Beaten in Croatia on matchday one, Arsenal host Dinamo Zagreb in a Group F fixture they both need to win to stand a chance of reaching the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
Arsenal FC and GNK Dinamo Zagreb need to win to stand a chance of reaching the last 16 and even then they require a matchday five defeat for one of the other UEFA Champions League Group F teams to keep their hopes alive.
An Arsenal victory, coupled with an Olympiacos FC defeat at FC Bayern München, would give the north Londoners a chance to finish second – the Gunners visit Olympiacos on 9 December.
• Dinamo need to win and hope Bayern lose at home to Olympiacos to have a chance of overtaking them for second place when they meet in Zagreb on matchday six.
• On matchday one Dinamo ended their 16-year wait for a group stage win with a 2-1 defeat of the Gunners in the Croatian capital. It was also their first success against English opponents at the tenth attempt.
Previous meetings
• Zoran Mamić captained the team when Dinamo were beaten 5-1 on aggregate by Arsenal in the 2006/07 third qualifying round, losing 3-0 at home and 2-1 away.
• The teams in London on 23 August 2006 were:
Arsenal: Almunia, Eboué, K Touré, Djourou, Hoyte, Hleb (Gilberto Silva 70), Fàbregas, Ljungberg, Flamini, Adebayor (Henry 56), Van Persie (Walcott 81).
Dinamo: Turina, Vukojević (Ljubojević 89), Ćorluka, Carlos, Cvitanović, Modrić, Mamić, Etto (Tomić 90), Eduardo, Agić (Buljat 70) Drpić.
Match background
Arsenal
• The Gunners' 18th successive group stage campaign continued on matchday two with another defeat, Olympiacos FC winning 3-2 at the Arsenal Stadium. They recovered their form with a 2-0 home victory over FC Bayern München before succumbing 5-1 away to the five-time champions.
• The victory against Bayern means the Gunners have won six and lost six of their last 13 home games in the competition proper.
• Last term Arsène Wenger's men reached the last 16 for the 15th successive season but were eliminated at that stage for the fifth consecutive campaign. They lost 3-1 at home against AS Monaco FC and won 2-0 away.
• Arsenal also faced HNK Hajduk Split in the 1978/79 UEFA Cup second round, losing 2-1 away but winning 1-0 at home.
Dinamo
• The Zagreb club, back in the UEFA Champions League group stage after an absence of three years, followed the 16 September win by going down 5-0 away to Bayern. They then lost home and away to Olympiacos, 0-1 and 1-2 respectively.
• The Croatian champions have never qualified from the group stage in their four previous attempts – 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2011/12 and 2012/13.
• In fact, in all ten previous UEFA competition group stages – six in the UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup – Dinamo have yet to advance.
• In 2012/13 they lost all three away fixtures without scoring a goal.
• Mamić's men were unbeaten in their six qualifying games this season, recording two wins and a draw away from home.
• Before this season, Dinamo had lost seven and drawn two of their nine fixtures with English opponents.
Coach and player links
• Theo Walcott scored a hat-trick in England's 4-1 victory over Croatia in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
• Tomáš Rosický registered for the Czech Republic in a 4-2 defeat by Croatia in a Pula friendly on 9 February 2011.
• Alexis Sánchez and Ángelo Henríquez are team-mates with Chile.
Match facts
Arsenal
• Joel Campbell and Mesut Özil are both a booking away from a ban.
• Olivier Giroud has scored nine goals in his last 11 outings for club and country, his latest effort coming on Saturday in a 2-1 loss at West Bromwich Albion FC. Santi Cazorla missed a late penalty at The Hawthorns.
• Kieran Gibbs' goal in the 1-1 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur FC on 8 November was his first in the Premier League since 24 March 2012.
• Walcott (calf) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring) went off injured in Arsenal's 3-0 League Cup loss at Sheffield Wednesday FC on 27 October. Two days later Wenger said the England players will be "out until after the international break" – neither was involved on Saturday.
• Jack Wilshere sustained a hairline fracture to his left fibula in early August. He underwent surgery in September and is not expected to return until January.
• Danny Welbeck had a knee operation on 3 September. The England striker has not played since 26 April.
• Petr Čech earned his 118th cap, equalling Karel Poborský's national record, as the Czech Republic lost 3-1 to Poland on 17 November.
Dinamo
• Josip Pivarić serves a one-game ban for the red card he received on matchday four. Marko Rog will incur a suspension with his next booking.
• Jérémy Taravel equalised, his first Prva Liga goal of the season, as the Blues triumphed 2-1 at NK Slaven Koprivnica on Friday.
• Dinamo have lost five of their last ten fixtures in all competitions, having gone into matchday two 45 unbeaten.
• The capital side have kept only one clean sheet in their last 12 matches (1-0 v NK Istra 1961, 8 November).
