Anderlecht head coach Besnik Hasi wary of confident Arsenal

Besnik Hasi Anderlecht manager

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Anderlecht head coach Besnik Hasi believes that Arsenal have grown in confidence in recent weeks thanks to their last-gasp Champions League win in Belgium.

The Gunners seemed to be heading for defeat in Brussels just under a fortnight ago, before Kieran Gibbs and Lukas Podolski scored late on to snatch a 2-1 victory which has left Arsenal within reach of a knockout stage place.

And the Londoners have since shown an upturn in performance by seeing off Sunderland and Burnley in the Premier League without conceding a goal, leaving Hasi expecting a tough time at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening.

He told reporters: “I think Arsenal underestimated us in the first game, probably.

“From our game two weeks ago, Arsenal get a mental boost after what happened in the last three minutes. They have had a boost in confidence – you can see a few of their players are now playing much better.”

Arsenal will however be without midfielder Jack Wilshere due to illness, while summer signing Alexis Sanchez will be looking to find the net for a third consecutive game, having scored twice against both Sunderland and Burnley.

The Chilean has already got ten goals to his name in all competitions since his big-money move from Barcelona, with two of those strikes coming in Champions League action.

Arsenal, 1.32 to win at home to Anderlecht and 26.00 to win the Champions League for the first time in their history, defeated the Belgian side in the 1970 Fairs Cup final in their only previous meetings before this season, winning the second leg 3-0 at Highbury to edge a 4-3 aggregate success.

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