Arsenal still vulnerable despite derby boost

Before the 5-2 rout of Tottenham on Saturday the Gunners were coming under fire after some patchy form including a 2-1 away defeat at Manchester United, a 3-3 home draw with Fulham and a 2-0 home reverse against Schalke in the Champions League.

The defeat by Schalke was Arsenal's first at home to foreign opponents since 2003 but they drew 2-2 with the Germans the following week, having led 2-0, to stay well-placed to progress as one of the top two sides in Group B ahead of Olympiakos.

Victory for Arsenal, their first at home against French opposition in the Champions League, combined with a Schalke defeat of Olympiakos will see Arsene Wenger's side through to the knockout rounds for the 13th season in succession.

"We couldn't get a better time to play that game," Szczesny, who returned from a two-month injury absence against Tottenham, told Arsenal's website.

"We are buzzing, we can't wait for the next game. We're confident. We've had a couple of poor results recently, but we're back on track and we're confident that we can get the three points and qualify for the knockout stages.

"We want to make sure we do the job properly and qualify."

"His touch, his vision is a joke. He's a dream to play with. He never gives the ball away and he's creative, he's busy around the pitch, he's a joy to play with," Wilshere said of the Spaniard.

Montpellier's first outing in the Champions League has gone downhill ever since Younes Belhanda's early penalty put them ahead against Arsenal on matchday one before the visitors hit back to seal a slightly fortunate 2-1 victory.

"The Champions League is over for us and Europa League is almost over. But these games are important for us and we cannot afford not being at full gear because these matches have made us grow," Girard told Reuters.

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