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Arsenal's record against visitors from the Netherlands is in need of improvement and Arsène Wenger's side will be hoping to make positive strides on Matchday 4 as they welcome AZ Alkmaar to their home. In seven competitive home games against Dutch opposition, Arsenal have only posted two victories. Four of the fixtures finished all-square with their only defeat coming in the first meeting – a European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-final in 1971/72 when Ajax won 1-0 at Highbury to complete a 3-1 aggregate triumph.

The north London club looked set to take a firm grip on Group H in the reverse fixture on Matchday 3 when Cesc Fàbregas gave them a 36th-minute lead, only for David Mendes da Silva to volley an equaliser in the third minute of added time. The draw leaves Arsenal on seven points, one clear of Olympiacos FC and five above third-placed AZ. The game at the DS-Stadium was the teams' first-ever competitive meeting.

AZ coach Ronald Koeman has an excellent record against Arsenal, and against his French counterpart Arsene Wenger in particular. Wenger is yet to beat Koeman, who has pitted wits against the Professor for Ajax and PSV. Koeman guided Ajax to 1-1 home and 0-0 away draws against Wenger's Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League second group stage in February 2003. As PSV Eindhoven coach he did even better against Arsenal, eliminating them in the 2006/07 first knockout round with a 1-0 home win followed by a 1-1 draw in London. That anomaly should have been corrected at the DS Stadium, with Arsenal bossing much of the game, but failing to take advantage of their opportunities to put it to rest. They will be buoyed by a look at AZ's record on their travel to England with the Dutch champions having lost all four previous games in the country, conceding 12 goals. Koeman though has fond memories of visiting London, as a player his extra-time free-kick at Wembley decided the 1992 European Champion Clubs' Cup final in favour of FC Barcelona, the first of the Catalan club's three titles.

The last few weeks have been rather special for Arsene Wenger, with the manager celebrating 13 years at the club and eclipsing the previous record tenure of 4,748 days set by George Allison between 1934 and 1947. Wenger also marked his 750th game in charge of Arsenal with a 2-1 home win against Liverpool FC in the last 16 of the League Cup on 28th October thanks to goals from Fran Mérida and Nicklas Bendtner either side of Emiliano Insúa's equaliser for the visitors. His team continues to play the 'beautiful football' he espouses and are the English top flight's leading scorers with 32 goals in nine matches. Though they have not been quite as clinical in Europe, they do have 30 shots on target to date, more than any other team. Arsenal come into this game on the back of a morale boosting 3-0 win against Tottenham in the 162nd north London derby. Two Arsenal goals in a minute shortly before half-time effectively settled the contest, Bacary Sagna setting up Van Persie for a near-post finish and Cesc Fàbregas dispossessing Wilson Palacios and running through unchallenged to double the lead eleven seconds after the restart. Van Persie made it 3-0 in the second half, again from a Sagna cross.

AZ, meanwhile started the season in spectacular form with a 5-1 demolition of SC Heerenveen - the fixture's biggest margin of victory since 1991. However, on opening night they found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-2 scoreline against Heracles. That unfortunate result was soon behind them as they went on a four game winning run, but have since run into some really poor form. AZ's win against Groningen over the weekend was just their second in eleven matches in all competitions over 90 minutes; they have lost six in that sequence. The Dutch titleholders are very much an all or nothing side, with their 1-1 draw against Arsenal in the reverse fixture their only drawn game of the season so far.

Arsenal will have one eye on guaranteed qualification should they win Wednesday night and would be keen on ensuring they rack up the goals to ensure there is no possibility of a late equalizer this time. They are on an unbeaten 11 game run, and it is highly unlikely that Alkmaar will have the fire power to beat Arsenal at the Emirates. We're going to go out on a limb and predict an easy home win for the Gunners, with atleast a two goal margin.

Arsenal

Form Guide: W - 3, L- 0, D - 2

Arsenal 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool
West Ham United 2-2 Arsenal
AZ Alkmaar 1-1 Arsenal
Arsenal 3-1 Birmingham

Injury Report

Johan Djourou – out since 11 August (knee), Denilson – out since 12 September (back), Tomáš Rosický – out since 17 October (knee), Theo Walcott – out since 17 October (knee), Jack Wilshere – out since 17 October (ankle), Carlos Vela – out since 20 October (knee), Nicklas Bendtner – out since 31 October (groin), Gael Clichy - out since 3 November (stress fracture of lower back)

AZ Alkmaar

Form Guide: W - 2, L - 2, D - 1

FC Groningen 0-1 AZ Alkmaar
AZ Alkmaar 5-2 SV Spakenburg
AZ Alkmaar 2-4 Ajax
AZ Alkmaar 1-1 Arsenal
Twente FC 3-2 AZ Alkmaar

Injury Report

Mounir El Hamdaoui – out since 28 October (hamstring)

Likely teams:

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna,Gallas, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Fabregas, Song, Diaby, Arshavin, Van Persie, Eduardo.

AZ Alkmaar: Romero, Jaliens, Moreno, Pocognoli, Moisander, Poulsen, Mendes da Silva, Schaars, Martens, Dembele, Lens.

Did you know?

Arsenal's 3-1 home defeat by Manchester United FC in last season's semi-finals was the first time the Gunners had lost on their own territory in 24 matches in the competition, a run which stretched back to April 2004.

File Photograph copyright: Ryu Voelkel

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