PSV Eindhoven play host to Arsenal in the Champions League tonight for the first leg of their last-16 match up. The Gunners hope to secure a win and take a crucial lead back to the Emirates for next week’s deciding leg.
Mikel Arteta’s men have fallen 13 points behind Liverpool in the race for the Premier League title and their best chance of winning silverware this season now lies in Europe with Arteta making winning the Champions League the priority for his team.
The Gunners lost just one of their league phase matches and finished third in the table making them one of the favourites, along with Liverpool and Real Madrid, to lift the trophy at the end of the season.
PSV, meanwhile, came through the play-offs and earned a 4-3 aggregate win over Juventus to knock the Serie A giants out of the competition. They are second to Ajax in the Eredivisie yet were knocked out of the KNVB Cup over two legs by Go Ahead Eagles in their two most recent outings.
Follow all the Champions League action with our live blog below:
PSV vs Arsenal LIVE
Both sides are in the tunnel at the Philips Stadion, so we’re around five minutes from kick-off. The anthem will be underway soon!
Chris Wilson4 March 2025 19:55
Arsenal’s Champions League journey continues
After a few years in the wilderness of the Europa League – and some not even in European competition – Mikel Arteta returned Arsenal to the Champions League ahead of the 23/24 season.
However, their journey ended in disappointment as they exited the competition at the quarter-final stage.
Arsenal’s best performance came in 2005/06, when they were beaten in the final 2-1 by Barcelona.
Chris Wilson4 March 2025 19:45
Match facts
Arsenal have only lost one of their last 14 games against Dutch sides in the UEFA Champions League.
The Gunners have won each of their last four games in the UEFA Champions League, scoring 13 goals and only conceding twice in the process.
Mikel Arteta’s side have the lowest xG against per game average (0.73) in the UEFA Champions League this season.
Chris Wilson4 March 2025 19:40
Why Arsenal should believe they can win the Champions League
Inside the Philips Stadion, there are reminders of PSV Eindhoven’s past, celebrations of former centre-forwards such as Romario, Ronaldo Nazario and Ruud van Nistelrooy who have graced the club and tormented defenders. As he walked along the corridors between the executive suites, Mikel Arteta could have been given a reminder of what he is missing.
It is carnival week in Eindhoven and plenty of people are descending on the Dutch city in fancy dress. Whether any have come in the garb of an Arsenal goalscorer or will impersonate a striker, even for a night, remains to be seen. The probability is that Mikel Merino will be leading the line for Arsenal in the Netherlands; the scorer of the Gunners’ only goals in their last four games but a midfielder by trade. With Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus injured, with Gabriel Martinelli only on the way back, with Raheem Sterling’s only goal this season coming against Preston, it may be Merino in attack.
Chris Wilson4 March 2025 19:33
Match facts
Arsenal are unbeaten in their five home matches in European competitions against PSV (W3 D2) – the most home games they’ve played against an opponent in European competition without ever losing.
This will be the second time Arsenal have faced PSV in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, after being eliminated by the Dutch side in the Last 16 in 2006-07 (lost 0-1 away, drew 1-1 at home).
Chris Wilson4 March 2025 19:27
Who could Arsenal face in the route to the final?
With the tournament bracket already published in this new variation of the Champions League, fans already have a rough idea of the teams they could face on the route to May’s final.
In Arsenal’s case, if they were to progress from this tie, they would face either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid.
And it doesn’t necessarily get any easier from there, with the Gunners then facing one of Liverpool, PSG, Villa or Club Brugge in the semi-finals!
Chris Wilson4 March 2025 19:20
Head-to-head
These two sides have faced off 10 times in European competition in the past, with Arsenal winning four, four ending as draws, and the Dutch side winning two.
They met in the group stages of last season’s competition, with Arsenal winning 4-0 at home before a 1-1 draw at the Philips Stadion.
The most recent win for PSV in this fixture came in October 2022, when the Dutch side won 2-0 in the group stages of the Europa League.
At this same stage in 2006/07, PSV beat the Gunners 2-1 on aggregate, with Chelsea loanee Alex securing a 1-1 draw at the Emirates.
Chris Wilson4 March 2025 19:15
Saka and Martinelli to return soon?
Last week, Mikel Arteta said that he was expecting a concrete update on return dates for Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka – both of whom would of course be vital to any chances the Gunners have of winning this competition.
Speaking last Thursday, Arteta said: “Let’s see how they evolve in the next few weeks to make the right steps and then after that, they’ve been out for a long, long time, so we’re going to have to integrate them as well gradually.
“They are evolving well but they’re still a bit far,” added the Spaniard.
Chris Wilson4 March 2025 19:10
Mikel Merino leads the line for misfiring Arsenal
A big night for two Mikels: Arteta’s season increasingly rests on the Champions League, with Arsenal likely to finish second in the Premier League and very unlikely to drop out of the top four, and Merino, who again leads the line in Eindhoven tonight for a side who have not scored in three of their last four games. Merino got the goals in the other match, at Leicester. There is a carrot of a trip to Madrid, whether Real or Atletico, if Arsenal can see off PSV in what is becoming a very familiar rivalry.
Richard Jolly4 March 2025 19:04
