Monaco vs. Arsenal: Predicted Line-Ups, Live Stream & TV Info

By Andrew Gibney

After Monaco stunned Europe with a unexpected 3-1 victory at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal have the odds stacked against them on Tuesday night as they try to do the almost impossible and qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

In all competitions, Monaco has only conceded five goals in their last 15 games. Two of those goals came against Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de France, when they had no centre-backs on the pitch. In this season’s Champions League, they have only conceded twice in seven games.

Arsenal will have to more than double that tally to leave the Cote d’Azur as a club in the last eight of the Champions League.

Date: Tuesday, March 17

Time: 7:45 p.m. GMT (8:45 p.m. CET)/3:45 p.m. ET

Venue: Stade Louis II, Monaco

TV Info: Fox Soccer (U.S.), ITV HD (U.K.)

Live Stream: ITV Football Online

Arsenal are in relatively good form of late, with four wins in a row, including the 2-1 victory over Manchester United in the FA Cup at the former fortress Old Trafford. However, if Arsenal wants to advance in the Champions League, they will have to put in their best performance of the season.

Conceding three away goals means that Arsenal need to at least equal that feat at the Stade Louis II. Monaco’s defence has been phenomenal this season and is the reason they are now challenging for the Champions League places in Ligue 1.

Even before Leandro Jardim got his team well organised, Monaco’s record at home has been impressive. The last time they conceded three goals at home was back in 2011 when Angers put three past Les Monegasques back in Ligue 2.

After missing the win over Bastia, Monaco were boosted by the fact that Yannick Ferreira Carrasco and Geoffrey Kondogbia returned to training on Monday, and Layvin Kurzawa—who missed the first leg—should play from the start.

AS Monaco: 4-2-3-1: Danijel Subasic; Almamy Toure, Ricardo Carvalho, Aymen Abdennour, Layvin Kurzawa; Jeremy Toulalan, Geoffrey Kondogbia; Bernardo Silva, Joao Moutinho, Yannick Ferreira Carrasco; Dimitar Berbatov

Arsenal: 4-3-3: David Ospina; Nacho Monreal, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Hector Bellerin; Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey; Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud

After coming off the bench in the first leg, Kurzawa is set to start on Tuesday and will be key to Monaco’s chances of keeping Arsenal at bay. The left-back will be crucial in keeping Arsenal pinned back by timing his runs from deep and forcing the wingers to defend, and giving Monaco pace on the break.

No matter how well the rest of the Arsenal team plays, it won’t matter if they don’t put the ball in the back of the net. Giroud has scored three goals in the last four games; with the French striker in good form he will be the biggest threat to Monaco’s chances.

Whoever wins the midfield battle on Tuesday night will have a superb chance of reaching the quarter-finals. Kondogbia missed Monaco’s 3-0 win over Bastia on Friday, but he trained on Monday and will need to be on top of his game to stop Arsenal’s Ramsey.

Ramsey missed the first leg in London but has impressed in Arsenal’s three wins in March; he scored in the 3-0 win over West Ham on Saturday. Arsene Wenger will need the Welsh midfielder to be at his best to get in behind the Monaco defence and provide more threat from deep, something Arsenal didn’t do very well at the Emirates.

Kondogbia was immense in the first leg and will need to be at that level to help Monaco win the crucial midfield battle. Arsenal could win supremacy in the middle of the park, win the game but still lose the tie.

Having to score three unanswered goals is no easy task, but pushing Monaco back from midfield and putting pressure on the defence will give them hope to progress.

Article Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2399045-monaco-vs-arsenal-team-news-predicted-line-ups-live-stream-tv-info