Following the convincing victory over Bournemouth last weekend, Mikel Arteta and his team in good form flew to France for a Champions League encounter against RC Lens tonight. Arsenal gained a stronghold of Group B after smashing four goals past PSV Eindhoven while RC Lens shared the spoils with Sevilla.

It has been a fairytale for RC Lens so far over the last three years, rising from the trenches of French Ligue 2 football to locking horns with Europe’s elite in the Premier competition of the continent.

RC Lens has struggled badly in the French Ligue Un, losing four and drawing one of their first five games of the French League, that saw them languish in the relegation zone. However, their 1-1 draw with Sevilla spurred them on as RC Lens has gone on to win their last two league games against Toulouse and Strasbourg, propelling them to 15th place, which is just above relegation waters. The fans and players alike had a hunch that they would struggle following the high-profile sales of Lois Openda and Seko Fofana, but the replacements haven’t come through as expected.

Mikel Arteta comes into the game with favorable updates regarding player fitness, as Thomas Partey was seen in training ahead of the match against RC Lens. Leandro Trossard has recovered fully while Bukayo Saka has shoved off the knock he had over the weekend, which puts him in contention for a start tonight but with a clash against Manchester City this weekend, Arteta will have half an eye on the game.

RC Lens on the other hand still have some struggles with injuries, with Massaidio Haidara (thigh), David Costa (shoulder), Jimmy Cabot (ACL) and Wuiker Farinez (ACL) are still recuperating from their long term layoffs.

In regard to head-to-head, RC Lens are unbeaten in their two Champions League meetings with Arsenal, winning one and drawing one against the Gunners in the 1998/99 season. Their second encounter in Europe was the 1999/00 UEFA Cup, that saw Arsenal win RC Lens in the semis before suffering heartache in the finals against Galatasaray.

RC Lens predicted lineup: Samba; Gradit, Danso, Medina; Frankowski, Samed, Mendy, Machado; Fulgini, Sotoca, Wahi

Arsenal predicted lineup: Ramsdale; Tomiyasu, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Rice, Odegaard, Havertz; Trossard, G. Jesus, Saka

Looking forward to seeing the lads don the dark green jersey, which was apparently made for Europe. The reveal was quite amazing.

Sayonara

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