Three Cup-Winners Cup Finals and two UEFA finals already, can a sixth and biggest be added tomorrow?
Villarreal have won only three of their 11 Champions League matches this season, but they have kept 14 clean sheets in their 18 European matches on their home ground, and have lost only once, 1-2 to AZ Alkmaar in last season’s UEFA Cup quarter-finals. And they have only scored two or more goals three times at home in the league this season.
Arsenal, are unbeaten in the last 12 Champions League games, letting in two goals. If they keep a clean sheet tomorrow they will break Ajax‘s European record, currently shared with Arsenal, of nine clean sheets in 1987 – but that was in the European Cup Winners Cup.
Wenger, reported on various wire services, prefers to concentrate on attack:”We are a team who can always score goals. It is most important to go there and just form a good defensive base every time we go forward and try to win the game.”
“The best way to deal with that [Villarreal’s attacks] is to score. We will try to play at a high pace and I think they will try to up the pace as well so you should see a much more exciting game in the second leg.”
On the inclusion of Campbell, Wenger said: “It is a little gamble because Sol has not had the number of games you would wish him to have, but physically he looks all right. It is a good opportunity for him, the timing is right and and I feel he has worked hard in what has been a season troubled by injuries. But what you want when you are a big player is to play in big games. Sol’s a big player and tomorrow’s a big game. (Mentally) he is absolutely ready but we are a team and the most important thing is that we play like a team and not focus on individuals because they are all good players.”
Wenger added: “We are team that is always trying to go forward and when we have the ball we will not hide. I feel the way to approach the game is to try to score a goal.”
On Jose Antonio Reyes, Wenger said he could be a useful outlet: “He can be an important player for us going forward, particularly because he is our only naturally left-sided player.”
French left back Gael Clichy returns to the squad, having been sidelined since last November.
Guardian stats prove Henry is priceless
Arsenal have won 52% of games that Thierry Henry has started in this season, as opposed to 25% where he’s been missing or on as a substitute.
The points per game ratio is 1.72 to 1.13, which translates to 23 points over the course of this season.
Arsenal let in more goals when he’s a sub or not playing – 1.0 to 0.79 on average. And they score nearly twice as many when he starts 1.79 to 0.88.