Clive Rose
Schalke 04 came away from the Emirates Stadium with a 2-0 victory in October to open up a two-point gap at the summit of Group B. If they can repeat that achievement on Tuesday, they'll have the top spot essentially sewn up.
Arsenal are slumping hard, and Schalke's victory at the Emirates Stadium two weeks ago has given them the opportunity to run away with Group B at the Veltins-Arena on Tuesday. Goals from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Ibrahim Affelay downed the Gunners in October, and if Schalke can get another victory over Arsene Wenger's crew, they'll suddenly find themselves five points clear at the top of the group with two games to play.
Nothing about the performance Arsenal put in in London will give the visitors any sort of confidence that they can get a win, and their recent set of results makes things look even worse. In their past eight matches, they've lost four times -- Chelsea, Norwich, Manchester United and Schalke all dispatching them relatively painlessly. Meanwhile, the hosts have just seen their run of five straight victories snapped by a surprise loss at Hoffenheim, although it's unlikely that that reverse will put a dent in their buoyant mood.
Schalke injuries and suspensions
Out: Christoph Metzelder (adductor), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (head). In doubt: N/A.
Arsenal injuries and suspensions
Out: Wojciech Szczęsny (ankle), Łukasz Fabiański (back), Kieran Gibbs (thigh), Abou Diaby (thigh), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hip), Tomáš Rosický (tendon), Aaron Ramsey (groin). In Doubt: Theo Walcott (stomach).
I think everyone's bored of Arsenal's long injury list by now. It remains ridiculous.
Match Date/Time: Tuesday, Nov. 6th. 8:45 p.m. local, 2:45 p.m. ET
Venue: Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
TV: MSG Plus (U.S.), Sky Sports 2 (U.K.), Sportsnet One (Canada)
Online: FOX Soccer 2 Go (U.S.)
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