Monaco vs Arsenal preview: Six reasons the Gunners can beat Monaco and progress in the Champions League

Arsenal are facing an uphill task - but they have the quality to progress

(Getty Images)

ARSENAL ARE IN SENSATIONAL FORM

Since that defeat on 25 February, Arsenal have won all four of their matches, beating Everton, Queens Park Rangers, Manchester United and West Ham.

In the last two matches especially Arsenal have been excellent. Although they needed a poor Antonio Valencia back pass to win at Old Trafford, they were the better team throughout and United had to thank the brilliant David De Gea to keep the score down.

Against West Ham they were rampant, scoring three brilliant goals that epitomised the free-flowing football Arsenal are renowned for.

The Gunners will enter the match full to the brim with confidence.

OLIVIER GIROUD WON'T BE THAT BAD AGAIN

The French striker has quietly had a brilliant season for Arsenal, scoring 14 goals and adding four assists in just 17 appearances in all competitions.

In the first leg he suffered arguably the worst 90 minutes of his Arsenal career, missing three excellent chances against the Ligue 1 side. There is no way Giroud will even be half as bad as that in the Stade Louis II on Tuesday night, after a barnstorming performance against the Hammers.

Theo Walcott should've scored in the opening minutes from a beautiful Giroud flick, he scored an absolute belter to open the scoring, set Ramsey up for an excellent second goal and provided a sublime touch round the corner in the build up to the third.

Not only is he entering the match off the back of a great performance, he'll be desperate to right the wrongs of the first leg.

Olivier Giroud was hauled off after a terrible performance in the first leg (GETTY IMAGES)

AARON RAMSEY BACK AND AMONG THE GOALS

Arsenal always have injury problems but one of their most influential players is back and almost at full fitness. Aaron Ramsey missed the first leg through injury but was another who put in a top performance against West Ham, scoring his first goal since 9 December and providing a killer pass for Mathieu Flamini's third.

It's not yet clear whether Wenger will trust the Welshman to start in the principality but if he does, expect him to have a similar effect - his telepathic understanding with Mesut Ozil also makes the German a much bigger threat.

PER MERTESACKER HAS LEARNT HIS LESSON

The BFG was terrible in the first leg, at fault for a couple of goals, and was promptly dropped for the wins against Everton and QPR.

But he has been reinstalled by Arsene Wenger in the last couple of matches, partially because Gabriel Paulista picked up an injury, and is yet to put a foot wrong.

Like Giroud, Mertesacker will also be keen to make up for his errors in the first game.

MONACO'S GAME PLAN

Monaco are in a strong position but Leonardo Jardim may be caught in two minds about which way to approach the game. Do they attempt to shut up shop completely and stop the visitors from playing, inviting immense pressure in the process, or do they try and play slightly more on the front foot, leaving themselves open the counter-attack.

It was something that Chelsea couldn't work out against Paris Saint-Germain last week - in a similar position (though not as strong) the Blues went for the conservative approach rather than kill of Laurent Blanc's team.

Ultimately it cost them.

What way will Leonardo Jardim approach the game? (Getty Images)

BAYERN MUNICH GIVES ARSENAL HOPE

In each of the last two seasons Arsenal went out at the hands of Bayern Munich, needing to turn over poor first leg defeats at the hands of the dominant Germans.

In both matches they gave very good accounts of themselves - winning 2-0 in 2013 and drawing 1-1 last year - and although neither result was enough to see them through, they showed that Arsenal can perform when they need to.

Monaco are nowhere close to the team that Bayern Munich were, so Arsenal have every reason to believe they can score the three goals required.