Arsenal should not fear Harry Kane, says Odegaard

Arsenal will not “fear” Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane when they face the German champions in their Champions League quarter-final, says captain Martin Odegaard.

Kane has scored 38 goals since joining Bayern from Tottenham Hotspur last summer, having netted 14 for Spurs in 19 games against the Gunners.

The first leg at Emirates Stadium is on Tuesday at 20:00 BST.

“[He’s] a good player, we know his quality in the box,” said Odegaard.

“I think we should respect him but I don’t think we should fear anyone and we should focus on ourselves.”

Kane is joint top of the Champions League scorers chart this season with six goals in eight matches, a feat matched by Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann.

Nobody across Europe’s top five leagues has scored more top-flight goals than his 32 this campaign.

Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus called Kane “the best finisher in the world” while manager Mikel Arteta said “his numbers over the past 10 years are unbelievable”.

Despite Kane’s goalscoring achievements, Bayern are very unlikely to secure a 12th consecutive Bundesliga title this season. They trail leaders Bayer Leverkusen by 16 points.

As for Arsenal, they are top of the Premier League on goal difference with seven games remaining.

The Gunners are hoping to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time in 15 years.

Bayern last reached the semis when they won the competition in 2020 and boss Thomas Tuchel wants his side to put disappointing domestic form behind them – though he said Arsenal will provide a “massive test”.

“Arsenal are currently the best team in the Premier League and that is deserved – all the data shows that,” Tuchel told a media conference on Monday.

“We know about our own strengths and how we want to cause them pain. We know the Champions League is a competition where we have more experience over the last few years. We want to use it to our advantage.”

The former Chelsea boss also believes Kane’s experience against Arsenal will be key.

“I think it’s enjoyable for Harry to be here at Arsenal in a quarter-final of the Champions League,” he said.

“It will make him very happy to score and I don’t see anything holding him back. Harry always helps you to win. He will help us perform.”

TEAM NEWS

Arsenal have no fresh injury concerns with Jurrien Timber a long-term absentee with a knee injury.

As for Bayern, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is a doubt, as are midfielders Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman and Aleksandar Pavlovic, plus defender Noussair Mazraoui.

Sacha Boey, Bouna Sarr, Tarek Buchmann and Noel Aseko-Nkili are likely to miss the match through injury.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• Arsenal have lost their past three games against Bayern Munich by the same 5-1 scoreline (all in the Champions League), which is their joint biggest margin of defeat in European competition (four goals). The most recent meeting in March 2017 was also Arsenal’s heaviest defeat in any competition at Emirates Stadium
• This is the fifth Champions League campaign in which Arsenal and Bayern will meet in the knockout stages, with the German side progressing on all previous four occasions (2004-05, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2016-17 – all in the last 16).

Arsenal

• This will be Arsenal’s first game in the quarter-finals of the Champions League since 2009-10, when they lost 6-3 on aggregate against Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.
• The Gunners have only progressed from two of their seven quarter-final ties in the European Cup/Champions League.
• Bukayo Saka has been directly involved in seven goals in seven appearances in the Champions League this season (three goals, four assists), the most of any Arsenal player. The last player to register more combined goals and assists in a single campaign for the club was Alexis Sanchez in 2015-16 (eight – three goals, five assists).

Bayern Munich

• Bayern have lost their past two away games in the knockout stages of the Champions League (3-0 v Manchester City and 1-0 v Lazio); the last time they lost three in a row away from home in the knockout rounds was between April 2009 and April 2010 (defeats by Barcelona, Fiorentina and Manchester United).
• Harry Kane has scored 14 goals in 19 appearances against Arsenal; only netting more against Leicester (20) and Everton (16) in his professional career.

source: BBC