Borussia Dortmund vs Arsenal: Ranking Each Arsenal Player

Arsenal's Champions League group will by no means be a walk in the park. They were drawn to Borussia Dortmund, 2010-11 Bundesliga champions; Olympique Marseille, French powerhouse; and Olympiakos, consistent Greek champions.

The Gunners kick off their Champions League campaign against Dortmund at the Signal Iduna Park, a stadium notorious for it's passionate, loud, 80,000 strong crowd. However, Dortmund were recently dealt a 2-1 loss at home to Hertha, something quite unusual and not good news for the German outfit. 

Nonetheless, Borussia Dortmund are a very strong team, with a squad that will pose a real threat to Arsenal in every area.

Dortmund's defense is very solid, with Mat Hummels and Never Subotic the rocks in the backline. Both of them were targets for Arsenal, and will make it tough for the Gunners' rejuvenated attack to break down.

Dortmund also have a strong attack, although they did lose one of their best players over the summer in Nuri Sahin. But with Gotze as the creative spark and Barrios as the forward, Arsenal's defense will need to be working hard in order to keep Dortmund's attacking prowess silent.

A number of deadline day transfers has given the Gunners a lot more attacking options, as well as giving their squad much more depth. This being said, Ramsey and Rosicky's injury shouldn't cause much worry as Arsenal have a few more central midfielders up their sleeve.

Without further ado, here are the general ratings for each Arsenal player in the assumed starting 11 clashing with Borussia Dortmund.

Wojciech Szczesny: 7.0

The Polish shot stopper has been impressive for Arsenal so far this season, cementing his spot as the Gunners' first choice keeper. Without his crucial penalty save against Udinese, Arsenal wouldn't even be playing this match right now, so he deserves a lot of credit for his performance so far this season.

Considering he's only 21 years old, Szczesny has an incredibly strong presence in the box, and has become reliable in tight situations. And then there's his strong suit, which is the Polish international's ability to stop a shot. His save of Andy Carroll's bullet header in Arsenal's match against Liverpool proved that when he's got the time, Szczesny can get to just about any shot.

For now he's a respectable 7.0, but expect Szczesny to be one of the world's best keepers once he's in his prime.

Kieran Gibbs: 6.0

This is assuming Gibbs will be playing at left back over Andre Santos, but because he did against Swansea it seems as if he'll be starting in Germany.

Kieran Gibbs seems to always be improving, but's he's still not nearly as reliable as Clichy was, and has a long way to go before being one of the top left backs in the Premier League.

He's perfectly fine in attack, and often makes some excellent surging runs on the left flank. However, his defending is a bit of a concern for now, and the English international has a lot of room for improvement with his marking and tackling.

Per Mertesacker: 7.5

It's tough to judge Mertesacker just yet, as we've only seem him play once in an Arsenal shirt. He looked solid against Swansea, something his 6'6" presence may have had something to do with, and the German international is a huge boost to Arsenal's aerial defending from set pieces.

Of course, Mertesacker brings some much needed experience to the back line, and in the dressing room and on the pitch he'll provide some leadership for a young Arsenal squad.

Laurent Koscielny: 6.5

Again, this is another tough one to judge, as Koscielny happens to be very inconsistent.

He's provided some extremely solid performances against Manchester United (last season, 1-0 at the Emirates), Newcastle (this season), and just recently against Swansea.

But on the other hand Koscielny has also put him some pretty horrendous performances, including that defensive error in the Carling Cup final, costing Arsenal their first trophy in six years.

This score is based on the Frenchman's average performances, but hopefully Koscielny will show up in Germany as the same defender that he was against Swansea.

Bacary Sagna: 8.5

Bacary Sagna is simply one of the best right backs in the world, and currently the best in the Premier League. That hasn't changed this season, as he's been one of the few reliables in Arsenal defensive line.

The Frenchman's marking and tackling is consistently solid, and his contributions to the attack are usually excellent, setting up Walcott's winner against Udinese with a cheeky lofted through ball.

