Arsenal's bogeyman back at the Emirates

Arsenal and Bayern Munich kick off on Tuesday with a tie that would have been a clear favourite for the German side a few years ago but has become much more even recently, especially given the Bavarians' surprisingly poor form at the moment. Consistently outclassed in a Bundesliga in which they have even seen second place threatened and already champions in 2022-23 by a miracle after a last-day slip-up by Borussia Dortmund">Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich have fallen to Thomas Tuchel in a so-far dire 2024.
The 3-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, in which the Munich outfit began to bid farewell to the Bundesliga championship, triggered a crisis that has seen the Bavarians record more defeats in the last 10 games (5) than they have had successes in that time (4). Lazio (1-0) and Bochum (3-2) took advantage of a team that reacted to eliminate the Italians in the round of 16 (3-0) and even had the mirage of a resurrection with the 8-1 win over Mainz 05 or the 2-5 win over Darmstadt 98.
Those clubs paid the price for a team that has not been able to maintain that level of intensity, losing 2-0 to Borussia Dortmund in the 'Klassiker' and 3-2 to newly promoted Heidenheim in the most recent matchdays. The Champions League is the salvation for a team that right now does not seem to be able to cope with a much more complete Arsenal.

Tuesday's game will mark the return to London of Harry Kane. The Walthamstow striker left Tottenham in the summer and moved to a European giant where he is aiming to become this season's 'Golden Boot'. However, as if his jinx has followed him to Germany, 2023-24 is also set to be another season without silverware for the striker, who could avoid it by winning the Champions League.
Kane will face one of his best rivals historically. 19 times he has played against Arsenal, always in a Tottenham shirt, the 7th most recurrent opponent after West Ham and Chelsea (22), Manchester United (21), and Leicester, Crystal Palace and Southampton (20). Only the Foxes, with 20 goals, and Everton, with 16, have he scored more goals against them than the 14 on his derby record against the Gunners.
In addition, Kane has two assists against Arsenal, which is also the second opponent he has scored against in more different games, 12, after the 13 he scored against Leicester.
However, it is not all plain sailing for Harry Kane against the Londoners. Seven of his 14 goals against the Gunners have come from the penalty spot, making the Emirates side by far and away the all-time record leader in this category.
On the other hand, although he has managed to score 5 times and assisted on another occasion at Arsenal's stadium, visits to the Emirates have not been synonymous with outstanding performances from the centre-forward. Four of those five goals have come from penalties and only in the 1-1 draw on 8 November 2015, his first visit, did he manage to score from a set piece.
On that note, Kane's results on visits to Arsenal are no cause for hope for the striker either. Tottenham lost 5 times (3-1 in 2022, 3-1 in 2021, 2-1 in 2021, 4-2 in 2018 and 2-0 in 2017), drew 3 (2-2 in 2019, 1-1 in 2016 and 1-1 in 2015) and only won once (0-2 in 2018) with the striker on the pitch. Poor results that the striker will be looking to reverse with a much stronger team on Tuesday under Thomas Tuchel.