Arsenal and AS Monaco share more than just club colours. They also share the unfortunate fate of being nearly men in their domestic leagues.
In the Premier League, Arsenal are closer to the UEFA Europa League spots than they are to the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League ones. Monaco, meanwhile, only has Paris Saint-Germain ahead of them in the French Ligue 1. Both clubs are still very much in contention for their domestic titles and their fans are already preparing for disappointment at the end of the season—essentially hoping for the best but expecting the worst. This has been their story for most of the last decade (2014 to 2024).
This shared “trauma” should unite their fans when they meet up in London for their matchday 6 fixture in the Champions League but when the whistle goes off, everybody will face their teams and their chants because a place in the knockout rounds of the 2024/25 Champions League is at stake.
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Both teams are currently on different paths in the Champions League. Monaco is almost guaranteed a place in the knockouts (a win or a draw against Arsenal is all they need to qualify with two games to spare) while Arsenal needs to win up to matchday 8 to ensure that they finish in the top eight or in a safe position to participate in the playoffs.
This is an indictment on how Mikel Arteta has managed this team in the 2024/25 season because the Gunners have more quality than the Principality club on paper. Monaco beat Barcelona—their toughest opponent in the competition to date—while Arsenal could not make it past Inter Milan and Atalanta, their own toughest opponents to date.
Arsenal has also lost a game while Monaco has not. In essence, Monaco being above Arsenal is not an outcome that many expected going into their clash on matchday 6.
Both clubs have only faced off once (over two legs) and that was back in the round of 16 of the 2014/15 season’s edition of the competition. They each have one win against each other: Monaco winning away at Arsenal and Arsenal winning away at Monaco. They also have one win each in their last two meetings during preseason—the last meeting was in August 2023—which suggests that both clubs are very evenly matched.
A lot of changes have happened at both clubs in that time, though. The changes at Arsenal are the most drastic, in fact. The Gunners’ recruitment has seen themprioritise physically imposing players with good technique over purely technical players, which is a direction that many people did not see them going.
The format of the competition has changed as well.
All things considered, this match looks like an open match regardless of the form of both teams in the competition.
While Adi Hütter and Arteta cook up their game-day tactics, here is information on matchday tickets, as well as team news and our predictions on the starting XIs of both teams and the eventual scoreline.
Match tickets
Arsenal are the home team for this fixture, which means the Emirates Stadium in Holloway, London, England, will host this game.
Arsenal tickets have sold out every time this season. This infers that fans who want Arsenal vs AS Monaco tickets will have to make their bookings as early as possible so that they do not miss out on this epic fixture.
Arsenal’s website, official channels and partner platforms will carryArsenal tickets for the game. In the same vein, AS Monaco’s website, official channels and partner platforms will carry AS Monaco tickets for the game. Also, UEFA’s website has a ticket portal for fans to purchase matchday tickets from.
It is important to note that purchasing tickets from the official channels means that fans are entering into a balloting system. This is how matchday tickets are sold to fans of European football and how it will be for a long time.
Ticket resale platforms will also carry the tickets for the game. This means non-local fans can also purchase their tickets for the game without the bottlenecks that come with being unregistered. Still, early indication is key thanks to the fact that the tickets are expected to be sold out long before matchday.
This Champions League matchday 6 fixture will take place on 11 December 2024 at 9 PM UK time.
Team news
Folarin Balogun will not be able to face his old team thanks to an injury to his collarbone. He will not be healed up on time for the game, but Hütter can count on Breel Embolo and George Ilenikhena as options for the centre forward role. A big miss is Denis Zakaria, whose adductor injury will also take a while to heal.
Arsenal, meanwhile, is without Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee injury), Riccardo Calafiori (knee injury) ,and Kieran Tierney (hamstring injury). Arteta has a solid enough squad to tackle Monaco, however.
Line-ups
History suggests that both teams share a lot more than club colours and one of those things is a head-to-head record. Two wins each (one each in official games) is their current record, which means they will neither be eyeing a tie-breaker or a draw at the worst.
This is why we expect the best lineups from both managers, and why we have predicted that both their teams will be lined up in the way that has been described above.
Arsenal : Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Rice, Merino; Martinelli, Ødegaard, Saka; Jesus.
AS Monaco : Majecki; Mawissa, Kehrer, Singo, Vanderson; Magassa, Camara; Golovin, Ben Seghir, Akliouche; Embolo.
Prediction
Both teams have great attacking talent and potential, which both sets of fans will enjoy watching on that day. There will be many one-on-one battles on the wings and in the midfield, with Saka and Akliouche being the two players that fans will be excited to see. Majecki and Raya will both be busy; Majecki especially, thanks to Arsenal’s set-piece prowess. AS Monaco have a weapon that Arsenal do not have and that is players who can shoot. We expect the Principality club to have more shots at goal for this reason, which will make the game a fun one.
Arsenal 3 – 1 AS Monaco