Not much more to be said here, as long as Sagna stays fit Arsenal will be totally covered in the right back position for years to come.

Alex Song: 7.5

It's really a shame that Song has been suspended in the Premier League, as he's shaped up to be one of Arsenal's finest players.

In both Champions League qualifiers against Udinese, Song was brilliant. The Cameroon international made several important defensive tackles in the midfield, and on one occasion even helped to prevent Pablo Armero from scoring.

The perk about Song is that he's also a good attacker, and has made a number of impressive passes in the matches he's played this season, helping create a faint creative spark in the absence of Fabregas and Nasri.

Alex Song will be a key player in Arsenal's hunt for silverware this season, and there's no reason he won't be lighting up the midfield against Borussia Dortmund.

Mikel Arteta: 8.0

Some may think this is an overrated score, but it's only to compensate with how underrated Arteta is.

The Spaniard was brought in on deadline day to help replace Cesc Fabregas, and in his debut against Swansea Arteta he looked sharp. It was relieving to Arsenal fans, as it seemed the Gunners had their creative spark back with Arteta providing a strong playmaking role in Arsenal's midfield.

To speak for all Arsenal supporters, I can't wait to see how Arteta does against Borussia Dortmund in his Champions League debut.

Yossi Benayoun: 7.0

Once again, it's tough to judge a player considering we've only seem him play about 30 minutes in an Arsenal shirt.

Nonetheless, Benayoun looked good against Swansea, helping to give more creativity to the Arsenal midfield alongside Arteta. He'll probably be starting against Dortmund, which will be the Israeli's real debut for Arsenal.

It'll be interesting to see how he plays for the full 90 minutes next to Song and Arteta, but based on his performance against Swansea I'm predicting good things for Benayoun.

Gervinho: 8.0

Gervinho's back!

Arsenal fan's will be looking forward to seeing Gervinho back in action in Germany after only seeing him fully in both Champions League qualifier legs against Udinese.

As of now, Gervinho seems to be Wenger's best signing of the summer, and has been superb on the left wing where Samir Nasri used to play. He was the Man of the Match in the second leg against Udinese, providing some fancy footwork before assisting Robin van Persie's equalizer.

Gervinho is simply brilliant, and with him on the pitch Arsenal's wing play is better than it's been in a long time. 

Theo Walcott: 7.75

This is a very precise score, and in my opinion Walcott's actually been an 8.0 so far this season. But because these are general grades, I'm keeping it at a 7.75 for now.

As Arsenal's top scorer so far this season, Walcott has really been stepping up after the departure of several key players. He's proved that he can score goals without Fabregas, displaying his clinical finishing against Udinese and Manchester United.

Of course, Walcott remains to be the fastest player in the Premier League, and is using his blistering pace to find the net as much as possible.

So far this season the Englishman's best performances have come in the Champions League, so lets hope he continues this excellent run of form with a good performance in Germany.

Robin Van Persie: 8.5

Van Persie is one of the world's best strikers, period.

Hi prolific goalscoring form at the end of last season was, well, prolific. His goalscoring tally was higher than his number of appearances, and in Arsenal last few fixtures he was basically the only source of goals.

He's found the net twice to far this season, and once he gains momentum he can resume the goal per match that he enjoyed in the latter half of 2010-11.

Personally, I think he's being played out of position, and should be starting behind the forward rather than the lone striker. The Dutchman often finds himself in midfield rather than as the target man, so a role farther back would seem to suit him better.

Nonetheless, Van Persie is arguably Arsenal's best player and is more familiar with the net than any other player in the squad.

Conclusion

If Arsenal win tomorrow's match, it would be an enormous feat for the Gunners, and would put their season further back on track.

Skeptics would be silenced, and Arsenal would surely be back in contention for more than a few trophies. Even a draw would be sufficient tomorrow in order to keep the ball rolling.

Either way, tomorrow's match could very well decide the favourite to win Champions League Group F.