The three key players vital to Arsenal beating PSG in the Champions League | OneFootball

Arsenal play host to a buoyant Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday with hopes of repeating their 2-0 victory over the French champions from October.

Only Luis Enrique’s men stand in the way of the Gunners progressing to just their second ever final in the competition, but who are the players to keep an eye on for Mikel Arteta’s side?

Bukayo Saka

Highlighting the Englishman’s importance to his side may seem obvious, but Arsenal truly are a different team with Saka on the pitch.

He already has five goals in seven appearances in the competition this season, including the Gunners’ opening goal at the Bernabeu earlier this month.

Still, Saka faces the stern task of facing-off against PSG left-back Nuno Mendes, who effectively shut down Mohamed Salah earlier in the competition.

All in all, Saka will need to be at his absolute best if Arsenal are to upset another European giant and proceed to the final in Munich.

William Saliba

The Frenchman returns to his homeland on the back of an uncharacteristic mistake which led to Jean Philippe-Mateta’s equaliser at the Emirates in midweek.

Nevertheless, Saliba remains one of the best defenders on the continent and will be pivotal if Arsenal are to tame the free-scoring Parisians.

He has featured in seven of his side’s nine matches in this competition so far, helping Arsenal to a clean sheet in five of them.

Yet, the absence of usual centre-back partner Gabriel places further emphasis on Saliba returning to his best and shutting down the PSG frontline spearheaded by in-form countryman Ousmane Dembele.

Declan Rice

Rice rightly drew plaudits for his outstanding performances against Real Madrid in the previous round, but a similar level will need to be set if his side are to compete with the dominant PSG midfield.

Having reduced Liverpool to an average of just 37% possession across their round-of-sixteen meetings, the visitors are no stranger to ruling the centre of the park.

In step Rice and co, with the England international recording a 90% pass accuracy in his first meeting with Los Blancos while also netting two crucial goals in the process.

It’s fair to say, then, that Rice is a crucial cog if the Arsenal midfield are to assert their dominance in similar fashion this time around.

Read football tips and bookmakers over at FIRST from betting experts.