The Madrid side reclaimed third place in La Liga last season, but now seem to be losing it again under pressure from Villarreal. This is partly because they shifted their focus to the domestic cup—only to lose in the final on penalties to Real Sociedad. In London, after finishing as Premier League runners-up three years in a row, Arsenal had been confidently leading for a long time, but now, after losing to Manchester City, they have allowed City to catch up. They also lost to City in the League Cup final. And after the club season resumed following the international break, they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Southampton.
In the Champions League, the Spanish club won four times in the main round, collecting fourteen points. As a result, they entered the knockout stages in February. Nevertheless, they got past Brugge and, in March, Tottenham. Against Barcelona, they repeated their Copa del Rey feat: a confident 2-0 home win, followed by a 1-2 defeat in the return leg.
The English side set a new record in the main round, winning all eight matches. The knockout stages proved far more challenging. In Leverkusen, they almost lost, salvaging a draw late in the game. After beating Bayer at home, they managed just one goal across two matches against Sporting.
Previous Meetings: Atletico vs Arsenal
In 2018, the Spanish team eliminated their opponent in the Europa League playoffs—1-1 and 1-0. But in October of this tournament, they were thrashed 4-0.
The visitors are now considered slight favorites, but it’s clear this will be a tightly contested game. We predict “under 2.5 total goals” (odds – 1.62).
Atletico vs Arsenal: Key Stats and Trends
Atletico have won three of their last five Champions League matches
The club scores an average of 2.43 goals and concedes 1.86 per game
Arsenal have won two of their last four matches here
The team averages 2.25 goals scored and 0.42 conceded per match
Atletico vs Arsenal: Possible Starting Lineups
Atletico are expected to play in a 1-4-4-2 formation (possible lineup): Musso – Ruggeri, Lenglet, Le Normand, Molina – Vargas, Koke, Llorente, Simeone – Alvarez, Griezmann. Gimenez, Gantzko, and Lookman are unavailable.
Arsenal are expected to play in a 1-4-2-3-1 formation (possible lineup): Raya – Hincapié, Gabriel Magalhães, Saliba, Mosquera – Rice, Zubimendi – Gabriel Martinelli, Eze, Madueke – Gyökeres. Merino and Timber remain sidelined.
