A look at Arsenal’s best and worst group stage options ahead of Thursday’s Champions League draw.
Is this the year Arsenal finally win the trophy which has evaded manager Arsene Wenger?
The Champions League qualifying phases are complete, and UEFA have confirmed the seedings for Thursday’s draw, which takes place at 5.45pm.
As stated via UEFA’s official website, Arsenal are in the second group of seeds.
With that in mind we have taken a look at the best and worst case scenario for the Gunners…
Best possible draw
PSV, Arsenal, Galatasaray, Gent
The presence of Dutch side PSV in the top group of seedings is a little bemusing, and without their two best players from last season, Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum, they are the best possible top seed Arsenal could draw, followed by Benfica.
Arsenal won easily over Galatasaray last season and the Turks would hold no fear, as would a trip to Belgian side Gent.
Worst possible draw
Barcelona, Arsenal, Roma, Wolfsburg
Arsenal could find themselves drawn against giants from Germany, Spain and Italy.
The thought of facing Lionel Messi again will fill Arsene Wenger with dread, and Luis Suarez would be no more welcome at The Emirates either.
There are several teams to avoid in pot three but Roma could be one of the most tricky, and big spending German side Wolfsburg will also put up a tough battle especially at home.
Here are the full seedings
Pot 1: Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern München, Juventus, Benfica, Paris, Zenit, PSV Eindhoven
Pot 2: Real Madrid, Atlético, Porto, Arsenal, Man. United, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, Man. City
Pot 3: Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla, Lyon, Dynamo Kyiv, Olympiacos, CSKA Moscow, Galatasaray, Roma
Pot 4: BATE Borisov, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Wolfsburg, Dinamo Zagreb, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Gent, Malmö, Astana.
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