And yet they finished Saturday behind Nottingham Forest in the Premier League table after delivering their worst performance of the season in what promises to be a defining week. Newcastle, Inter Milan and Chelsea present a trio of examinations on the road and the Arsenal that Mikel Arteta has constructed seem designed with such tasks in mind. They may be Arteta’s Arsenal 3.0, the battle-hardened rebrand.

Bukayo Saka also touched on Martin Odegaard’s potential return tonight and hos it feels to take on the role of captain in his absence.

He said: “Martin is the captain; I’m just part of the leadership group. When I do wear the armband, I prefer to lead by example. I think it’s important to stay calm and not to overreact.

“I love football, I live for football. When I go home, I watch a lot of football too. I always take care of my body so, if I’m available, I try to play.”

Saka also admitted that big games such as these in the Champions League tend to bring the best out of him despite the increase in pressure on the team.

He said: “In these big games, there’s always a big atmosphere, there’s always a lot of pressure, a lot of intensity and for me I feel it brings the best out of me, so I’m looking forward to it.

“We have a very good record and we’re unbeaten. We’re going to look to keep that record tomorrow night and that’s all we can really do.”

The Women’s Super League side have been forced into a change of venue because of the men’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace which can only be played on the same date as the scheduled meeting with Bayern.

Both games will take place on Wednesday 18th December.

Arsenal have been in a poor run of form recently but Bukayo Saka does not think it is time to worry yet and says he, and his teammates, have the belief to turn things around.

“For me, I always live by the quote, ‘it’s not what you see, it’s what you believe’,” he said ahead of Arsenal’s tie against Inter Milan at San Siro.

“If you look at our squad, the quality we have, the players we have, and at the same time we’re only in November so I don’t think I’ve lost any belief.

“Obviously there’s a lot of noise around the club and we lost two games and drew another one but at the same time it’s important to stay calm. We don’t want to create any panic and chaos. I don’t think we need that right now.

“I’m just doing my best to help the team in every way I can and if I need to do that I’ll do that for sure.”

A defiant Bukayo Saka said he has not lost the belief that Arsenal will end this season with silverware amid a turbulent spell for the club.

The Gunners have taken just one point from their last three Premier League matches to slip off the title pace, while sporting director Edu rocked the club with his resignation bombshell.

Saka, who has starred for Arsenal this season, said in the aftermath of his side’s impressive 2-0 win against Paris St Germain in October that he feels this will be the season that the Gunners dethrone Manchester City.

Arsenal have picked up seven points in their first three league phase matches. They followed up an opening 0-0 draw at Atalanta with home victories over Paris (2-0) and Shakhtar (1-0).

“The news Arsenal have been waiting two months for: Martin Odegaard is back. On the bench anyway, even if his return is offset by the loss of Declan Rice.

“Inter seem to have prioritised the top-of-the-table clash with Napoli at the weekend by putting Nicolo Barella, Marcus Thuram and Federico Dimarco on the bench.”

“Arsenal are very well known, with a great coach like Arteta and a clear identity, aggressive and dynamic.” said Inter boss Simone Inzaghi

“They’ve gone toe-to-toe with Manchester City in the last two seasons and they’re one of the strongest sides in Europe. Arsenal are our top priority, last year they went far and are one of the favourites to win the competition.”

Inter boss Simone Inzaghi warned his team: “It is likely that they (Arsenal) have reasons for revenge.

“I watched them play against Newcastle, but playing away to them is really tough. It was an interesting match, but we know that we will be facing a side that will want to put on a show.”