Arsenal must unlock Ben White and warn Bukayo Saka to beat PSG - opinion

Arsenal face their biggest match of the season against Paris Saint-Germain at the Emirates Stadium as the Champions League semi-final first leg comes to north London.

Having fallen well away from the Premier League title race and seen Liverpool lift the trophy over the weekend, the Gunners’ desire to get their hands on a historic Champions League title will be more intense than ever. Mikel Arteta’s side are just two fixtures away from the final, where either Inter Milan or Barcelona would wait.

Arteta produced a tactical masterclass to blow away Real Madrid in the quarter finals, Arsenal thriving as underdogs. PSG, who have already won Ligue 1 this season, present a different challenge.

PSG arrive at Arsenal with ‘mental weakness’

LondonWorld has talked to French football specialist and Weekend Sports co-founder Sébastian Vidal to find out how Arsenal can best exploit PSG weaknesses. The French giants were beaten 3-1 by Nice on Friday and only managed a point against Nantes prior to that.

Vidal said: “Firstly, you have to talk about injuries. Arsenal have several injuries without necessarily back-up options while Paris Saint-Germain have a full squad without any major injuries. That’s important, in a Champions League semi-final you need all your assets. PSG arrive already with an advantage and you have to consider that the second leg is at the Parc des Princes too, that’s also a boost for PSG.

“For the weakness of PSG, we’ve seen that a little bit in Ligue 1 recently, a mental weakness. That’s perhaps normal with PSG already winning the league, the players have taken their foot off the gas a little and needed to decompress - I don’t doubt at all that for the semi-final they will find their intensity again. Nonetheless, mentally there has been a step back but Arsenal won’t have had that because they only have the Champions League to win this season. Arsenal will perhaps go into the game a bit more up for it.”

For Vidal, it’s clear that £100 million Arsenal man Declan Rice will be key. The England international was a star man in the quarter-final, bagging a brace of stunning free kicks in the first leg against Real Madrid.

Declan Rice and Ben White key for the Gunners

The journalist explained: “There will be key men for Arsenal. Declan Rice is so in form and will have a huge role to play without Thomas Partey and should be the gamechanger for the Gunners. The PSG midfielders, with Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz and Joao Neves is very attractive but if Declan Rice is at the same level that he has been recently, he can cause PSG huge problems. The PSG midfield love having the ball but don’t like being hounded and in physical duals. That’s where Arsenal should push.

“We’ve got the return of Ben White. I don’t know what role he’ll play but he could play, like he has done before, in midfield. That partnership with Rice could be good in the physical battles that PSG hate.”

Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli must pick their battles against PSG

Going forwards, the Gunners will turn to the creativity of starboy Bukayo Saka. The winger has been in fine form since returning from the hamstring injury picked up against Crystal Palace in December, but Vidal believes he must play to his strengths.

Vidal said: “The PSG attack of Bradley Barcola, Désiré Doué and Ousmane Dembélé, they are very quick but can create an unbalance. When PSG lose the ball those players can be quickly out of balance on the counter attack. Arsenal players like Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli could benefit from that. Arsenal should let PSG have the ball and make the most of counter attacks to use pace and benefit from that unbalance of PSG.

“We know that the PSG centre-backs, Marquinhos and Pacho, are very athletic and Arsenal will lack the physicality up front to challenge them. Mikel Merino doesn’t have that and neither do necessarily Saka or Martinelli. Arsenal shouldn’t look to win the game in that type of battle but, with lively play on the wings, that’s how Arsenal can hit PSG.”

In other news, Arsenal fans will love UEFA's officials announcement for PSG Champions League clash.