{"id":1992,"date":"2026-05-29T08:04:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T08:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992"},"modified":"2026-05-29T08:04:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T08:04:47","slug":"this-is-how-arsenal-can-upset-the-odds-to-beat-psg-in-the-champions-league-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992","title":{"rendered":"This is how Arsenal can upset the odds to beat PSG in the Champions League final"},"content":{"rendered":"

Attack vs. defense? Beauty vs. the beast? Art vs. science?<\/p>\n

Even if that\u2019s too simplistic a way of looking at the Champions League final<\/a> between Paris Saint-Germain<\/a> and Arsenal<\/a> on Saturday, it pretty much sums up the clash of styles likely to be on show at the Pusk\u00e1s Ar\u00e9na in Budapest<\/a> .<\/p>\n

Read more Champions League final: How PSG and Arsenal got there<\/a><\/p>\n

In one corner is Luis Enrique\u2019s PSG, the top scorer in this season\u2019s Champions League with 44 goals \u2014 that\u2019s an average of more than three per game \u2014 and the clinical, relentless juggernaut that blew away Inter Milan 5-0<\/a> in last year\u2019s title match for the biggest win in a final in the competition\u2019s 70-year history.<\/p>\n

In the other is Mikel Arteta\u2019s Arsenal, the newly crowned English champion<\/a> which owns by far the Champions League\u2019s meanest defense, a smothering off-the-ball set-up, and the most efficient, advanced set-piece threat<\/a> around.<\/p>\n

The unstoppable force vs. the immovable object?<\/p>\n

Something like that.<\/p>\n

If anyone has the tools to stop PSG from becoming just the second team to retain the title in the Champions League era, it\u2019s surely Arteta.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n

Luis Enrique is in no doubt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re the best defensive team in Europe,\u201d the PSG coach said of Arsenal, \u201cand they have been for a few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statistics bear this out.<\/p>\n

In this season\u2019s Champions League, Arsenal has kept nine clean sheets \u2014 three more than any other team \u2014and let in just six goals in its 14 games. Two of those goals came in the final round, a dead match against Kairat Almaty because Arsenal had already qualified. PSG, by comparison, has conceded 22 goals.<\/p>\n

Over in the Premier League, Arsenal had shutouts in exactly half of the 38 games in its title-winning campaign and let in just 27 goals, the fewest by eight. By the time the title was clinched with a round to spare, Arsenal had played 37 games and allowed just one shot on target or fewer in 13 of them.<\/p>\n

Arteta typically deploys a back four consisting of four center backs \u2014 a tactic first used in English soccer by his mentor, Pep Guardiola \u2014 with a screening midfielder in either Declan Rice or Martin Zubimendi in front.<\/p>\n

Get through all that and there\u2019s David Raya \u2014 arguably the Premier League\u2019s best goalkeeper this season \u2014 to bail the team out.<\/p>\n

Over his 6 1\/2 years at Arsenal, Arteta has seen the way English soccer has headed \u2014 the dominance of Manchester City, a stacked schedule because of more and expanded competitions, greater strength in depth in the Premier League because of record levels of broadcast revenue \u2014 and realized marginal gains will gain Arsenal an edge more than ever.<\/p>\n

No more so is this the case than with set-piece supremacy<\/a> , boosted by the appointment of a specialist set-piece coach in Nicolas Jover in 2021.<\/p>\n

En route to winning its first Premier League title since 2004 this season, Arsenal scored 25 of its 71 goals from dead-ball situations \u2014 more than anyone else.<\/p>\n

Read more Two protesters arrested at site of proposed main stadium for 2032 Brisbane Olympics<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s according to the competition\u2019s stats supplier Opta, which also said Arsenal has scored 19 goals from corners \u2014 a record for a single Premier League season.<\/p>\n

