Gunners Should Sacrifice Champions League For Ramsey's Fitness

Match Preview: Arsenal vs. Dinamo Zagreb – Champions League 24.11.2015

The worst has happened. We all knew it was going to happen and we only have ourselves to blame for naively hoping we would be wrong. Now we have to suffer the consequences. Yes, Piers Morgan has moved back to the UK and is working on British TV again. At least when he was in America is was easy for non-USA Gooners to ignore his blatherings on Twitter because of the time difference. Now he's going to be tweeting when we're awake. First world problems.

The NHS is suffering enough without the doctors and nurses workload being swelled by people suffering from unstoppable projectile vomiting after accidentally catching Piers' grotesquely smug face gurning out of their TV at them over breakfast. And to make matters worse we've lost another key player.

The injury to Francis Coquelin is an awful yet entirely predicatable predicament and Arsenal may pay dearly over the next few months but then again they might not. Football is a strange and wonderful game with more twists and turns than there are in a tangled mess of Christmas lights. Who would have predicted Leicester would be top, Chelsea would be 15th (haha), City would only be ahead of us on goal difference having spent £153m on talented players for almost every position or some Arsenal fans would be complaining we didn't sign Vardy in the summer? Almost everything in football is temporary or cyclical. Leicester won't be top in 10 games, Chelsea might be in the top half, City could be 5 points behind or 5 ahead and Arsenal could have completely capitulated or shocked everyone with their tenacity and depth to weather the injury storm. We just don't know.

Coquelin's injury, according to Wenger, is an opportunity for other players to prove their worth. It's more an opportunity to mock Wenger for saying something so obviously logical and who knows, maybe we will be surprised. Wenger is right, it is an opportunity. I didn't hear him say someone would definitely fill the void, just that it's a chance to do so. Hopefully we have another Bellerin situation.

Whomever comes into the side needs to bring a sense of optimism because the players looked flat against West Brom. Arsenal welcome Dinamo Zagreb tonight and there are rumours that Ramsey could start having trained yesterday. Giving him some game time isn't a terrible idea if we plan to start him at the weekend but it could be a disastrously costly mistake to start him tonight chasing qualification in a tournament we're unlikely to win.

The Champions League is a fine competition and we should try to stay in it as long as possible and that means playing your best team but best is a subjective and fluid term. Best would normally mean Ramsey but if you look at it from a different angle and consider he might pull up injured after 20 minutes then it's best for the team to start with someone else so as not to disrupt their rhythm. Sometimes your best team is your fittest team and that could mean dropping 5 starters. It might look like you're playing a weak team but really you're playing the team you feel is most able to give it their best. Would you start Campbell over Alexis given the option? Of course not. However, if Alexis has played without rest for months and is operating at 70% then you pick Joel at 100% in a match that closely resembles dead rubber.

Zagreb are a much stronger team than their Champions League history suggests and they are capable of upsetting us again. Arsenal need to approach this match with freedom from expectation and some equanimity. Going out of the Champions League isn't the worst thing in the world and the more they worry about it the likelier it is that it'll happen. If they find a balance between being relaxed about the outcome and not being cocky then they should win this one comfortably.

As much as we can be our own worst enemy we also get a rough ride from referees and the match official in Croatia was on a huge power trip and determined to call Arsenal up on everything so hopefully we get a better one tonight.

LAST 3 Meetings

• Dinamo Zagreb 0-3 Arsenal (08.08.2006)
• Arsenal 2-1 Dinamo Zagreb (23.08.2006)
• Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 Arsenal (16.09.2015)

FACTFILE

• This is the fourth meeting between these clubs with the score currently 2-1 in wins to Arsenal.
• Dinamo Zagreb have not won any of their last 11 away games in the Champions League (D2, L9).
• Arsenal were victorious in their last home game in the competition (2-0 v Bayern Munich).
• The Gunners have not won consecutive Champions League games at the Emirates since 2012.
• Alexis Sanchez has been directly involved in four of Arsenal's six Champions League goals this term.

INJURIES

Wilshere, Rosický, Welbeck, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ospina, Arteta and Coquelin have all been ruled out. Ramsey faces a late fitness test.

POSSIBLE STARTING XI

Čech; Bellerin, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Monreal; Flamini, Cazorla; Gibbs, Özil, Campbell; Giroud

GOONERSPHERE'S PREDICTION

Arsenal 3-1 Zagreb

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