Tonight sees Arsenal kick off their Champions League campaign for the 2016/17 season, starting with a difficult trip to Parc de Princes.
Indeed, although PSG lost the potency of Zlatan Ibrahimovic over the summer, they’re still one of the most formidable and expensively-assembled sides involved in Europe’s top competition.
But there are obvious benefits to getting such a tough away fixture out of the way and following a few years of relative mediocrity on the continental stage, this could be the season in which Arsenal’s obvious talent finally transforms into progression to the Champions League’s latter-most rounds.
With that in mind, we’ve taken a look at three players who will be crucial to the Gunners’ CL bid and your European sections on FanDuel – who will match your first deposit all the way up to £400.
Alexis Sanchez
It may seem obvious but the Chilean assassin reached two semi-finals during his three years at Barcelona and boasts a strong scoring record for Arsenal in Europe, namely seven goals in 16 Champions League outings over the last two seasons. He remains a focal point of the Gunners’ attack and recorded the most assists of any player in the CL last season – an impressive five in seven games.
Granit Xhaka
The summer signing probably hasn’t featured as regularly as many expected in the Premier League but it could well be Europe where his talents better serve the Gunners.
Indeed, Xhaka excelled in the Champions League for Borussia Monchengladbach last season – averaging one chance, 1.6 successful dribbles, 2.2 shots, 2.8 tackles and two interceptions per match – and offers added protection in front of Arsenal’s back four.
If there’s one concern, however, it’s the Switzerland international’s poor disciplinary record. Red cards are -5 points on FanDuel.
Olivier Giroud
It seems any genuine Champions League title bid from Arsenal will require a string of phenomenal performances from their first-choice striker, Olivier Giroud. The Frenchman divides opinion and sparks debates of what qualifies as world-class, but his scoring record in Europe is nothing to be sniffed at; eleven goals in 27 outings for the Gunners, including a career-best five-in-eight last season. If Giroud can improve on that – his overall return has steadily increased practically every year at Arsenal – he’ll pick up plenty of FanDuel points.
