In the wake of a disappointing draw with Hull City on Saturday, EPL club Arsenal travel to Belgium to take on the Belgian Champions Anderlecht in their Group D champions League match.

The 2-2 draw on Saturday left many fans depressed and worried for the lack of ambition in the club. But manager Arsene Wenger will look to put all the bad omen behind as the Gunners face a ‘do or die’ moment in Brussels with a must win situation at their hands. ‘Birthday boy’ Arsene has some good news on the injury front with Welsh wizard, Aaron Ramsey, who came off the bench on Saturday, returns to the starting line-up whereas Theo Walcott has returned to full training after a serious injury left him out of action for 9 months.

But the Gunners are still short of numbers as the long list of injuries continued to pile with summer signing David Ospina the latest to join the treatment table. With Wojciech Szczęsny suspended, 22-year-old Emiliano Martinez, will be keeping the posts as rookie stopper makes his Champions League bow. Key defender Laurent Koscielny is still a doubt for the Gunners who are also without the services of Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud, Mathieu Debuchy, Tomas Rosicky and Abou Diaby. English defender Calum Chambers is available after serving a domestic ban.

Arsenal will be boosted by the fact that Anderlecht have not won in eight Champions League games and Arsene’s men will be looking shoot down the Belgians if they are to finish in the top two slots of the group

Arsenal go into this as ‘favourites’ but there are problems at the back and the central midfield area that could hamper the Gunners’ chances in the upcoming fixtures of the tournament. Even though Arsenal are not upto the standards of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona or a Chelsea; this tie is fairly poised in the London side’s favour with the quality in the squad.

Scoreline – 3-1 to the Arsenal

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Arsenal Football Club have began their Champions League journey with a loss to German powerhouse, Borussia Dortmund but the North London team will be looking to add points in the tally when they take on Turkish opponents, Galatasaray in the Group D clash at the Emirates.

Arsenal was lucky to lose only 2-0 in Dortmund after being comprehensively outplayed by the Bundesliga outfit and already look strong favourites to top the group.

Even though the Gunners are playing at home, a win here would be a fitting reply to the critics who have doubted the Gunners’ capability of survival in the Champions League. But all is not merry in the Arsenal squad. Manager Arsene Wenger, who celebrates 18 years at the helm, has seen injuries mar the squad. Aaron Ramsey, Abou Diaby, Mikel Arteta, Olivier Giroud are host of players been ruled out.

Creative midfielder, Jack Wilshere was also a doubt after taking a knock against Tottenham on Sunday but has recovered while, right back Mathieu Debuchy remains to be out for three months. But despite the array of injuries in the team, Wenger has options available with Mesut Ozil, Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla to breathe down the opposition’s neck.

Galatasaray, who also began their Champions League journey with a dull draw against Anderlecht, have not been anywhere near as consistent. They have yet to beat an English opposition on away soil and have to rely on the likes of Wesley Sneijder and forward Burak Yilmaz to deliver the goods upfront. They also reached the first knockout round last season but have started the recent campaign in an ordinary fashion.

Arsenal will need to shrug off the pre-EPL result and start afresh against a valiant Turkish opponent in Galatasaray. The Gunners must fire in the goals if they are to progress further but the Turks can string in a surprise, if all goes well for them.

Arsenal: Szczesny, Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Flamini; Sanchez, Ozil, Cazorla, Welbeck.

Galatasaray: Muslera; Versel, Chedjou, Semih, Telles; Dzemaili, Melo, Selcuk; Sneijder; Burak, Pandev.

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After a golden era that saw the ‘Spanish Armada’ cruise to a European Championship in 2008 and 2012 and the World Cup in 2010, it seems luck has not been so benign on Spain after all. The defending champions slumped to a 2-0 defeat to Chile and in turn made an exit route from the FIFA World Cup in Brazil on Wednesday after their second defeat in five days.

It was always going to be a rough ride for the Spaniards as the Chileans ran victorious from goals scored by Eduardo Vargas and Charles Arranguiz. The result thus allowed the South Americans and the Netherlands, the first teams to go through to the second round in tournament. And for Spain, they raked up another record by equalling Italy’s unwanted record in 1950 of being booted out of the World Cup after just two games.

It was Chile’s first win over the Spain in 11 meetings. It seemed Vincent del Bosque’s men had lack of confidence and it was evident from their 5-1 thrashing to the Netherlands in their first Group B game.
Spanish Coach Vicente del Bosque dropped established stars Gerard Pique and Xavi Hernandez but had little effect on the La Roja who were playing in front of Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium.

The likes of Diego Costa, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Andres Iniesta and Xavi looked hapless and out of sorts. While the historic Maracana stadium erupted into a riot of red and blue as Chilean supporters started noisy celebrations. This could well and truly be the ‘end of era’ for the Spanish stalwarts as the world awaits a ‘new champion’ within three weeks time.

Chile plays Netherlands to decide top place in Group B on June 23. Spain plays their final game against Australia on the same day.

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After being routed in their opening match against the Dutch, Reigning champions Spain are aiming to avoid a hat-trick of defeats against Chile on Wednesday.

Another loss after their 5-1 thrashing would almost certainly end Spain’s title defense. What’s more, an early exit from the group-stages would make Spain the third straight European winner of the World Cup to flop in the group stage as defending champion.

With Chile as opponents, Spanish coach Vincent del Bosque can make a host of changes to his side that lost to Netherlands.

Spain:
Strengths – If Del Bosque brings in new faces for the clash against Chile, we might get to see a fresh and vibrant Spain. Santi Cazorla, Juan Mata, Cesc Fabregas and David Villa might start the match and would give an impetus to this fluctuating ‘Spanish Armada’.

Weakness – Defence needs to buck as soon as possible. With Chile as opponents, the South American side could leave the full-backs exposed and also threaten them on the set pieces.

Chile:
Strengths – Their win over the Aussies means Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli could start with the same side. This side is known for its blistering pace and quality and could utilise the direct running of forwards Alexis Sanchez and Eduardo Vargas to its fullest.

Weakness – Their star midfielder, Arturo Vidal is still not 100 pc match fit. Six weeks after a knee operation, the Juventus midfielder lacked cohesion and drive that made him the one of the most combative midfielders in the modern game.

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