Arsenal can book their place in the last 16 of the Champions League a game later than expected when they welcome Borussia Dortmund to the Emirates on Wednesday evening.
The Gunners looked to be on course to qualify from Group D three weeks ago when they led Anderlecht 3-0, only to collapse spectacularly in the final 30 minutes and draw 3-3.
Since then Arsenal have lost at Swansea in the Premier League and been beaten at home by Manchester United, leading to criticism of manager Arsene Wenger by the club’s majority shareholder Alisher Usmanov.
There have also been calls from fans for Wenger to resign, with Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp tipped as possible replacement. However, while Dortmund are one of only three sides with a perfect record in this season’s Champions League, their form on the domestic front has been even alarming than Arsenal's.
They have won only three of 12 matches, losing seven, and after blowing a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with newly-promoted Paderborn at the weekend are third from bottom in the Bundesliga.
Arsene Wenger has responded to comments by Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov by saying that criticism should be done face to face.
Few would have seen that coming after Dortmund outclassed Arsenal at the Westfalenstadion in the reverse fixture in September to win 2-0.
Team news
Arsenal will be without Jack Wilshere (ankle) and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (hip) after both players picked up injuries during the defeat to Manchester United.
Watch all the goals from Borussia Dortmund’s trips to the capital to face Arsenal in the Champions League
Wenger expects Wilshere to be out “for a while” and added: “I cannot give you any time schedule. We don't know at the moment. He has a big ankle sprain and I don't want to talk about it because I am not a specialist medically.
"The first news is they have told us that he will be out for the next few games. To find out for how long, we will need to see a specialist."
Defender Laurent Koscielny is back in the squad after recovering from an achilles problem and Emiliano Martinez will deputise in goal in Szczesny’s absence.
Theo Walcott misses out with a groin injury while Olivier Ground, who made a scoring return as a substitute against United, is ineligible after been left out of the Champions League squad.
Group leaders Dortmund will be without the influential Marco Reus after he sustained ankle ligament damage during the draw with Paderborn.
The Germany international is likely to be out until at least the start of the new year and there are also injury concerns over Sven Bender, Mats Hummels, Oliver Kirch, Nuri Sahin, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Jakub Błaszczykowski.
Opta stats
Alexis Sanchez has scored nine goals in his last nine outings for club and country, including the opener in Chile's 5-0 defeat of Venezuela on 14 November and their subsequent 2-1 loss to Uruguay.
The November 2011 win over Dortmund was Arsenal's sixth in succession against German visitors; since then they have lost four in a row at home, most recently the 2-0 reverse against FC Bayern Munich in last season's round of 16 first leg which led to a 3-1 aggregate loss. It was the second successive year Bayern had eliminated them at that stage.
Dortmund have started a UEFA Champions League campaign with four wins for the first time. The last time they opened a group stage with three victories, in 1996/97, they went on to lift the trophy.
Betting
Our partners at SkyBet make Arsenal narrow favourites at 7/5 ahead of Dortmund at 9/5, with the draw 5/2. Alexis Sanchez to score and Arsenal to win has been price boosted to 100/30 while Dortmund to win 1-0 is 12/1. Visit www.skybet.com for all the latest deals and offers on the game.
Watch Arsenal v Borussia Dortmund live on Sky Sports 1 from 7.30pm on Wednesday.
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