Champions League 
/ Lee Dixon / 05 March 2012 / Leave a Comment 
Main men. Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie train ahead of the Milan game but will Arsene Wenger risk them both?
"The dilemma Wenger has is whether to play his best team in this game. If he does and they somehow go through he’ll be hailed a genius."
Arsenal's team selection will be the main talking point ahead of this match because only the most optimistic of all Arsenal fans will believe progressing is actually possible. If it's a good XI, at least the Gunners have a really good chance of winning the match.
In between the devil and the deep blue sea. In between a rock and a hard place. That's the situation in which Arsene Wenger finds himself going into the second leg of this Champions League knock-out match. Arsenal were destroyed 4-0 in the first leg in Milan and, if they were to find a way of progressing, I suspect they might consider re-naming the Emirates Stadium the Arsene Wenger Stadium because it would go down as one of the biggest turnarounds in European football history. But before we get too ahead of ourselves, let's remember the Betfair market makes the Gunners [34.0] to progress and that price is actually considerably shorter than what it was; they were matched at [50.0] to go through in the aftermath of the first leg and have been shortened on the back of those two fine domestic wins against Spurs and Liverpool .
The dilemma Wenger has is whether to play his best team in this game. If he does and they somehow go through he'll be hailed a genius. If he does and they win but still don't go through he'll be praised for keeping the team's winning streak going, which is a good thing in terms of morale and motivation with plenty still to play for in the Premier League. On the other hand, if he does and they lose at home or worse still, a couple of key players get injured, he'd be slated for it. Imagine if Robin van Persie was one of them. What about if he plays a weakened team? He'll get criticised for not giving it a go having come this far and accused of a lack of ambition. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes over the next 24 hours.
But reading between the lines in terms of what he's said since the Liverpool win I suspect he'll play pretty much his best team, with the exception of any players who are carrying a knock. As Arsene said himself, when asked about starting van Persie: "I would not be very credible to tell you that we want to score five goals and that I will leave Robin van Persie out."
And if he does go for it by picking his strongest side, there's no reason why they can't win the game, if not the tie. Especially considering the names who have been ruled out for AC Milan: Kevin-Prince Boateng, Clarence Seedorf, Pato, Maxi Lopez (all injured) and Massimo Ambrosini (suspended).
As the away team in a game like this, your first priority is to keep things tight and to go into the break without conceding. But Milan will have an eye on an away goal, which really would kill the tie for once and for all. And I think they'll get it. Arsenal aren't the greatest at defending at the best of times and they'll be even more exposed than usual with the pressing need for goals themselves. Given that and the fact Milan put a 'mere' four past them at home, backing both teams to score is the even better bet than the Arsenal win.
3 pts Back both teams to score @ [1.7]
2 pts Back Arsenal to win @ [2.16]
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