10 players set to miss Arsenal vs PSG as Champions League clash loses biggest stars 

10 players set to miss Arsenal vs PSG as Champions League clash loses biggest stars

Arsenal and PSG set to be without a significant number of players for their UEFA Champions League match

Arsenal’s Italian defender #33 Riccardo Calafiori, Arsenal’s Japanese defender #18 Takehiro Tomiyasu (3L) and Arsenal’s English midfielder #63 Ethan Nwaneri (C) take part in a training session at the Arsenal Training centre in Shenley in Hertfordshire on September 30, 2024 on the eve of their UEFA Champions League 1st round day 2 football match against Paris Saint-Germain.

Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain are sides with plenty of similarities. The duo are two of the Champions League’s biggest competitors, and have some of Europe’s best young talent; both have Spanish head-coaches and sadly are both experiencing some major injury issues. The clash between the pair at the Emirates Tuesday evening will not feature several of the most well-known players in the squads.

Interestingly, PSG head coach Luis Enrique has a self-imposed limitation on his squad by not bringing Ousmane Dembele with the group to north London. A reported disagreement between the pair following the win over Stade Rennais this weekend led to the decision being made by the former Barcelona coach.

Dembele has been one of PSG’s best players this season and helped to fill the void left by Kylian Mbappe’s absence following his free transfer to Real Madrid in the summer. Enrique is already without a number of attacking players such as Goncalo Ramos, who is out with a long-term issue.

Marco Asensio has been utilised in the forward line but he missed the game with Rennes too and could yet miss the clash tonight although has been included in the squad list, alongside Desire Doue. Other confirmed long-term absentees include Lucas Hernandez and Presnel Kimpembe, with Gianluigi Donnarumma also having missed the last few games – although he and Nuno Mendes have been included in the squad for the trip to London

Vitinha though should make it back to join a talented midfield of Fabian Ruiz and Joao Neves. PSG, even with their issues, have plenty of talent to call upon and cause the Gunners many issues on the night.

Arsenal will be without Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu, who are all out with longer-term problems though some may push to return after the next international break. There have been question marks over both Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori, who Mikel Arteta described as being in contention for the game.