Arsenal vs. Basel: TV Channel USA, Prediction, Team News For Champions League Final Group Match

With Arsenal needing to beat Basel on Tuesday and hope that Ludogorets can conjure up a major favor against Paris Saint-Germain, Arsene Wenger has played down the importance of finishing top of its Champions League group.

A 2-2 draw against PSG in London two weeks ago means the French champions go into the final round of group fixtures with the head-to-head advantage. A victory for PSG at home to Bulgarian champion Ludogorets and Arsenal’s result will be immaterial.

It would leave Arsenal to go into the last 16 of the competition as runner-up and take on a group winner for the fifth successive season. The Premier League side has bowed out in the first knockout round in each of the four previous seasons.

The notion that going through as the group winner means a more straightforward task in the next round is not as straightforward this season, however. Bayern Munich, which knocked out Arsenal in two of the last four seasons, is already guaranteed to finish second in its group, while Real Madrid goes into the final round of fixtures in the same position.

And, while insisting that Arsenal will be going all out for the win in Basel on Tuesday, Wenger has no fears over finishing second.

“We want to win the game, do our job, win the games we play, and you never know what happens in Paris,” he said at his pre-match press conference in Switzerland on Monday. “But we're unbeaten up to now, and we just want to win the next game."

"It's not really a problem when you look at the teams. We'll see what happens with the final results. It looks quite even, but the advantage of finishing first is that you play the second game at home. If there is extra time, you play 30 minutes more at home. But PSG is favorite to beat Ludogorets. We'll see what is happening there at half-time."

Asked about whether he will make changes to his team and rest some key players, Wenger hinted that he will look to maintain a consistent lineup. That could mean that Alexis Sanchez, who scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 win at West Ham on Saturday to take his tally to five goals in two games, again spearheads the Arsenal attack.

With Francis Coquelin suspended after picking up his third yellow card of the competition against PSG and Santi Cazorla ruled out for three months through injury, Arsenal’s central midfield looks set to be a partnership of two former Basel players. Granit Xhaka came through the youth ranks at Basel before moving on to Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2012 and then to Arsenal this summer. Mohamed Elneny, meanwhile, spent three seasons at the Swiss club before catching the eye of Arsenal and moving to the Emirates in January.

Basel enjoyed European success when each of those two were in its ranks, but have already been ruled out of contention for a place in the last 16 after taking just two points from its first five matches.

Still, that does not mean its final game is meaningless. Basel needs to better Ludogoret’s result in Paris in order to claim third position and a place in the Europa League knockout round.

Basel will be without Slovenian forward Andraž Šporar as it goes in search of its first win in this season’s Champions League. Arsenal, meanwhile, should have Olivier Giroud back available after Monday saw his return to training. Héctor Bellerín and Per Mertesacker were back in light training but Tuesday’s fixture will come too soon for both.

Prediction: Arsenal brushed Basel aside 2-0 when the two sides met in London in September. And it should be another win for the Gunners on Tuesday. While Arsenal is coming off an emphatic win over the weekend, Basel lost 3-1 at Young Boys.

Predicted Score: Basel 1-2 Arsenal

Probable Lineups

Basel

Arsenal

Kickoff Time: 2:45 p.m. EST
TV Channel: Fox Sports Networks (check local listings here)
Live Stream: Fox Soccer 2Go, ESPN3