Gael Clichy has spotted a problem at Arsenal that could stop them winning the Champions League

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Without Bukayo Saka against Shakhtar Donetsk, Arsenal weren’t at their best by any means, but they got the job done with a 1-0 win.

Arsenal have now qualified for the Champions League knockout stages, but it remains to be seen if they’ll finish in one of the top eight places to automatically progress to the next round.

Despite the win on Tuesday evening, there’s still a bit of a glum feeling around the Emirates Stadium right now, the disappointment of another red card and the defeat against Bournemouth is still lingering.

Arsenal could be without seven players against Liverpool, an unavailability list that continues to grow.

Liverpool are now four points ahead of Arsenal in first place, meaning it already looks like something of a must-win for the hosts.

Gael Clichy has spotted something that’s still ‘missing’ at Arsenal

With a focus back on Arsenal’s prospects in the Champions League this season, former Gunner Gael Clichy was asked about whether he thought Mikel Arteta’s side could win it this season.

Clichy was speaking as part of Amazon Prime Sport’s coverage of the game, and seemed impressed with Arsenal in aspects.

READ MORE: Gabriel Martinelli believes £30m Arsenal star has now become one of the best players in the world

However, the former full-back concluded that Arsenal were still missing a player with a big of magic.

Clichy said: “I don’t know if they can win it, you know, it’s a long way and like I said, we don’t talk about this a lot but I think you need to be lucky as well in this competition.

“You need your player to be fit on the right moment, you need to produce big games in big moments.

“Can Arsenal do it? When I look at the results from last year, Aston Villa at home, the 0-0 against City, the 2-2 against City, the game against Bayern Munich.

“I still feel they are missing a little something, if they can add this fearlessness, and this more adventurous character, I think they can go all the way.

“But so far, they still need to prove that they can do it. But you go all the way by winning those sort of games [against Shakhtar Donetsk] even if you don’t play well.”

Mesut Ozil might have the solution for Arsenal

When it comes to that ‘je ne sais quoi’, it’s hard to not mention Mesut Ozil’s name from the past, the kind of player Clichy might be suggesting that Arsenal are missing right now.

Fortunately, Ozil offered Arsenal some transfer advice of late, pointing out who he believed would be the next big star in European football.

Gabriel Martinelli embodies the characteristics that Clichy is describing, however the winger hasn’t been at his consistent before over the last few months.

Martinelli was excellent at Shakhtar Donetsk, but he now needs to follow-up that form against Liverpool on Sunday.

A huge tie for Arteta to restore some confidence in N5 after a fairly indifferent start to the campaign.