Arsenal vs Lille Preview

Arsenal welcome Lille to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night with a perfect Champions League record to protect, while the French side arrive still chasing their first point of the league phase. The Gunners opened their campaign with a 1-0 win away at Napoli. Les Dogues were beaten 3-2 at home by Real Betis on the same matchday, so three points and seven places already separate the clubs going into round two. Both come in off the back of domestic wins on Saturday: Arsenal beat Leeds 2-1 in the Premier League, and Lille edged Le Havre 1-0 in Ligue 1. A win for Arsenal would make it two from two in Europe. For Lille, a second defeat would leave them with ground to make up in a 36-team table. Kick-off in north London is at 8pm UK time.

Arsenal have won four of their last five matches, scoring nine goals and conceding six. The latest of those wins came on Saturday, when Leeds were beaten 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium. That was their first game back from the one defeat in this run, a 3-0 loss away at Brighton in the Premier League and the only match in the sample in which they failed to score. Three straight away wins sit behind it. Ipswich were beaten 4-2 in the EFL Cup on 15 September, a result that sent Arsenal through to the next round, and three days earlier Sunderland were seen off 2-0 in the league. The oldest result is the one with most bearing on this week: a 1-0 win at Napoli on the opening night of the league phase, which has the Gunners on three points heading into Tuesday.

Lille’s last five read W3 L2, and the most recent is a 1-0 home win over Le Havre in Ligue 1 on Saturday. That made it two wins in a row for Les Dogues, the other being a 2-1 friendly victory over Waregem on 2 October. Before the friendly, they lost 2-1 away at Nice in the league on 20 September, their only away game in this sample. Further back, Troyes were beaten 2-0 at home in Ligue 1. The earliest result is the 3-2 home defeat to Real Betis on matchday one, the game that leaves Lille without a point in the Champions League standings. Margins have been tight throughout: four of the five games were decided by a single goal. Across their three league outings in this run, they scored four and conceded two.

Head-to-head history offers nothing to work from. No previous meetings between these two clubs appear in the record, so Arsenal have zero wins, Lille zero and there have been no draws going into Tuesday. With no past results to lean on, the home/away split in each side’s recent form is the most useful guide. Arsenal’s only home game in their last five was Saturday’s 2-1 win over Leeds at the Emirates Stadium, and three of their four away trips ended in victory. Lille have the opposite picture: three wins from four home matches, but their lone away game in the sample was the 2-1 defeat at Nice. That is the record they bring to north London.

Arsenal sit 15th in the league phase standings on three points, with Lille 22nd and still on zero after one game. A win would take Arsenal to six points, with their exact position depending on results elsewhere on matchday two.

In the UK, the game is live on TNT Sports 1, with streaming via HBO Max. Viewers in the USA can watch on Paramount+ and ViX. In France it’s on Canal+ Foot and Canal+ Live 1, with myCANAL streaming, and in Ireland TNT Sports 1 and Virgin Media Two carry it, with HBO Max also streaming.

Possible Lineups

Arsenal — Form

Lille — Form

Head to Head

Where to Watch

Table

Champions League Standings