At a Glance:
Arsenal play Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final on Saturday night.
The Gunners are looking for their first ever triumph in this competition.
Here’s how Mikel Arteta might set his team up.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have the opportunity to become the most storied team in the North London club’s 140-year history when they play Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final on Saturday.
The Gunners were crowned Premier League champions last week, ending their 22-year wait for a top-flight title. Arteta’s men have already achieved legendary status by becoming the team that put a stop to this league drought, but they can now go a step further and cement themselves in the pantheon of Arsenal greats.
No Gunners side has ever won the Champions League (or European Cup). This feat on its own would be sufficient for the players to be remembered extremely fondly, but winning it alongside the league would make them the single most successful team in the history of Arsenal football club.
If this isn’t enough incentive for Arteta’s players, then nothing can fire them up. They’ll be riding high from their glorious celebrations over the last week or so, and this confidence should help them significantly in Budapest.
After getting over the line in one competition, the pressure is off, particularly given that PSG come into the game as favourites. There is a reason for this.
Luis Enrique’s team boast a blistering attack filled with quality players, and they are, after all, the reigning European champions. Arsenal will need to be at their resilient best to negate the free-flowing French side, while they’ll need to muster up enough in attack to have a chance.
It’s set to be a box office final, and it could turn out to be the greatest night in Arsenal’s long and prestigious history.
Date Result Competition
07/05/2025 PSG 2-1 Arsenal Champions League
29/04/2025 Arsenal 0-1 PSG Champions League
01/10/2024 Arsenal 2-0 PSG Champions League
23/11/2016 Arsenal 2-2 PSG Champions League
13/09/2016 PSG 1-1 Arsenal Champions League
Arsenal team news vs PSG, Jurrien Timber injury update
After a long season plagued by persistent injury issues in almost every position, Arsenal come into their most important match of the campaign almost entirely healthy. That is, of course, apart from the right-hand side of their defence.
Ben White will be out for a few months after sustaining an MCL injury away at West Ham United earlier this month. The England international will miss the World Cup, and may not even be back in time for pre-season.
Jurrien Timber is still fighting to play some role in this showpiece event, although every day that passes without him featuring prominently in Arsenal training, the odds get more stacked against him. Even if the Dutchman is passed fit, throwing him back into a game of this magnitude, having not played for two months, would be a reckless decision from Arteta.
Noni Madueke was taken off early at Selhurst Park at the weekend, although initial fears that he’d sustained a hamstring injury have been dismissed, and he’s understood to be available to take part in Hungary.
Mikel Merino made his return against Crystal Palace after spending four months on the sidelines, and will be in contention to feature at the Puskas Arena.
Predicted Arsenal line-up vs PSG
Arteta has a number of key team selection decisions to make. Certain players are guaranteed to start, although there are at least six positions that are being hotly debated amongst Gunners supporters.
David Raya, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are nailed-on to feature in Arteta’s eleven. After that, there are question marks.
At right-back, the Spaniard will likely opt for the natural choice in Cristhian Mosquera. The youngster is third up in the pecking order in this position, although his inexperience and the quality of PSG’s left-winger, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, make this a daunting prospect for the Gunners.
It’s possible Arteta goes rogue and deploys a left-back or a central midfielder in this role, although if he’s learnt anything from his mentor Pep Guardiola over the years, it’s to not ‘galaxy brain’ in big moments. This is all assuming Timber cannot play, or at least start, of course.
At left-back, Riccardo Calafiori is likely to pip Piero Hincapie, although the pragmatism in Arteta could see him opt for the former. Either way, the two players will probably share the minutes.
In midfield, there are several different configurations Arteta could deploy. Rice will be at the heart of all of them, and then it’s just a case of what the tactician wants next to his main man.
Martin Odegaard is the captain and didn’t play a minute against Palace, which suggests he’s likely to start. The third midfielder will be one of Myles Lewis-Skelly or Martin Zubimendi, and Arteta should opt for the former, due to his form and freshness.
Up front, there is a difficult decision to be made between Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz. The German likely suits the game better given PSG’s capacity to defend well in big spaces. Gyokeres’ relentless running in behind isn’t likely to trouble the Parisians, but Havertz’s ability to roam into different areas could.
Off the left, Leandro Trossard and Eberechi Eze will be battling it out for a starting berth. It could go either way, but Eze’s X-Factor should just about see him win the role.
Predicted Arsenal line-up vs PSG: Raya; Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Rice, Lewis-Skelly, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Eze.
Arsenal vs PSG Prediction
It seems as though there is an arrogance and complacency around PSG’s camp heading into this encounter. Enrique’s team have earned the right to feel this way, given they won the competition last year and comfortably beat an excellent Bayern Munich side in the semi-finals, but they may be surprised by Arsenal’s sturdiness.
The Gunners have conceded just three open-play goals in their 14 Champions League matches leading up to this final. All three of these goals came when Saliba and Gabriel weren’t starting together.
Granted, aside from Bayern, they haven’t come up against an attack that comes close to PSG’s level of potency. However, they are the best defensive team in the world, and they have the ability to frustrate the Ligue 1 giants.
The question is, can Arteta’s team create enough in attack to win the game? With Odegaard, Saka, Havertz and Eze in tandem, they should be able to.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 PSG