Inter Milan vs. Arsenal: curiosities and fun facts

Inter Milan and Arsenal face off at San Siro today, 6 November, at 21:00 CET (20:00 local time) in Matchday 4 of the UEFA Champions League League Phase. 

Both teams come into the clash with 7 points from their first three European fixtures.

Arsenal: form and current status 

The same points as Inter Milan in the Champions League: Arsenal has 7 points in this European campaign, drawing 0-0 with Atalanta before defeating PSG 2-0 and Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0. 

They have scored three goals and conceded none in their first three European outings.

However, in the Premier League, Arteta's side is coming off a defeat against Newcastle, losing 1-0, which leaves the Gunners with 18 points, in fourth place alongside Chelsea and Aston Villa, seven points behind league leaders Liverpool. 

The team's league form has worsened in their last three matches, where they have managed to collect just one point from three games.

Martin Ødegaard is a question mark on Arteta's agenda, having been sidelined for two months, he is returning to training with the group. 

His availability for the match at San Siro is uncertain, but he might be fit to play. Those confirmed to be unavailable for the match include Declan Rice, Riccardo Calafiori, Kieran Tierney, and Takehiro Tomiyasu. On the other hand, Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes have returned to the manager's disposal.

Stats and insights 

Arsenal have failed to score in their last four away games in the UEFA Champions League in Italy (D1, L3); the last Arsenal player to score away against an Italian team in this competition was Emmanuel Adebayor (a 2-0 win against AC Milan at the Giuseppe Meazza in March 2008).

Despite only five teams conceding more shots than Inter Milan (53) in this UEFA Champions League season, the Nerazzurri have kept a clean sheet in their last three matches and could set a club record with a fourth consecutive clean sheet in the competition.

Only Atalanta (four) have allowed fewer shots on target than Arsenal (five) this season in the UEFA Champions League, with the Gunners also securing three clean sheets so far. The last time Arsenal kept four consecutive clean sheets was in November 2007.

All three of Arsenal’s goals in this Champions League campaign have come in the first half. In the second half, they have taken only nine shots, second-lowest behind Sparta Prague, who have managed just eight second-half attempts in the competition.

Yann Sommer has kept seven clean sheets in his 10 Champions League appearances for Inter Milan, with a 70% clean sheet rate, the best percentage for any goalkeeper with more than 10 club appearances in the competition.

In the first three games of this UCL season, Mehdi Taremi (Inter Milan) and Kai Havertz (Arsenal) have registered the most high presses (211 each). Havertz leads in presses in the final third, with 92, topping this category in the competition.

A unique, double precedent 

Inter Milan and Arsenal have faced each other just once in history, in the two-legged encounter during the UEFA Champions League group stage in 2003/2004. 

On September 17 at the historic Highbury, Inter Milan triumphed 3-0 with goals from Cruz, Van der Meyde, and Martins. 

It was a legendary match, remembered for Van der Meyde's stunning goal and an outstanding performance by Francesco Toldo, who saved a penalty from Thierry Henry.

Two months later, the return match took place at San Siro, where the English side secured a decisive 1-5 victory (Vieri scored for Inter Milan, with Henry netting twice alongside goals from Ljungberg, Edu, and Pires for Arsenal).