England 3 Italy 0! Wenger backs his Gunners to join United and Chelsea in sinking Serie A trio

Arsene Wenger has backed the three Barclays Premier League clubs to come out on top in their Champions League battle with Serie A.

• The Arsenal manager’s side take on Roma at Emirates Stadium tonight with Manchester United kicking off against Inter Milan in the San Siro at the same time.
• Tomorrow, Chelsea complete the hat-trick of Anglo-Italian first-leg fixtures, in the knock-out round, at home to Juventus.
• English clubs have a successful record against Serie A opponents in recent seasons and Wenger sees no reason for the pattern to change despite the arrival of former Premier League managers Claudio Ranieri at Juventus and Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan.
• The Frenchman said: “It’s difficult to assess but we will have good perspective on it after the three games the English teams play against the Italian teams in this round.
• “There are three good Italian teams, Inter, Juventus and Roma, and they are against three good English teams which will give us a view of how strong we are.
• “I believe we we are strong enough to beat them but in the Champions League at that level, it is down to keeping mistakes to a minimum and being in good form on the day – and being decisive in your chance. They are all the qualities that the English teams will want to show.”
• But Roma coach Luciano Spalletti disputes Wenger’s assessment and claims he would put money on his side delivering the goods against Arsenal tonight.
• Last season’s Serie A runners-up go into the encounter having lost their last five matches on English soil. But they beat Chelsea to top their qualifying group and have since shown strong form domestically.
• Spalletti said: “We are always self-confident and my players can always have confidence in the team. Our outlook and our preparation are the same.
• “I would bet on a good Roma performance. We have often lost when we have come to England but the statistics are not important.
• “Arsenal’s group of players have great tradition but maybe they are a bit too young.”