Dortmund vs. Arsenal: Tactical Preview of Injury-Ridden Champions League Tie

Jurgen Klopp and Arsene Wenger go head-to-head for the second year running on Tuesday evening, meeting in the UEFA Champions League group stage at Signal Iduna Park.

Both sides have serious concerns heading into the game and will have to make do from a personnel perspective, but how will this one play out from a tactical perspective?

Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund have been crippled by ailments, as per usual, and go into this fixture lacking several key players.

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Marco Reus has hurt his ankle, Mats Hummels is still unfit from the FIFA World Cup 2014, Ilkay Gundogan and Nuri Sahin remain out and Jakub Blaszczykowski has hurt his thigh while returning from an ACL tear.

Shinji Kagawa could come in for another start, fresh off his "second debut" this weekend in which he scored against Freiburg in a win. Henrikh Mkhitaryan could be pushed right, and the striking position seems a coin-toss between one of Adrian Ramos, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ciro Immobile.

Arsenal

Arsenal have injury problems of their own to worry about ahead of this fixture, with the possibility of heading into the match with just four fit defenders a serious concern.

According to The Daily Mail, Nacho Monreal hasn't traveled with the team to Dortmund, Mathieu Debuchy is facing up to 12 weeks out and Calum Chambers is rated 50/50.

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Hector Bellerin will step in at right-back if Chambers can't make it, a Spanish youth prospect who spent last season on loan at Watford and impressed heavily at the Emirates Cup this summer.

Kieran Gibbs will come in on the left, which is positive, though Mathieu Flamini is on standby to play full-back, too.

Key Point 1: Return of the Diamond?

With injuries taking their toll on the team, Jurgen Klopp's potential 4-2-3-1 looks a lot weaker than it usually does. He's toyed with a 4-3-3 shape and a 4-3-1-2 (diamond) this season already, and he may look to incorporate two strikers against a weakened Arsenal defence.

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If he does, it needs to go a hell of a lot better this time than it did against Bayer Leverkusen, who out-pressed, out-muscled and out-passed them in every area. BVB lack mobility in central zones (especially deeper), and they struggle to fan out and protect the full-backs.

Alexis Sanchez would murder this diamond in a similar fashion to how Jordi Alba did Italy's in Euro 2012, finding space in front of the full-backs, collecting and blazing forward.

Key Point 2: Dribblers Through Midfield

Arsenal's best portions of play this season have been their delightful dribbles out of midfield and into the final third.

Both Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey have been a tad inconsistent so far, but Wenger can usually count on one of them to show up on the night and begin slaloming forward.

ITV

Sven Bender's fitness is a massive question-mark, grabbing just 10 minutes against Freiburg in preparation for this game, and Sebastian Kehl gets slower by the day.

As much as BVB would love to just play on the counter here they can't, and that means there's space to be taken advantage of in and around the midfield duo in a 4-2-3-1.

Key Point 3: Testing the Right

Dortmund will be licking their lips if Bellerin gets the nod in defence.

The Spaniard is a wonderful prospect and attacks with verve and confidence, but his defensive skill set leaves a lot to be desired and he leaves a lot of space when bombing forward.

Getting Per Mertesacker in space and attacking him is, simply put, the No. 1 goal for every team that plays Arsenal in 2014, and Bellerin might just leave a little too much space if he gets carried away.

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