PSV (a)

After a weekend off, it is return to action on Tuesday - live on Amazon Prime - in the Champions League last 16. PSV are our opponents, a team we have faced a lot in the last couple of years.

How they got here
The league phase didn't start well for PSV, defeat to Juventus was followed by draws to Sporting and PSG. 4 wins out of the remaining 5 games was enough to elevate them to 14th and a seeded position in the knockout round. They ended the league phase with a 3-2 win over Liverpool meaning 28 goals were scored in their 8 games (16 for, 12 against).
They drew Juventus out of the hat, and despite an Ivan Perisic equaliser, they took a 2-1 deficit back to the Philips Stadion. Once again Perisic netted, but the tie was only level for 10 minutes before Weah gave Juventus the advantage. Ismael Saibari scored to take it to extra time, where Ryan Flamingo netted to win it for Eindhoven.

Domestic Form
After leading the Eredivisie for 21 weeks, PSV have hit a very difficult period with perhaps the CL overshadowing domestic football. They have 1 win in 7 in the league, losing 3-2 to Go Ahead Eagles yesterday. The same side also knocked them out of the KNVB Cup on Wednesday. Score draws have been the issue in the Eredivisie - 4 out of their last 7 games have ended this way. They have scored 16 in those 7 games, but also conceded 16 highlighting a big problem in defence.

Goal Threat
Top scorer Ricardo Pepi is injured, so 34 year old Luuk de Jong is the highest scorer available with 15. Guus Til has 11 from midfield, while Johan Bakayoko and Ismael Saibari both have 10.
Perhaps the form man is Noa Lang. Highly rated as a teen, and linked to Arsenal, off the field issues often overshadowed his career and he has never really reached the heights expected. However, 6 goals and 7 assists in 13 league games highlights an improvement on previous seasons.

The suspect defence
As highlighted, keeping the ball out of the net has become an increasing issue for PSV. Very experienced 'keeper Walter Benitez is the regular starter, with the Argentinian starting 34 of their 39 games this season.
Injury has robbed them of right back Jordan Teze, so Richard Ledezma has been starting. Tyrell Malacia has come in at left back from Man Utd, replacing Brazilian Mauro Junior. At CB has been Ryan Flamingo, the hero of the last round, and Frenchman Olivier Boscagli.

Midfield
The holding man is Jerdy Schouten, who allows the more attacking Guus Til and Ismael Saibari freedom to join the attack. Joey Veerman is an alternative to Til with PSV expected to be a bit less open.

Widemen
As said, Noa Lang is a dangerman from the left. On the other side Johan Bakayoko has found his starting place under threat from the very experienced Ivan Perisic. Bakayoko found himself out of the starting XI for both legs against Juventus, with his Croatian team mate scoring in both legs. As such, we may have to expect Bakayoko to be a threat off the bench.

Previous Meetings
There have been 10 competitive matches between the two clubs, and we are PSV's most faced English opposition. We have 4 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses.
We met in the group stages of the CL last season, with the opening fixture a 4-0 win at home. Saka, Trossard, Jesus and Odegaard netted to get our campaign off to a great start. The return fixture was a dead rubber, with a much changed Arsenal XI getting a 1-1 draw with goals from Nketiah and Vertessen.
It was the Europa League in 22/23, and Granit Xhaka gave us a 1-0 win at the Emirates. Again, it was a shadow squad that went to Eindhoven in the reverse fixture, where Veerman and de Jong gave PSV a 2-0 win.

Back in the 06/07 season we met at the last 16 stage. Edison Mendez scored the only goal in the Netherlands, before Alex netted at both ends in a 1-1 draw at the Emirates to see PSV progress. This was the only previous meeting in the knockout stages between the 2 clubs.

Group stage meeting in 02/03 (a 4-0 away win for Arsenal and a 0-0 draw at the Emirates) and 04/05 (1-0 win at home, 1-1 draw away).


Our team news
Not a lot to report at this stage. Ben White has been back for a couple of games now, while Myles Lewis Skelly is free from his one match ban. With a weeks preparation hopefully we come into the game with a bit of freshness - although we often lose players to injury during this down periods!
It will be interesting to see if Arteta persists with Merino up front, something that has not worked in the last 2 games and should only really be used as a late sub. Can Arteta find an alternative solution?