Arsenal – Atletico Madrid

The hosts of the field will confidently prove their advantage to the opponents.

One of the central matches of the third day of the Champions League group stage will take place in London. Arsenal has strengthened its position as both the leader of the Premier League and the favourite of the division in recent weeks. This is due to the Gunners' confident performances and Liverpool's slip-ups, as they experience their first form crisis in two seasons. Interestingly, the London club has consistently been picking up points in the Premier League and the Champions League without scoring more than two goals per match for over a month. Mikel Arteta's pragmatic and effective style of play has been developed over the years and now resembles a ready recipe for success in winning titles. Atletico Madrid has struggled to start the season. The first three official matches of La Liga yielded only two points for the Madrid club, despite facing Espanyol, Elche, and Alaves. Their fans were thrilled at the end of September when the team managed to defeat Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt, scoring five goals against each opponent in just four days. In recent weeks, Simeone's team has appeared more modest. Importantly, ahead of their trip to England, Atletico has not won a single away match in two months of the football season. Bookmakers have made the home team the favourites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 1.60 on their victory. In the spring of 2018, Atletico and Arsenal met in the semi-finals of the Europa League. This duel was the only intersection of the clubs in European competitions. Those matches were among the last when Arsenal was managed by Arsène Wenger, while Diego Simeone was already in charge of the Madrid team. Atletico secured their place in the final with a victory at home, where they defeated Marseille. Ahead of the upcoming match, Arsenal has gathered a series of five victories in official matches, which took place in three different tournaments, including one against Newcastle. The Gunners will take the field without Gabriel Jesus, Havertz, Madueke, and Odegaard, but nearly all the mentioned players have been out for a while, and Arteta has replacements available. Atletico managed to win against Osasuna (1:0) over the weekend, but it will be tough for them in London. They will likely struggle to retain possession, and without the ball, Simeone won't be able to implement his winning strategy.