Arsenal: How Will Manchester City Draw, Injuries Affect Borussia Dortmund Clash?

After returning to domestic competition with a hard-fought draw with Manchester City on Saturday, Arsenal lock their crosshairs on continental football on Tuesday, squaring off with Borussia Dortmund in a clash that is proving difficult to predict for a multitude of reasons.

For the Gunners, regrets from Saturday's draw at the Emirates will still linger, and whether Arsene Wenger's side can rectify their mistakes will prove a key factor in determining the clash at the Signal Iduna Park.

Yet it's injuries—a plague on both the visitors and their hosts—which give the tie its veritable intrigue.

The Londoners persisted after going behind to a first-half Sergio Aguero strike with some of their best football of the season so far on Saturday. A Jack Wilshere masterclass in midfield propelled the Gunners to their most sublime spells, and Alexis Sanchez is continuing to build a reputation as a threat to every defender in his path.

However, the manner in which they conceded twice—on the counter-attack for Aguero's goal, and from a simple set piece routine allowing Aguero's compatriot Martin Demichelis to register—is a regularly occurring plight for Arsenal, costing them vital points even at this early stage of the season.

Already this campaign, Arsenal's defenses have been not only been breached but embarrassed by how easily teams beat them on the counter. 

Everton were perhaps the team to most effectively abuse how Arsenal's full-backs push so relentlessly into the opposition's territory—although it's difficult to find a more convincing display of counter-attacking football than the Jesus Navas-Aguero combination displayed on Saturday.

Of similar irritation to Wenger has been how his zonal marking has been isolated time and again as a vulnerability.

Easy to exploit, zonal marking has been employed consistently by Arsenal this season, and the space opposing players find themselves in time and again in set piece routines has Arsenal fans biting their nails.

These two problems that Arsenal have yet to resolve are sowing serious doubt in fans' minds about how their side can close out games as victors. Legitimate fears indeed, considering the Gunners have only won twice since the league season commenced.

What the Gunners are proving in spades, however, is their resolve to stay in games and come back from behind—even when hope of doing so doesn't seem within touching distance.

Such resolve will be crucial in staving off a Dortmund side who have won their last two Bundesliga contests, even if Die Schwarzgelben have an injury list even longer than their visitors'.

First-choice wide players Marco Reus and Jakub Blaszczykowski will both miss Tuesday night's clash, and will be joined on the sidelines by the likes of Nuri Sahin, Ilkay Gundogan, Mats Hummels and perhaps returning hero Shinji Kagawa.

Vital for Arsenal are the absences of Reus and especially Blaszczykowski, the famously rapid Polish winger, given how easily Arsenal are undone on the counter.

BVB's results in their stead have been admirable enough, so Arsenal cannot expect to walk into the Ruhr and just claim three points, even if they did so last year.

Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp should still be able to call upon Ciro Immobile to lead the line, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in fine fettle as well after scoring on Saturday against Freiburg.

Combating those attackers might prove more difficult than Wenger had envisioned. With Mathieu Debuchy sidelined, James Orr of The Independent reports teenage Spaniard Hector Bellerin will be called up to the first team. 

According to the Evening Standard's James Olley, Wenger might also be without Calum Chambers:

"

Wenger says Chambers is in fact "50-50" for tomorrow's game with tonsillitis and Monreal available on Friday from a back problem.

— James Olley (@JamesOlley) September 15, 2014"

This leaves Arsenal threadbare at the back.

While Dortmund's strength in depth will see an airing, with the capable Sokratis Papastathopolous able to deputise for Hummels at centre-back, Arsenal will have to rely on relatively unproven talent in Bellerin to hold the fort in the absence of Debuchy.

Arsenal are close to full strength in attack, with the virtually unused Lukas Podolski and Joel Campbell ready to supplant an attacking force that should feature Alexis alongside fellow newcomer Danny Welbeck.

Dortmund still have enough about them to counter the Gunners' firepower with some artillery of their own.

The key for Arsenal, then, lies in the midfield—in utilising possession wisely and in coping with BVB's high-intensity, pressing philosophy of football.

If Wenger's full-backs can resist the temptation to bomb forward and instead support attacks from deep, Arsenal will be safer from counter-attacking threat, nullifying one of their problems from Saturday—in theory, at least.

With key men in Dortmund's midfield like Sahin and Gundogan absent, it will be up to Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and company to outplay their counterparts and use the ball wisely in the attacking third to find Welbeck and Alexis.

If Arsenal can complete their jigsaw, another famous win in Germany's industrial heartland is in the cards.

There's an awful lot of pieces to put together, mind you.

What do you make of Arsenal's chances in Dortmund?  Let me know with a comment below, or alternatively give me a shout on Twitter.