The atmosphere at the Emirates are expected to be electric as Arsenal and Atletico Madrid go head to head for the UEFA Europa League Semi Final first leg.
Both teams have taken different paths to get here – Atletico by getting knocked out of the Champions League group stages and Arsenal by placing 6th in the Premier League last campaign. Nevertheless, both are equally hungry for the final trophy and toppling the other is the only way to do that.
Arsenal are coming off a lucrative 4-1 win against West Ham United in the league fixture. The Hammers could not challenge a fully charged Gunners squad at their own ground.
And the home turf advantage will play a hand in this fixture. While Arsenal have looked less than impressive away from home, the Emirates has managed to deliver most of their points and have kept them in the win column.
Atletico put 2 past Sporting Lisbon in the previous round of the competition and won the tie 2-1 on aggregate. They are second in the La Liga table but are nowhere close to a title challenge with Barcelona still up by 11 points.
Their best hopes of registering a trophy are through the Europa and the weekend 0-0 draw to Real Betis is evident of where their priorities lie. Diego Simeone will be looking to make a statement to the Arsenal ownership by fielding his best side tonight.
Here is how Wenger might look to counter the Argentine with his team selection.
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Defence
Petr Cech will have to take charge of the goalkeeping position with David Ospina still recovering from an injury.
Hector Bellerin might feature on the right while Naco Monreal takes the pitch from the left. The Spaniards will be looking to kill all transfer speculations by putting in a commanding display.
His recent form should be enough to keep him out of the Arsenal squad for good but Wenger still prefers seniority over raw talent. Shkodran Mustafi is the predicted starter alongside Laurent Koscielny in the centre-back roles, ahead of Calum Chambers and Rob Holding.
Midfield
Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka might get the nod for the holding midfield roles. The former obviously will be more involved in the offence.
Jack Wilshere to appear in front of the duo with Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan out wide.
Attack
Alexandre Lacazette have finally hit a bit of scoring form with Arsenal. He will look to improve upon his tally.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is cup-tied so Danny Welbeck might come off the bench should the occasion arise.
