grimaldo, Garcia, Palacios, Maza, Kofane.
Subs: Omlin, Lomb, Fernandez, Hofmann, Tillman, Schick, Hermann, Tape, Culbreath.
Arsenal Confirmed Lineup
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Rice, Eze, Saka, Martinelli, Gyokeres.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Ranson, White, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Mosquera, Salmon, Norgaard, Madueke, Dowman, Havertz, Jesus.
Featured Image Credit:
IMAGO / Action Plus
