Borussia Dortmund vs Arsenal: injury-struck Gunners braced for German test

The Champions League starts tonight and for Arsenal the competition kicks off with a trip to Borussia Dortmund to play the 2013 finalists. The clubs were paired together in last season's group stage, the Gunners losing 2-1 at home but then nicking a 1-0 victory in Germany courtesy of Aaron Ramsey's second-half goal.

Twelve months on and both Arsenal and Dortmund have something of an injury crisis ahead of their Group D reunion in the Westfalenstadion.

The Germans, who warmed up for tonight with a 3-1 defeat of Freiburg on Saturday, are without international midfielder Marco Reus, as well as Mats Hummels, Oliver Kirch, Nuri Sahin, Ji Dong-won, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Ilkay Gündogan. That might mean Shinji Kagawa spearheads the Dortmund attack, the Japanese ace back in the Bundesliga after his unsuccessful spell at Manchester United.

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The 25-year-old scored just six times for United in 38 games while his strike rate at Dortmund (he joined United from Dortmund in 2012) is 21 goals in 49 matches. He scored against Freiburg to brighten the face of Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp as he copes with a catastrophic spate of injuries.

"Facing the Gunners first off is a tough proposition, especially considering the injury problems we have at the moment and the fact we haven't been able to train together very often," admitted Klopp. "But we never complain and are looking forward to tackling the challenge…getting through the group stage is one of our main aims for the season."

Dortmund aren't alone in their injury woes. Having lost Olivier Giroud with a broken leg last month, Arsenal saw defender Mathieu Debuchy stretchered off in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Manchester City and the Frenchman's ankle ligament injury is likely to sideline him for two months. In addition, left-back Nacho Monreal has been omitted from tonight's squad because of injury and 19-year-old Calum Chambers is struggling to shake off a bout of tonsillitis.

That leaves just Kieran Gibbs, Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny in the back four, meaning a possible start for Hector Bellerin if Chambers fails to recover in time.

"In defence we of course have the Mathieu Debuchy injury, and that puts us in a position where we do not want more," admitted Wenger, who resisted calls from fans to buy another defender last month. "We have as well Bellerin, who I think is now ready to play."

Right-back Bellerin, whose only previous senior appearance for Arsenal was 26 minutes in last season's Capital One Cup, is a 19-year-old Spaniard who broke Theo Walcott's club record for the 40-metre sprint in the summer.

"He is a boy with personality, he is not fazed by pressure and that's a very important quality when you are a young boy and playing at a big club," said Wenger of Bellerin. "His transitional game is fantastic, he is very quick and his final ball is good as well. He lacks a bit of experience still as a defender but he is very dangerous going forward."

Despite Arsenal's injury problems, Jurgen Klopp believes the English club are stronger than the side they faced last season because of their five summer signings.

"Arsenal are a very hard opponent and I think they did a great job on transfers over the summer," he told reporters. "Now their squad has great stability and they're actually able to play the type of football that Arsene Wenger wants to see."