Arsenal welcome French champions Montpellier to the Emirates on the back of a morale-boosting 5-2 win over rivals Tottenham in the north London derby. The Gunners may have benefitted from the early sending off of ex-Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor but Arsene Wenger will definitely have been pleased with the form key players displayed before this crunch game. The Premier League side are second in Group B, with seven points from four games so far and can all but seal qualification to the next round with a win over Montpellier.

Arsenal
Reuters

Arsenal beat Montpellier 2-1 in the reverse fixture, with goals from summer signing Lukas Podolski and Ivorian Gervinho. The match will also see ex-Montpellier forward Olivier Giroud line up against his former club for the second time this season.

Where to Watch Live

Kick-off is set for 7.45 pm GMT and live coverage is on Sky Sports 4.

Overview

Arsene Wenger will hope the weekend's win over Spurs will provide motivation for his players to resurrect an already flagging season. The win against Andre Villas-Boas' men was the first, in all competitions, since the freakish 7-5 win over Reading in the Capital One Cup. The last league win was the match before that - a 1-0 win over QPR in October. The Gunners have lost to rivals Manchester United and thrown away winning positions in games against Schalke and Fulham since then.

The Gunners drew their last Champions League encounter - 2-2 away at German side Schalke 04 - after going into an early two-goal lead and Wenger will be wary of a repeat on home ground. Montpellier may be bottom of the group and the French champions are struggling badly in Ligue 1 but they are capable of upsetting the Emirates club's season.

Olivier Giroud
Reuters

Meanwhile, the French club are in an equally poor run of results, not having won a game since the 3 November win over Bordeaux. Since then, Rene Girard's men have drawn three of four games and lost the other. The weekend result was a 1-1 away draw against Valenciennes and the last Champions League result a 3-1 defeat at Greek club Olympiakos.

Motivation may be a factor for Montpellier. The French have been eliminated from the Champions League and, barring a completely unexpected set of results from the final matchdays, will also lose out on the Europa League spot.

Team Form

Arsenal

  • Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): W D D L W
  • Last Match: Arsenal 5 - 2 Tottenham Hotspur

Montpellier

  • Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): D D L D W
  • Last Match: Valenciennes FC 1 - 1 Montpellier
Montpellier Herault SC
Reuters

Team News

Arsenal will be without Theo Walcott for this match, after the England international was injured in a challenge by Spurs' Michael Dawson. Wenger confirmed to the club's Web site the former Southampton youngster injured his shoulder. The manager also said Brazilian left back Andre Santos would be unavailable. The good news, though, is the side will welcome Kieran Gibbs and Gervinho back to the first team. Long-term injuries include Abou Diaby, Tomas Rosicky and Lukasz Fabianski.

Probable Line-Up: Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen; Artetz, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshire; Giroud, Podolski, Cazorla

Montpellier will welcome the return of Younis Belhanda into the squad, who missed the weekend match with a suspension. Girard will be pleased to have a full-strength squad for this match and is likely to field a similar side that started against Valenciennes.

Probable Line-Up: Jourden; Congre, Yanga-Mbiwa, El Kaoutari, Bedimo; Cabella, Estrada, Belhanda, Saihi; Charbonnier, Camara

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