Besiktas vs Arsenal Match Preview

Besiktas vs Arsenal – Champions League (Away) Playing in Turkey is never easy for any team! The hostile environment created by extremely passionate fans have made this away leg very difficult for an Arsenal team that is still not at full strength. Needless to say, this match is extremely important and this Arsenal team will have to play it’s best to qualify for the group stages. Here is a preview of what to expect from the first leg of this series between Besiktas and Arsenal.

Jul 26, 2014; Harrison, NJ, USA; New York Red Bulls forward Thierry Henry (14) and Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta (8) are escorted onto the field by young fans before the first half of a game at Red Bull Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

1) No poor passes by Arsenal: For all that watched Arsenal’s opening game against a defensive minded Crystal Palace, the most shocking thing was how poorly Arsenal passed the ball. Errors while the team is attacking often lead to opponents counter-attacking against a retreating Arsenal defense. On Saturday Crystal Palace was able to take the lead through a corner they won while attacking Arsenal on counter-attacking off a poor passes in the middle of the pitch. Arsene Wenger knows that silly mistakes will lead to a poor result, so look for the team to bounce back and take care of the ball much better than they did last game.

2) Better link up play between Sanchez and the striker: It was clear that Alexis Sanchez was not on the same page as the other players when Arsenal attacked. His crosses were always either too long or too short! Sanchez has shown all of us that he can provide that spark, that sudden moment of greatness, but we need to see more consistency and more importantly we need to see him create better chances when crossing the ball into the box. As everyday passes, and the team gets more training sessions together, we will see Alexis Sanchez improve game by game. Hopefully we see him create much more chance this game, Arsenal will need that from him in order to advance.

3) More organized defense: Arsenal’s zonal marking system is very effective when it is set up correctly. But it was clear that there are still a lot of kinks to work out. On the last play of the Crystal Palace game, it was evident that Wojciech Szczesny took a lot of time yelling at defenders to stand in the correct spot! Look for Steve Bould to try and improve the teams defense of set pieces and hopefully there will not be another lapse in concentration like there was on Saturday!

Prediction This is going to be a hard game for Arsenal, but unless the team makes silly mistakes and is not focused on the task at hand I don’t see them losing this one (even if it is away, in Turkey). However I do see Besiktas scoring at least one goal at home. Besiktas 1 – 3 Arsenal