Arsenal suffered an early Champions League hiccup when they lost to Real Mallorca last week, but losing Sol Campbell for tonight's match with Schalke 04 was probably not the shock cure Arsene Wenger had in mind.
Campbell broke down in training yesterday with more hamstring problems, and the Arsenal manager fears the centre-back will be out for two to three weeks. This means he will almost certainly miss England's potentially decisive World Cup qualifier against Greece at Old Trafford a fortnight on Saturday.
Sven-Goran Eriksson can recall another Arsenal defender, Martin Keown, to take Campbell's place, but Wenger now has the problem of deciding who will play alongside Keown tonight.
He is already without Tony Adams, recovering from a foot injury, as well as Ashley Cole, who is suspended.
Andreas Moller, moreover, is just the player to exploit Arsenal's handicap, and he remains capable of turning a match in one inspired moment. The 33-year-old scored the only goal of Saturday's Ruhr derby between Schalke and his old Dortmund team.
Moller will seek to blow Arsenal's cover by infiltrating space between their midfield and back four and giving Emile Mpenza, Schalke's Belgian striker, and the Nigerian Victor Agali opportunities to outmanoeuvre the centre-backs.
Gilles Grimandi looks the most likely replacement for Campbell, with Giovanni van Bronckhorst, normally a left-sided midfielder, filling in at left-back for Cole, who is serving a one-match ban following his dismissal in Mallorca.
Whoever plays in defence, the performance of Patrick Vieira will be more crucial than ever to Arsenal securing the victory they need to offset the effects of losing their opening match.
Like Wenger, Huub Stevens has injury problems. In addition to Sand, Schalke's Dutch coach has lost Jiri Nemec, his Czech midfielder, the experienced Belgian Marc Wilmots and Jorg Bohme, one of those on the wrong end of England's 5-1 World Cup triumph in Munich.
And Thomas Waldoch, Stevens's Polish captain, will appear tonight with a face mask protecting the nose he broke against Panathinaikos last week.
With Dennis Bergkamp likely to join Thierry Henry in the van of Wenger's attack, Arsenal should create enough scoring opportunities to win. Whether they take them is another matter. Wenger is still concerned at his team's inability to take more of their chances.
ARSENAL (probable): Seaman; Lauren, Keown, Grimandi, Van Bronckhorst; Ljungberg, Parlour, Vieira, Pires; Bergkamp, Henry.
SCHALKE 04 (probable) : Reck; Hajto, Waldoch,Van Kerckhoven; Vermant, Kamphuis, Thon, Van Hoogdalem; Moller; Agali, Mpenza.
Referee: C Colombo (France).
