All eyes will be on the Emirates come Wednesday night as Arsenal prepare to clash with mighty Barcelona. The Gunners created a good introduction for the game as they beat Wolves at home, while Barca have just ended their 16-match winning run in La Liga, although the Catalans remain the favourites to win this one.

Samir Nasri is back

A couple of unexpected slip-ups in the Champions League group stages proved very costly for Arsenal as they finished the group in second place, and were later pitted against mighty Barcelona. As much as the Gunners are relishing the chance to test their skills against one of the best sides in the history of football, I’m sure they would rather be playing anyone but Barca as this clash is likely to be end of the road for them in Europe this season. The Gunners are playing pretty well at the moment and they managed to recover from the 4:4 draw at Newcastle, having beaten Wolves 2:0, with Robin van Persie proving how much he means to this team by scoring his 10th and 11th goal in last 10 games. The Gunners thus continued the impressive scoring run that saw them bag at least two goals in every one of their last 8 games, so we have reason to believe they can score at least once against Barca.

Samir Nasri will be included to the squad after recovering from a hamstring injury, but he will have to for a place on the bench. Emmanuel Eboue should come in for the suspended Bacary Sagna, while Abou Diaby, Denilson, Thomas Vermaelen and Lukasz Fabianski are all likely to miss out.

Barca stopped by Sporting Gijon

Following their impressive showings over the last few years, Barcelona enter every game as favourites and this time it’s no different. The Catalans could be in for another very successful season as they have virtually ensured La Liga title after recording 16 straight victories in the competition, while they are going strong in other competitions as well. Pep Guardiola’s side ended the five-match winning run as they failed to beat Sporting Gijon last weekend but the slip-up was only a result of the fact everyone at the club were already thinking about the Arsenal game, as witnessed by Guardiola’s decision to rest Busquets, Pedro and Abidal. The match against Sporting Gijon was the first after eight games in which Barca failed to score at least three goals, that is if we disregard the Copa del Rey second leg defeat to Betis, so Arsenal defence are going to have their work cut out for them with Messi, Villa and Pedro set to start up front.

Carles Puyol is out with a knee injury, while Jeffren Suarez misses out through a muscle strain.

Verdict

Everything suggests we will see a very entertaining game at the Emirates, especially as both sides are scoring goals for fun at the moment. I still believe Barcelona will win the game but both teams to score looks like a safer bet.

Our prediction: Both teams to score

Odds: 1.67 (2/3)

Bookmaker: 888Sport