Arsenal vs GNK Dinamo facts
Monday, January 13, 2025
Article summary
Previous meetings, form guides, links and trivia ahead of the UEFA Champions League league phase Matchday 7 fixture.
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Arsenal renew acquaintances with GNK Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 7 with the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds in touching distance.
The Gunners have 13 points in the league phase having won four of their last five matches, including 3-0 at home to Monaco in the most recent.
Dinamo drew 0-0 against Celtic in Zagreb on Matchday 6 to move on to eight points (W2 D2 L2), winning their last two away games since a record defeat at Bayern München on Matchday 1. They are under new management for this game, Fabio Cannavaro having replaced Nenad Bjelica – who had himself succeeded Sergej Jakirović on 26 September – on 29 December.
Previous meetings
Matches 4
Arsenal wins 3
GNK Dinamo wins 1
Draws 0
Arsenal goals 9
GNK Dinamo goals 3
2006/07 Champions League third qualifying round
GNK Dinamo 0-3 Arsenal
Arsenal 2-1 GNK Dinamo
Arsenal were made to wait in Zagreb but struck three times in the final half-hour, through Cesc Fàbregas (2) and Robin van Persie. An early effort from future Gunners striker Eduardo (12) gave Josip Kuže's Dinamo hope in the return but late goals from Fredrik Ljungberg (78) and Mathieu Flamini (82) confirmed Arsène Wenger's side's progress to the group stage.
2015/16 Champions League group stage
GNK Dinamo 2-1 Arsenal
Arsenal 3-0 GNK Dinamo
Goals from Josip Pivarić and Junior Fernandes earned Zoran Mamić's Dinamo a famous Matchday 1 victory at the Stadion Maksimir despite Theo Walcott's late reply; Arsenal, still managed by Wenger, turned the tables with a comfortable win in north London on Matchday 5 through Mesut Özil and Alexis Sánchez (2).
Form guide
Arsenal
Record vs Croatian clubs: W4 D0 L2 F11 A5
Home record vs Croatian clubs: W3 D0 L0
Their four games against Dinamo aside, Arsenal's only other fixtures against a Croatian club came in the 1978/79 UEFA Cup second round, when they beat Hajduk Split on away goals (2-1 a, 0-1 h).
Having not featured in the Champions League proper between 2016/17 and 2023/24, Arsenal are making their second successive appearance.
This is Arsenal's 21st Champions League campaign – second only to Manchester United's 25 among English clubs – but only their second in eight seasons. The 2016/17 season had been their 19th in a row, all under Wenger.
The Gunners finished first in Group B last season and then edged past Porto (0-1 a, 1-0 h aet, 4-2 pens) – their first round of 16 success since 2009/10, also against the Portuguese side – but lost to Bayern München in the quarter-finals (2-2 h, 0-1 a).
Arsenal have won 14 of their last 18 home European matches, losing only one; they have beaten Paris Saint-Germain (2-0), Shakhtar Donetsk (1-0) and Monaco this season.
Champions League runners-up in 2006, Mikel Arteta's side were second behind Manchester City in the Premier League last season for a second successive campaign.
GNK Dinamo
Record vs English clubs: W4 D2 L13 F15 A36
Away record vs English clubs: W1 D1 L8
Dinamo last faced English opponents in the 2022/23 group stage, beating Chelsea 1-0 at home before a 2-1 away defeat.
That made it three wins in Dinamo's last five games against Premier League clubs (L2); they had recorded just one victory in the first 14.
Dinamo had won their previous fixture in England, triumphing 1-0 at West Ham in the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League group stage. They have lost eight of their ten games away to English clubs, the other exception a 0-0 draw at Manchester United in the 1999/2000 Champions League first group stage.
Dinamo have reached the Champions League proper for a ninth time and a first since 2022/23, when they finished fourth on four points behind Chelsea, AC Milan and Salzburg.
The Zagreb club kicked off this season in the play-offs, easing past Qarabağ (3-0 h, 2-0 a).
A 9-2 defeat at Bayern on Matchday 1 – the first time a club had conceded nine goals in a Champions League game and Dinamo's record defeat – has been followed by victories at Salzburg (2-0) and Slovan Bratislava (4-1).
The Croatian club have won four of their last six European away games (L2), as many as in their previous 14 (D1 L9).
Dinamo lost 3-4 on aggregate to AEK Athens in last season's third qualifying round and were then beaten 4-5 by Sparta Praha in the Europa League qualifying play-off. They went on to reach the Europa Conference round of 16 before losing an eventful tie against PAOK (2-0 h, 1-5 a).
Dinamo claimed a record 25th Croatian league title in 2023/24, their seventh successive triumph, to make it 35 overall. They also lifted the Croatian Cup to win a 13th domestic double.
Links and trivia
Gabriel joined Dinamo on loan from LOSC Lille in February 2018. He made ten appearances for the club's second team, his sole senior outing 90 minutes in a 0-1 defeat at home to Rijeka on 28 April.
Has played in England:
Kévin Théophile-Catherine (Cardiff 2013/14)
Have played together:
William Saliba & Ronaël Pierre-Gabriel (St-Étienne 2016–18)
Latest news
Arsenal
On Saturday Arsenal let slip a two-goal advantage to draw 2-2 at home to Aston Villa; it was the first time since October 2019 they had failed to win a Premier League match in which they had led by two goals, a run of 46 games.
The Gunners ended a three-game run without a win in all competitions with a 2-1 comeback success against Tottenham in the north London derby on 15 January.
Arsenal are unbeaten in 12 Premier League matches, since a 1-0 loss at Newcastle on 2 November; their record since is W7 D5.
A 0-2 loss at home to Newcastle in the League Cup semi-final first leg on 7 January ended Arsenal's 13-match unbeaten run in all competitions (W9 D4); the away second leg is on 5 February.
Mikel Arteta's side bowed out of the FA Cup with a 3-5 loss on penalties at home to Manchester United after a 1-1 draw in the third round on 12 January.
William Saliba missed Saturday's draw due to a muscle injury.
Gabriel Jesus is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after damaging the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against Manchester United.
Bukayo Saka has been sidelined by a hamstring injury suffered in a 5-1 win at Crystal Palace on 21 December.
Ethan Nwaneri has been out with a muscular injury suffered in a 1-1 draw at Brighton on 4 January, while Riccardo Calafiori, whose last appearance also came in that game, has a knee problem.
Ben White has not played since undergoing knee surgery in November.
Takehiro Tomiyasu has been out since 5 October due to a knee injury.
GNK Dinamo
This is Dinamo's first competitive game of 2025.
The Croatian champions have played three friendlies this month, drawing 2-2 against Shakhtar Donetsk on 9 January before a 3-1 defeat of Lech Poznań three days later – Luka Stojković and Arbër Hoxha scoring in each game. Arijan Ademi's equaliser earned a 1-1 draw against another Polish side, Jagiellonia Białystok, on 15 January.
Dinamo ended a run of seven games without a win in all competitions (D4 L3) with a 3-2 home victory against Varaždin on 22 December.
A 3-1 loss at Lokomotiva Zagreb in their previous fixture on 14 December was Dinamo's fifth in the league this season – one more than their total from the whole of 2023/24.
Bruno Petković has not played since 9 November due to an adductor injury.
Petar Sučić has been out since 15 November with a metatarsal injury.
On 14 January Dinamo announced Marko Rog's loan spell from Cagliari had been extended until the end of the season.