Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich 2017: Prediction, Injury News, Preview For Champions League Last 16 Leg 1

Arsenal fans are already growing increasingly weary of seeing their team’s season play out in an all-too-familiar manner in the Premier League. Therefore, as he prepares to take his team to the Allianz Arena to face Bayern Munich Wednesday, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will be under considerable pressure to ensure that the same pattern does not happen in Europe.

Under Wenger, Arsenal has displayed admirable consistency to qualify for the Champions League for 18 consecutive seasons. But restlessness is increasing around the Emirates Stadium at what looks set to be a 13th season without landing the title. It has been a similar story once in the Champions League. Arsenal has made it into the last 16 of Europe’s premier competition for 16 seasons on the bounce. But not only has it never won the competition, reaching just one final and one other semifinal, it has lost in the first knockout round in each of the last six seasons.

Consistency without glory for so long has bred an increasing number of Arsenal fans to call for a change at the top.

It will do Wenger’s hopes of calming the unrest no favors if not only were Arsenal to lose in the Champions League’s last 16 for a seventh successive season but it were also to do so to Bayern Munich for the third time in five campaigns.

Arsenal finally topped its Champions League group this time around, but its scant reward was a less than unenviable matchup with its old rival and a Bayern team that has reached at least the semifinals for the last five seasons.

The one difference this time around is that the first leg will be in Munich rather than at the Emirates, where Arsenal lost by two goals in both of the previous recent first legs against the German visitors. However, Arsenal’s last visit to Munich ended in a humbling 5-1 defeat in the group stage 15 months ago.

While there has been no change at Arsenal, there will be a new man overseeing operations from the sideline at Bayern in Wednesday’s first leg.

Carlo Ancelotti has found the task of stepping into Pep Guardiola’s footsteps in Bavaria no simple endeavor. But the team is starting to find its feet and has now won 10 and drawn one of its last 11 matches in all competitions, helping to open up a seven-point lead atop the Bundesliga over surprise package RB Leipzig.

Bayern continued its good form with a 2-0 win at Ingolstadt on Saturday, although Ancelotti is set to remain without injured duo Jerome Boateng and Franck Ribery.

Arsenal, meanwhile, which scored a 2-0 win over Hull City on the same day, will continue to be short-handed in midfield due to the absence of Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey.

Prediction: Bayern is perhaps not quite yet the same force it was under Guardiola. However, if Ancelotti has shown one thing in his coaching career, it is that he is capable of getting his team to peak in the Champions League knockout stages. There has been little to suggest from Arsenal this season that it has the mental and physical qualities required to knock out a team of Bayern’s caliber over two legs. After the first leg in Munich, Arsenal may just be hanging on to hope for leg two.

Predicted Score: Bayern Munich 3-1 Arsenal

Kickoff Time: 2:45 p.m. EST

TV Channel: Fox Sports 1

Live Stream: Fox Sports Go, Fox Soccer 2Go