Arsenal has a big team \u2014 four imposing defenders and a robust No. 9 in either Viktor Gyokeres or Kai Havertz \u2014 and incisive set-piece delivery through Rice and Bukayo Saka.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be surprised if that\u2019s Arsenal\u2019s best route to a goal on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Arsenal can be a tough watch. Indeed, coming after Man City\u2019s possession-dominant style under Guardiola and Liverpool\u2019s heavy-metal approach under Jurgen Klopp, Arteta\u2019s gameplan has been underwhelming for the neutral at times in the Premier League.<\/p>\n

Yet it works.<\/p>\n

More than any side in England or in Europe, Arsenal can seem in control of games without even having the ball.<\/p>\n

Take this stat: The Gunners this season became the first team in the 34-year history of the Premier League to go through a campaign without giving away a penalty or getting a red card.<\/p>\n

In the Champions League, Arsenal didn\u2019t receive a single yellow card in the quarterfinals or semifinals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know their ability to play without the ball \u2014 they are the best team in the world in that regard,\u201d Luis Enrique said. \u201cAnd with the ball, they are capable of scoring many goals. It\u2019s a fascinating combination.\u201d<\/p>\n

It sounds a strange thing to say about a club that hasn\u2019t played in a Champions League final for 20 years, but Arsenal is heading into the biggest club game in European soccer with the pressure off.<\/p>\n

Winning the Premier League for the first time since 2004 has removed a weight off players who were carrying heavy expectations after so many near misses in recent seasons \u2014 three straight runner-up finishes in the Premier League, a Champions League semifinal last season, even losing the English League Cup final in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the champions and that brings a lot of confidence and a different kind of presence and energy to it,\u201d Arteta said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked about already what we have to do in Budapest and how we\u2019re going to use all the incredible energy that we all carry into that final.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more U.S. coach is wooed by European power just as World Cup arrives<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arsenal is the underdog heading into the Champions League final against defending champion Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nThis is how Arsenal can upset the odds to beat PSG in the Champions League final - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This is how Arsenal can upset the odds to beat PSG in the Champions League final - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Arsenal is the underdog heading into the Champions League final against defending champion Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-29T08:04:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1992#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1992\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"This is how Arsenal can upset the odds to beat PSG in the Champions League final\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-29T08:04:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1992\"},\"wordCount\":918,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1992#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0e4bc55596fd7fd0d0a967e391a73c0a.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1992#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1992\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1992\",\"name\":\"This is how Arsenal can upset the odds to beat PSG in the Champions League final - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1992#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1992#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0e4bc55596fd7fd0d0a967e391a73c0a.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-29T08:04:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1992#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1992\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1992#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0e4bc55596fd7fd0d0a967e391a73c0a.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0e4bc55596fd7fd0d0a967e391a73c0a.jpeg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=1992#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"This is how Arsenal can upset the odds to beat PSG in the Champions League final\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving Insider USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"This is how Arsenal can upset the odds to beat PSG in the Champions League final - Moving Insider USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"This is how Arsenal can upset the odds to beat PSG in the Champions League final - Moving Insider USA","og_description":"Arsenal is the underdog heading into the Champions League final against defending champion Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday","og_url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992","og_site_name":"Moving Insider USA","article_published_time":"2026-05-29T08:04:47+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"headline":"This is how Arsenal can upset the odds to beat PSG in the Champions League final","datePublished":"2026-05-29T08:04:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992"},"wordCount":918,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0e4bc55596fd7fd0d0a967e391a73c0a.jpeg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992","name":"This is how Arsenal can upset the odds to beat PSG in the Champions League final - Moving Insider USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0e4bc55596fd7fd0d0a967e391a73c0a.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-05-29T08:04:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0e4bc55596fd7fd0d0a967e391a73c0a.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0e4bc55596fd7fd0d0a967e391a73c0a.jpeg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1992#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"This is how Arsenal can upset the odds to beat PSG in the Champions League final"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/","name":"Moving Insider USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/97"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}