If ever Arsenal needed the home fires of their Champions League ambitions to burn bright it will surely be tonight when Lazio, the Italian champions and one of the tournament favourites, visit Highbury.
Lazio are not unbeatable, Valencia proved as much in last season's quarterfinals when they won the opening leg 5-2. Even so Sven-Goran Erkisson, the Rome club's Swedish coach, now enjoys an even more formidable set of options after spending £52 million sterling on two Argentinian strikers - Hernan Crespo from Parma and Claudio Lopez from Valencia.
Crespo is unfit. Nevertheless an Arsenal defence heavily dependent on the match fitness of Tony Adams will still have to cope with Claudio Lopez and Simone Inzaghi. The importance of Adams's authority at the back was re-emphasised when Arsene Wenger rested him at Ipswich on Saturday.
Arsenal cannot risk a repetition of the bizarre first half they experienced against Shakhtar Donetsk at Highbury a week ago when the Ukrainians scored twice in four minutes. Against Lazio it would take more than the heroics of Martin Keown to turn a similar situation around tonight.
No doubt the passions of the crowd spurred Arsenal on last Wednesday, something which was not quite working for them when playing their home legs at Wembley. "In our minds we will be playing at home and our opponents will be away," Wenger explained. "At Wembley we didn't really play at home while our opponents didn't really play away."
Wenger will decide today who is to partner Thierry Henry up front, with Nwankwo Kanu a better bet after the Nigerian's important contribution to the recovery against Shakhtar. Provided Henry gets the service his pace should test even Alessandro Nesta, who defended so well for Italy in Euro 2000.
First, however, Arsenal will look to Patrick Vieira to help them gain control of midfield, where Lazio are especially strong with two Argentinians, Diego Simeone and Juan Veron, flanked by a Yugoslav, Dejan Stankovic, and the shrewd Czech, Pavel Nedved.
With Manchester United at Highbury on Sunday tonight marks the start of an important five days for Arsenal. While the outcome of neither match will decide anything the results will still give an early indication of Arsenal's true potential this season.
ARSENAL (probable): Seaman; Luzhny, Keown, Adams, Silvinho; Parlour, Grimandi, Vieira, Ljungberg; Kanu, Henry.
LAZIO (probable) : Marchegiani; Negro, Nesta, Mihajlovic, Pancaro; Stankovic, Simeone, Veron, Nedved; Claudio Lopez, Inzaghi.
Meanwhile Rangers injury doubts Stefan Klos, Michael Mols and Jorg Albertz all came through the training session yesterday and are expected to play against Galatasaray in Instanbul tonight.
Galatasaray will be without Gheorghe Hagi and Suat Kaya, who are both suspended, plus the injured Capone and Okan Burak.
That has hit the midfield the hardest so coach Mircea Lucescu will have to make major changes.
Galatasaray have never played a Scottish club before in a major competition. Rangers' only tussle with a Turkish team was back in 1973-74 when they beat MKE Ankaragucu home and away, 6-0 on aggregate in the Cup Winners' Cup.
