ARSENAL ARE at ease when facing some of Europe’s most formidable clubs. The side have lost only one of their previous 44 Champions League matches at home and that defeat only came in a semi-final, against Manchester United in 2009. Given those circumstances, the hosts are unlikely to panic about the arrival of Schalke tonight but the visitors do present a genuine danger.

At the weekend Huub Stevens’ team won 2-1 in the away fixture with the Bundesliga champions, Borussia Dortmund. By contrast Arsene Wenger has seen his side lose to both Chelsea and Norwich. The season may still be in its early stages but it should trouble Arsenal that they are ninth in the Premier League.

The impression remains that Wenger has a team best suited to the rhythm and tone of continental football. Arsenal had almost made it a matter of principle that they should be refined. Wenger, however, has still been attempting to make adjustments. There is an air of heightened experience now that players such as Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski have been bought.

Jack Wilshere missed the whole of last season with an ankle problem and, having featured for the whole 90 minutes in an under-21 match with Everton on Tuesday, he will not be asked to take any part.

While the average age of the side is still relatively low, Cazorla and Podolski are both 27. In essence Wenger has opted to turn to men who have already matured. Cazorla, bought from Malaga, is meant to bring knowhow to bear in matches. “He can open defences with the quality of his passing,” said Wenger. “And he gives us a technical security that allows us sometimes when we are under pressure to get out of it. Overall I believe that he typifies the game we want to play.”

He ought to be a reassuring presence in a match that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott will miss through injury. Nonetheless Schalke present real menace, especially in the shape of the much-travelled Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the Bundesliga’s top scorer last season with 29 goals.