Former Arsenal forward and Scotland international Charlie Nicholas has predicted (SkySports) that the Gunners will defeat Bayern Munich.
The north London based club host the Bundesliga champions at the Emirates Stadium tonight in the UEFA Champions League.
The Gunners are facing the prospect of exiting the competition at the round of 16 for a seventh successive season. Arsene Wenger’s side need to score at least four goals if they are to stand a chance of qualifying to the quarter finals.
While Charlie Nicholas has predicted an Arsenal win, the SkySports pundit went onto say that he still expects Arsenal to ‘crash out’ of the Champions League.
Nicholas also stated that he expects Chile international Alexis Sanchez to start despite being dropped from the starting lineup against Liverpool over the weekend.
“I expect Arsenal will win and I have a feeling Arsene Wenger will start with Alexis Sanchez in his line-up despite all that has gone on,” Nicholas told SkySports.
“However, I don’t think he has a future at the club and it’s all because they didn’t sort his contract out.
“They let talks drag on for too long and we need a resolution as the club is at breaking point with what is happening with Wenger as well.
“Arsenal will do what they do, they’ll win the game but they’ll come nowhere close to qualifying because they can’t defend. Please stop telling me Laurent Koscielny is a world-class defender.
“I expect Arsenal’s attack to get them one or two ahead with Sanchez fired up, people will start to believe is it possible and I’ll be in the Soccer Special studio saying, ‘No chance’.
“Arsenal tend to do well when they’re not expected to win and will hopefully produce a good performance for the fans at the very least.”
Mesut Ozil has been ruled out of tonight’s encounter due to an illness. The 28-year-old also missed Arsenal’s clash with Liverpool.
