Preview: Arsenal vs Bayer Leverkusen - prediction, team news, lineups

Champions League action returns to the bright lights of the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening, when Arsenal host Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg of their last-16 showdown.

The Gunners were on the brink of suffering a first-leg defeat at the BayArena last week, but Kai Havertz channelled his inner Nicklas Bendtner to deny his old club a precious victory.

Match preview

Served a painful dose of their own set-piece medicine in Germany, Arsenal were ostensibly set to succumb to Robert Andrich's header from a corner in last week's first leg with Leverkusen, who stunted an ineffective Mikel Arteta attack for almost 90 minutes.

However, two inspired changes from the Arsenal boss saved the Gunners' bacon, as the effervescent Noni Madueke replaced the underwhelming Bukayo Saka and won a late spot kick for Havertz to coolly convert against his erstwhile employers.

The Germany international kept his celebrations to a minimum, unlike the travelling North London crowd, whose side are now in pole position to reach the quarter-finals in three straight years despite losing their 100% winning record in this season's Champions League.

Only one of Arsenal's last 22 UEFA competition games at their home ground has seen the Gunners fall to defeat - last year's semi-final reverse to holders Paris Saint-Germain - and Arteta's men experienced a familiar sense of Emirates euphoria as recently as Saturday.

Leaving it late to breach the opposition yet again, Arsenal saw off Everton 2-0 in the Premier League thanks to Viktor Gyokeres's tap-in and Max Dowman's record-breaking goal, one that helped the Gunners open up a perhaps unassailable nine-point advantage over a waning Manchester City.

Coincidentally, the gap between first and second in the Bundesliga table also reads nine points, as Bayer Leverkusen did Borussia Dortmund a minor favour in their efforts to supplant Bayern Munich on Saturday afternoon.

Boosted by the champions going down to nine men - as Luis Diaz and Nicolas Jackson both took the walk of shame - Kasper Hjulmand's men held out for a 1-1 draw against Vincent Kompany's charges, enhancing their reputation as stalemate specialists.

Five of Leverkusen's last six games in all competitions have now ended level, but unless they plan on shocking Arsenal on penalties on Tuesday evening, another all-too common stalemate will not do for the former Bundesliga Invincibles in North London.

Thanks to their recent affinity for stalemates, Leverkusen have lost just one of their last 14 games in all tournaments, but a run of four wins from their most recent 10 on the road does not make for optimistic reading.

Furthermore, Leverkusen are now winless in three competitive matches with Arsenal, and their only previous visit to the Emirates - in pre-season 2024 - ended in a heavy 4-1 defeat under Xabi Alonso.

Arsenal Champions League form:

Arsenal form (all competitions):

Bayer Leverkusen Champions League form:

Bayer Leverkusen form (all competitions):

Team News

Dowman becoming the Premier League's youngest scorer of all time on Saturday inevitably stole the headlines, so much so that Arteta was not asked for an update on Jurrien Timber, who suffered a first-half injury against Everton.

The Dutchman's availability for the second leg is currently clouded in uncertainty, as are the statuses of Martin Odegaard (knee) and Leandro Trossard (knock), while Mikel Merino is definitely absent as he battles back from a foot problem.

Havertz was rewarded for his Leverkusen heroics with a start on Saturday, but the ex-Chelsea man could not make goalscoring lightning strike twice, so expect Gyokeres to be restored to the tip of the attack.

Havertz is an option in the number 10 role, where Eberechi Eze has toiled of late, but Arteta could instead try out the Bukayo Saka experiment again, allowing Madueke to line up on his favoured right flank.

On Leverkusen's end, Hjulmand was dealt two fresh concerns of his own against Bayern Munich, as goalscorer Aleix Garcia (head) and Martin Terrier (ankle) were both forced off.

If Garcia is forced to follow concussion protocols, the midfielder will almost certainly sit out the second leg, although Hjulmand is hopeful that Terrier - who was the victim of Jackson's red card-worthy tackle - will recover quickly.

Mark Flekken (knee), Loic Bade (hamstring), Arthur (ligament), Lucas Vazquez (calf) and Eliesse Ben Seghir (ankle) are still sidelined for the German giants, but flying full-back Alejandro Grimaldo will return from a domestic ban.

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Raya; Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Zubimendi, Rice; Madueke, Saka, Martinelli; Gyokeres

Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:

Blaswich; Andrich, Quansah, Tapsoba; Poku, Fernandez, Palacios, Grimaldo; Maza, Terrier; Kofane

We say: Arsenal 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen (Arsenal win 2-1 on aggregate)

Since Manchester United's shock success in January, Arsenal have been rebuilding the walls of the Emirates fortress, where they have won six successive matches in all competitions while keeping clean sheets in four of their last five.

Tuesday's second leg is unlikely to be a gripping watch for the neutrals, but Arteta's men still have our backing to set up a likely quarter-final with surprise package Bodo/Glimt.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.