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Preview: Arsenal v Dortmund

Arsène Wenger has asked Arsenal FC "to show solidarity in a difficult patch", with Jürgen Klopp treating the game as a "holiday" from Borussia Dortmund's Bundesliga troubles.

Laurent Koscielny (right) is available again for Arsenal
Laurent Koscielny (right) is available again for Arsenal ©Getty Images

Arsène Wenger asks Arsenal to "respond to people who question our quality"
Gunners need a point to reach the next phase for the 15th season in a row
Dortmund beat Arsenal 2-0 on matchday one and have a perfect record so far
Arsenal have made worst ever Premier League start, with 17 points from 12 games
Jürgen Klopp: "Arsenal have problems but we have more"

Permutations: Arsenal (7pts) v Dortmund (12)
Arsenal will be through with a draw, or if the other match is drawn.
Dortmund are through and will clinch the group with a point.

Possible lineups
Arsenal: Martínez, Chambers, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gibbs; Arteta, Ramsey; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alexis Sánchez, Santi Cazorla; Welbeck.
Out: Özil (knee), Debuchy (ankle), Ospina (thigh), Szczęsny (hip), Walcott (groin) Wilshere (ankle), Diaby (calf)
Doubtful: Welbeck (hamstring)

Dortmund: Weidenfeller; Piszczek, Ginter, Subotić, Durm; Kehl, Gündoğan; Grosskreutz, Kagawa, Mkhitaryan; Aubameyang.
Out: Papastathopoulos (calf), S Bender (hip), Reus (ankle), Hummels (ankle), Kirch (thigh), Nuri Şahin (knee)
Doubtful: Błaszczykowski (knee)

Arsène Wenger, Arsenal manager
First of all, the 18 years I have been here I have shown I can take criticism. Everybody has the right to have an opinion. Having said that, we have values at this club. The first one is when we go through a difficult patch, we show solidarity. That is a very important one. The second one is that, when you have something to say to each other, we say it face to face. We don't need to go to the newspapers.

What is important is how close we are together inside the club and how much we can respond to people who question our quality. I personally feel there's a very strong bond inside the team and the club, and that this team will have a very strong season. I am ready to bet with you on that.

[Dortmund] are a quality team with quality players. They are very quick in transition, very quick going forward and defending together. Individually, many of their players are international players for Germany, especially, and some for Poland. They are a very strong side. I think they had many injuries at the start of the season.

Because they are a big club, the questions come very quickly – 'why do you lose?' – and then the confidence drops a little bit. I don't worry too much for [Dortmund] in the championship. They have a rival like Bayern, who once you are too many points behind, is difficult to reach again. I don't think they will stay where they are at the moment.

Jürgen Klopp, Dortmund coach
We are trying to play football the way we can, even if we're not in the best form. Everybody has had some problems – Shinji [Kagawa] can play better, but that's the case for everybody. He has had some good games and also some not so good games, but that is the same for everybody.

I don't know so much about the situation of Arsenal and English football. I don't know what people think here, I don't know what they want to be. Everybody thinks this is the perfect moment to go through. Arsenal have some injuries but we have many more injuries and problems. It's not interesting to compare.

We have pressure too. Not maybe in this competition, but we have a big target. We want to go through in first position. But in Germany we have big pressure. In the last six games we played four very good halves and two very bad halves. Those two bad halves were enough to lose us those games. Tonight I cannot change the Bundesliga problem. Tonight is like a holiday for me. It is 'only' the Champions League. I have pressure though, of course I do. Everybody has pressure.

It's not my plan to relax. We will see what we will do here. We need each game to get more stability. We have to use this game for the Bundesliga. We need stability and that is our problem up to now. If we play well then it will help us in the Bundesliga.

Weekend results
Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United FC (Giroud 90+5; Gibbs og 56, Rooney 85)
SC Paderborn 2-2 Dortmund (Rupp 60, Sağlık 81; Aubameyang 12, Reus 45+1)

Form guide (all competitions)
Arsenal: LLDWWW
Dortmund: DWWLWL

Match facts
• Who were 2-1 winners when the teams met in north London in the 2011/12 and 2013/14 group stages? Find out in our match background.

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