Bayern Munich vs Arsenal preview, team news, h2h: Saka chases UCL 20 in Germany

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal is next on the UEFA Champions League roster as the champions of England and Germany trade tackles.

Arsenal travel to Munich on Wednesday for a UEFA Champions League league phase clash against a Bayern Munich side that has not lost a home game in the group or league phase of the competition since December 2013.

Mikel Arteta’s side go into the Allianz Arena test without two regular defenders, William Saliba and Piero Hincapié as well as Christos Tzolis. Bayern, though, will lean heavily on Harry Kane, who has scored 15 goals in 22 career appearances against Arsenal and arrives on a run of nine consecutive Champions League matches with a goal.

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal: Match radar

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal: Form and context heading Into matchday three

Bayern have won three and drawn two of their last five matches across all competitions. That includes a 2-1 win at Elversberg on September 13, a seven-nil win over Union Berlin on September 18, a two-all draw at Augsburg, a three-all draw at Viking in the Champions League on October 13, and a 6-1 win over RB Leipzig at the weekend, with Luis Díaz scoring a hat-trick in that last game.

Vincent Kompany’s side lead the Bundesliga with fourteen points from six games and a goal difference of plus seventeen, the best in the division, with Borussia Dortmund the only side level on points.

Arsenal have won four of their last five matches, a two-nil win at Sunderland, a nil-three defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion, a 2-1 win over Leeds United, a three-nil win over Lille in the Champions League on October 13, and a one-nil win at Nottingham Forest.

Arteta’s side sit second in the Premier League with eighteen points, three behind leaders Manchester City, and have won both of their Champions League league phase matches so far, keeping a clean sheet in each.

Head-to-head: How Bayern Munich and Arsenal have fared

Bayern Munich lead the overall head-to-head eight wins to four, with three draws from fifteen meetings. The most recent chapter, though, went Arsenal’s way when they won 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium on November 26, 2025, in last season’s league phase, ending a five-match unbeaten run for Bayern in this fixture.

Home advantage tells a different story in Munich, where Bayern have won five of their seven meetings with Arsenal and lost only once, winning each of the last three meetings played at the Allianz Arena.

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal: Team news and predicted lineups

Olise, Bayern’s joint top scorer this season, will be the biggest miss after his suspension for throwing the ball at an opponent during the draw with Viking. Luis Díaz, fresh off his hat-trick against Leipzig, will be the likely man to fill the gap on the left.

Martín Zubimendi returns to the Arsenal squad after a fresh ankle issue in recent weeks and should be available. This should give Arteta a genuine option in a midfield that otherwise keeps faith with Declan Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly in the double pivot.

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal star player comparison: Harry Kane vs Bukayo Saka

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal: Saka chases UCL 20

Following his goal in Arsenal’s 3-0 win against Lille, Saka brought his tally to 19 European goals, placing him clear in second place on Arsenal’s all-time European goalscoring list.

Scoring against Bayern would make him only the second player in Arsenal history to reach the 20-goal milestone in European competitions, trailing only Thierry Henry, who holds the club record with 42 goals.

Saka broke away from club legends like Cesc Fàbregas and Freddie Ljungberg to secure the solo second-place spot.

In addition to his goals, Saka is currently third in all-time European assists for the Gunners, sitting just behind Henry and Fàbregas.

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal managers: Vincent Kompany vs Mikel Arteta

Vincent Kompany has been in charge at Bayern Munich since June 2024 and has the club top of the Bundesliga going into this fixture. Olise’s suspension, though, forces a rethink of his attacking options for the biggest game of the week.

Mikel Arteta, in his seventh year at Arsenal since taking charge in December 2019, arrives with a depleted back line. But a strengthened midfield, after Zubimendi’s return, gives him room to rotate without losing balance against a Bayern side he has not beaten away from home.

Tactical preview: Bayern Munich vs Arsenal

Bayern set up in a 4-3-3, with Díaz and Gnabry stretching play wide to attack the space left by an Arsenal defence without its best ball-playing centre-back in Saliba. Kane could drop deeper to link with Kimmich and the double pivot rather than simply staying on the shoulder of the last man.

Kompany’s side press aggressively in the moments after losing the ball, a pattern that could trouble Gabriel and Konsa if Arsenal are forced to build out from the back under pressure rather than play through midfield cleanly.

Arsenal will look to break quickly down the right through Saka and Timber, the kind of vertical approach that worked well in the win over Lille. Rice and Lewis-Skelly would try to cut the passing lines between Kimmich and Bayern’s front three.

The Naija slip: Best bets for Bayern Munich vs Arsenal

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