Leandro Trossard can get Arsenal’s Champions League campaign off to a flying start (Picture: Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
Metro. co.uk’s jounalist looks at the chances of Arsenal defence holding out a threat from Atlanta’s all out attack.
Dig out a Spanish dictionary and you will surely discover that Mikel Arteta translates into English as George Graham.
It must be the case the way his injury-hit Arsenal side snuffed out Tottenham’s threat in Sunday’s North London derby before returning to N17 with all three points from a 1-0 victory.
Spurs had more shots, more corners and greater possession but the longer the match progressed the less they looked like scoring as the outstanding Gunners defence battened down the hatches.
It was classic Arsenal, reminiscent of years gone by, and the result was never in doubt once Gabriel headed home in the 64th minute.
The big question now is whether they can transform that disciplined defensive performance into Champions League success at Atalanta and the resounding answer is yes. Well, probably.
They have won three of their first four Premier League matches and have only conceded a solitary goal but with Sunday’s huge showdown with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium lurking in the shadows it may pay to be cautious and wait to see if Arteta makes many changes to his starting line-up.
Bukayo Saka left the match against Tottenham with an injury but Declan Rice is likely to return after serving a one-match ban and there may only be minor other alterations as Arsenal seek to pull off a slick Italian job in Bergamo.
It won’t be easy because the unfashionable Serie A side are a more than competent outfit which caused a massive upset when they halted the Bayer Leverkusen express in Europa League final in May, inflicting the only defeat in the Bundesliga champions’ campaign with a resounding 3-0 victory.
Declan Rice will be welcomed back into the Arsenal ranks (Picture: Visionhaus via Getty Images)
Atalanta buck the stereotype about Italian clubs being defensively minded as they are one of the most flamboyant sides in the Champions League, but they lost three of four matches to start the season before twice fighting back to defeat Fiorentina on Sunday and it seems new recruits are taking time to bed into the system
