Arsenal have last 16 in their sights

Arsenal FC go into their final home game in Group G against FC Dynamo Kyiv needing a victory to secure progress to the last 16 with a game to spare.

• Arsène Wenger's men lead the group with eight points, two clear of FC Porto and three above Dynamo, who would be eliminated if they failed to win and the Portuguese champions were victorious at Fenerbahçe SK.

• A Dynamo victory would take them above Arsenal but they have not won in England in eight previous attempts and face a team unbeaten at home in the UEFA Champions League in 21 matches – a run that includes six victories and five draws at the Arsenal Stadium, their home since 2006/07.

• The sides drew 1-1 when they met on Matchday 1 in Kiev, Arsenal captain William Gallas rescuing the visitors from defeat with an 88th-minute strike to cancel out Ismaël Bangoura's penalty four minutes past the hour.

• After that opening point, Arsenal recorded impressive wins at home against Porto (4-0) and away to Fenerbahçe (5-2) before falling short in a frustrating goalless home draw with the Turkish side last time out.

• Dynamo's away form has been excellent thus far as they followed up a 0-0 draw at Fenerbahçe with a 1-0 victory at Porto on Matchday 3. However, Yuri Semin's men – seeking to take Dynamo into the last 16 for the first time since 1999/00 – then undid their good work by losing 2-1 at home to the Portuguese champions on 5 November, surrendering a half-time lead given them by Artem Milevskiy.

• When Arsenal last received a visit from Dynamo, the roles were reversed and it was Wenger's charges with their backs to the wall after taking just one point from their opening three group-stage games in 2003/04 – including a 2-1 reverse in Kiev which featured a goal from Maksim Shatskikh, still a Dynamo player.

• Yet they revived their hopes with a 1-0 win in the home fixture through an Ashley Cole effort after 88 minutes and ended up topping the group with Dynamo down in fourth place.

• The lineups for that match at Highbury on 5 November 2003 were:
Arsenal: Jens Lehmann, Lauren, Kolo Touré, Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole, Fredrik Ljungberg (Sylvain Wiltord), Ray Parlour (Nwankwo Kanu), Gilberto, Robert Pirès, Dennis Bergkamp (Edu), Thierry Henry.
Dynamo: Olexandr Shovkovskiy, Georgi Peev, Goran Gavrančić, Serhiy Fedorov, Andriy Nesmachniy, Denys Onischenko (Goran Sabljić), Jerko Leko, Oleh Gusev (Diogo Rincón), Valentin Belkevich, Maksim Shatskikh (Roberto Nanni), Tiberiu Ghioane.

• Overall Dynamo have had the better of past matches against Arsenal. When the teams met in the 1998/99 UEFA Champions League group stage, Dynamo – eventual semi-finalists that season – earned a 1-1 draw in London before prevailing 3-1 in the return in Ukraine.

• Dynamo, who finished group winners with Arsenal back in third place, fell behind at Highbury through a Dennis Bergkamp goal after 74 minutes but Serhiy Rebrov grabbed a point with a 90th-minute equaliser.

• The lineups for that match on 21 October 1998 were:
Arsenal: David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Tony Adams (Nelson Vivas), Martin Keown, Nigel Winterburn, Ray Parlour, Remi Garde, Stephen Hughes, Marc Overmars, Dennis Bergkamp, Nicolas Anelka.
Dynamo: Oleksandr Shovkovskyi, Oleh Luzhny (Vasyl Kardash), Olexandr Golovko, Vladyslav Vashchuk, Yury Dmytrulin, Kakha Kaladze, Vitaliy Kossovskiy, Andriy Shevchenko, Serhiy Rebrov, Andriy Husin, Valentin Belkevich.

• Dynamo's assistant coach, Oleh Luzhny, featured for the Ukrainian side that day before subsequently moving to Arsenal the following year. He made 75 league appearances for Arsenal between 1999 and 2003, collecting Premier League and FA Cup winner's medals.

• Arsenal's overall record against Ukrainian opposition is W2 D3 L3.

• Dynamo's record on English soil does not augur well for their chances. The 1-1 draw they recorded against the Gunners in 1998 was the only occasion they have avoided defeat in eight previous visits to England. Their most recent trip yielded a 4-0 defeat at Manchester United FC in last season's group stage.

• Arsenal got the better of an FC Lokomotiv Moskva side coached by Semin in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League group stage. After a goalless draw in Russia, the London team won 2-0 at home in their final game to secure first place in the section.

• As coach of AS Monaco FC, Wenger oversaw a 1-0 aggregate defeat of Ukraine's FC Chornomorets Odesa in the 1990/91 UEFA Cup second round.