Into the unknown: Some interesting statistics

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
03 Nov	7:45 PM	CL	Shakhtar Donetsk (A)	1	2	Lost

You never know what you're going to get with Arsenal at the best of times, but the Champions League group stages are almost predictable to the point of being puzzling. Without wishing to risk making any predictions, however, I'll try throwing some statistics at you instead.

Much was expected from tomorrow night's opponents Shakhtar Donetsk when they came to the Emirates a fortnight ago, but as we've seen in recent years - even the best teams don't travel well at this stage of the competition, hoping presumably to make the most of their home games and finish runners-up to the likes of Arsenal.

Arsenal are another team that doesn't travel particularly well in Europe; their 3-1 win over Partizan Belgrade was their first away win in the Champions League since the opening fixture last season - a 3-2 win at Standard Liege. Despite thrashing the likes of AZ Alkmaar and Porto at home, away trips proved far more difficult.

In fact, before the win in Belgrade, Arsenal had only won FOUR of their last TWENTY away games in the Champions League proper (excluding qualifying rounds).

Somewhat surprising also, is that even if Arsenal managed to win an away game, they could not repeat the trick at home, managing to do the double over any team only three times in the last four seasons.

In the same twenty away games, Arsenal have managed 24 goals. Not exactly awful, but vastly overshadowed by an impressive 54 goals in the same number of home games.

The impressive Jack Wilshere returns to the team for this game, but Arsenal will be without influential skipper Cesc Fabregas. So far this season, all of Arsenal's dropped points have come without the Spaniard in the team (he went off injured early in the draw at Sunderland), hardly a good omen for a team who have never won in the Ukraine, and with an overall poor record in Eastern Europe, as confirmed by former Gunner Eduardo, now playing for tomorrow night's opponents.

The Croatian striker also points out that Shakhtar have not lost at home since moving to their new stadium, and have kept nince clean sheets in ten home games so far this season.

Eduardo said: "Arsenal have always had difficulties against eastern European teams and I'm hoping they'll find it the same this time.

"I know we're a good team and we're always strong at home. The team have not lost a single match since moving to the new stadium [in August 2009]."

Not exactly any good omens there for this game, but at the same time with Fabregas out and a perfectly healthy position in the group anyway, you could forgive Wenger for rotating a little, confident in the knowledge that the two remaining fixtures in the group look far more winnable.

And of course we have Marouane Chamakh, who has broken a record by scoring in six consecutive Champions League games. Let's hope that continues.

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