Update: Lineups have been announced.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Arsenal lineups: Projected starters and possible formation changes
Top of the group, perhaps permanently, is at stake on Tuesday when Borussia Dortmund take on Arsenal in UEFA Champions League.
Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund play the marquee match of Tuesday's UEFA Champions League slate (2:45 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1), and they're the clear favorites to top their group. Galatasaray and Anderlecht aren't expected to pose much of a threat, so their European opener will be huge, with both teams wanting to avoid drawing one of the tournament favorites in the Round of 16.
Injuries are making life a bit hard on both teams. Dortmund are without Mats Hummels, Nuri Sahin, Ilkay Gündogan and Marco Reus, while Arsenal are having to make do without Nacho Monreal, Mathieu Debuchy, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud. Calum Chambers is also ill, so don't be too surprised if Hector Bellerin makes a rare appearance for the Gunners.
Arsene Wenger has used a 4-2-3-1 for the most part over the last few years, but he's switched it up a bit early in the season. In order to get Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey in the same team without completely sacrificing a defensive midfielder, he's been trying out a 4-1-4-1 formation. It's not a great fit for Mesut Özil, and Wenger would be better served playing him in his real position, starting an actual winger and sacrificing one of his midfielders ... or dropping Özil himself.
At the moment, Jürgen Klopp appears to prefer Adrian Ramos to Ciro Immobile and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang up top. He'll be thrilled to have such a formidable rotation, but expect Ramos to get the start. Shinji Kagawa looks to have picked up right where he left off in the hole, but his acquisition creates a bit of an issue. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Milos Jojic are both better centrally than out wide, so one of them has to play out of position to accommodate Kagawa. Could Klopp pull out a formation change as well?
Projected Borussia Dortmund XI (4-2-3-1): Roman Weidenfeller; Erik Durm, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Neven Subotic, Lukasz Piszczek; Sven Bender, Milos Jojic; Kevin Großkreutz, Shinji Kagawa, Henrikh Mkhitaryan; Adrian Ramos
Projected Arsenal XI (4-2-3-1): Wojciech Szczesny; Kieran Gibbs, Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Calum Chambers; Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey; Santi Cazorla, Mesut Özil, Alexis Sanchez; Danny Welbeck
UPDATE: Confirmed lineups are here.
See More:
