Gunners wait on Henry
Henry missed his first Premiership game of the season on Saturday when the Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw at Leicester and his absence was obvious as Arsenal failed to kill off the game.
The post-match agenda may have been dominated not only by Leicester’s late equaliser, but also by Ashley Cole’s dismissal.
However, Wenger’s main worry over the next few days is Henry’s fitness as the Arsenal boss debates whether to take a major selection gamble for a game of this magnitude.
If Arsenal beat Lokomotiv on Wednesday night at Highbury, they will not only qualify for the knock-out stages but also top the group and therefore look to avoid one of the bigger clubs, such as Real Madrid, in the last 16.
If they draw, however, then their fate lies precariously in the balance, while defeat would spell automatic elimination from the competition.
Henry is absolutely vital to Arsenal’s cause, given that he scores around half of their goals, and the club will be delighted to hear him pledge his future to them despite reported interest from Real Madrid.
“I have heard the rumours linking me with Real Madrid but I take no notice,” Henry said yesterday. “Winning the Champions League for the first time with the Gunners would mean making history.”
That prospect, however, depends on getting past Lokomotiv and Henry is rated as having only a ‘50-50’ chance of starting the game due to a muscle injury associated with his knee.
Wenger revealed: “It has come on slowly. There was a bit against Inter, but it’s become worse with every game since then.
“Ideally, you want him there but the most important thing is that the players who are there are fit. I only play players who are 100%. If they are not, I don’t play them, no matter how big the game is.”
Wenger’s decision to push Patrick Vieira back into action after injury earlier this season at Dynamo Kiev backfired when his captain suffered another breakdown.
“I admitted that I had made a mistake but I’d been reassured there was no medical problem at all. It was just a mistake, but not because I played him when he was not ready or injured. It was just too early,” he said.
“Does that make me more cautious now with Thierry? Not really. I have always had the same guideline. I always prefer to play a player who is 100%.”
Wenger, who will have Vieira back in action at Highbury after being rested against Leicester, nevertheless realises his team will have to battle to break down a determined Lokomotiv side, who only have to draw to confirm their own qualification.
“For them, a draw is good enough. For us, a win is absolutely necessary so you can predict the kind of game we will get, with them being very cautious and we have to dictate the game and score goals,” he added.
“They are a team with very good technical ability, who can defend very well. From the experience of the first game, when we drew 0-0, we know that we couldn’t score against them so the task will be very difficult.
“Lokomotiv won the Russian championship last season and with 120 million people, you would think that they can find 11 good players in a country like Russia! So that’s not a big surprise.
“But we are in a situation where we have nothing to lose as we were far from having a chance to qualify and we made it feasible again. That’s why we have to take it in a positive way.”
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