Arsenal has put together a nice run of sorts which for us included an ugly 2-1 win away to Crystal Palace at the weekend and while the Gunners had to defend against the long-ball, they will not face that tonight against a Monaco side that likes to keep the ball on the ground, a factor which should play into the Gunners hands.
During Group stage play Monaco only conceded a single goal relying on a gritty defence and the ability to score a crucial goal, just as they did in the final minutes of play last week beating Nice 0-1 away.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will have studied the French side’s tactics and come up with a plan to beat them, knowing that a two-goal cushion would be a nice thing to take with him to the Stade Louis II when the two clubs meet for the second-leg on Tuesday the 17th of March.
Missing for tonight’s match will be Jack Wilshere who despite playing against Palace at the Weekend will be rested ahead of the match against Everton.
The Arsenal boss has two major decisions to make, and they are whether to leave David Ospina in goal over Wojciech Szczesny despite his use of the Pole in the FA Cup, and whether to let Walcott start in place of Danny Welbeck.
Predicted Line-Up
Goalkeeper
We will stick with Ospina rather than bring back Szczesny as the Colombian did well last weekend dealing with a very physical Crystal Palace.
Defence
A simple selection for Wenger here, with Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny in their usual places at the back with Héctor Bellerín replacing Calum Chambers, and Kieran Gibbs in for Nacho Monreal, who had a terrible time trying to defend against Wilfried Zaha at the weekend.
Midfield
Danny Welbeck appears to be Wenger’s choice over Walcott at the moment, so we expect to see him out on the right while Alexis Sanchez is given the job on the left flank.
In the centre of the park will be Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil, who we predict to be man-of-the-match with Monaco’s style of play more used to what he played against in La Liga while at Real Madrid. Francis Coquelin will be behind the attacking pair playing as a defensive midfielder, a role he is starting to make his own at the Emirates.
Attack
Once more Wenger will be looking to Olivier Giroud to score goals with the inform striker now having netted the ball eight times in his last ten games, and while Monaco will be tough to break down after having only conceded one goal during the Group stage of the competition we expect the Frenchman to prove too much for Monaco’s defence and at least score one goal for the Gunners.
