Arsenal can exploit Paris Saint-Germain's 'weak link' in Champions League final - they 'won't know how to handle it', says Owen Hargreaves

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Owen Hargreaves believes Paris Saint-Germain will have no answer to Arsenal's aerial dominance and has called on Mikel Arteta to focus on the "weak link" of the French side during Saturday's UEFA Champions League final in Budapest, live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

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Arsenal scored 25 set-piece goals in the Premier League this season (excluding penalties), the highest total in the division, while they also netted 19 times from corners, a new record in a single campaign.

Kai Havertz's headed winner from Bukayo Saka's dead-ball delivery was enough to secure an important 1-0 win over Burnley during the run-in, while even on the final day of the campaign at Crystal Palace, what proved to be the decisive second goal scored by Noni Madueke was again the result of a well-worked routine.

Nicolas Jover, the club's set-piece coach, will no doubt have spent the past week formulating new strategies to breach PSG's defence this weekend - and Hargreaves told TNT Sports that Arsenal must press home their "huge" height advantage if they are to have any chance of usurping the defending champions.

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"PSG's only weak link is that they're not big enough," Hargreaves said on The Breakdown. "They've only got two or three lads who are above 6ft. They'll need Fabian Ruiz on set-pieces, but if the ball is up in the air, then I think Arsenal can win.

"I know that sounds like I'm undermining them a little bit, but that's their huge advantage. If they get their set-pieces right, PSG won't know how to handle them with Gabriel getting a jump on you.

"When you think of Vitinha and Joao Neves, they're almost 'unpressable'. Arsenal are good at pressing, but they almost want the opposition to press them so they can get out and play around it.

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"It was the same when we played against Xavi and Andres Iniesta [for Manchester United against Barcelona in the Champions League final]. The message from Sir Alex [Ferguson] was not to press, don't jump. When you try that, they play around you in triangles.

"I think PSG will try to force Arsenal to play a bit more."

Ally McCoist added: "If Arsenal try to play PSG in a proper game of football, you're playing right into their hands and you wouldn't fancy them.

"You've got to do something to take PSG and Luis Enrique out of their comfort zone. You have to take them into an area where they're not happy, and that would be whether it's long throws into the box, set-plays.

"I wouldn't be surprised if, at free-kicks, PSG will have a really high line to try to clear their own box, and they'll do everything to try to prevent corners."

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Arsenal eventually finished seven points clear of Manchester City in the Premier League as victory on the final day at Crystal Palace, coupled with City's 2-1 home loss to Aston Villa, gave a more flattering complexion to the nature of Arteta's anxious battle for supremacy.

That said, The Gunners showed across the course of the campaign a greater consistency and a determination not to fall agonisingly short for a fourth successive season.

Previous failures may have been avoided had Arsenal played to their strengths and focused more on a pragmatic playing style, but Arteta's move to create a more physical outfit has paid dividends.

Hargreaves has not bought into the theory that the newly-crowned champions are in any way undeserving of their success.

"I haven't understood this whole narrative around Arsenal where people are saying it hasn't been pretty to watch," the former England midfielder continued.

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"Who cares? There are no pictures on the trophy. You've just got to win it, and you've got to lift it up. It's hard to do. We've seen how hard it was for PSG to even get to a final and then win it, when you consider all the money they've invested.

"Arsenal have found a way to be successful. I don't think they would ever have 'out-footballed' Manchester City over a 38-game season, but they found a way to be competitive, be brilliant at set-pieces and be the best defensively.

"They've had the most clean sheets, and in every other category they've been top except for goals scored. That's their blueprint to success. PSG play beautifully, so I don't think Arsenal can out-play them either, but they could beat them in a one-off game.

"If this becomes a shootout, then I think PSG will win, but if Arsenal keep it tight, they can win it."

Keown: Victory would make this Arsenal team best-ever

Arsenal have progressed serenely to a first Champions League final since defeat in Paris to Barcelona back in 2006, in the period just after Martin Keown had retired.

While Arsene Wenger battled on in search of building another title-winning team, the generation that fell short at the Parc des Princes felt like it was coming to an end.

It was Thierry Henry's penultimate season at the club, and a new era was just about to begin at the Emirates Stadium. This time feels different, and they arrive in Hungary as a more complete force.

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When asked if victory over PSG would mean Arteta's side surpassing the Invincibles as the greatest Arsenal side of all time, Martin Keown told TNT Sports: "I think it would have to.

"Optically, that Invincibles team played some really beautiful football, but in terms of achievements, if you win the Champions League, you go one better than anyone else. We weren't able to do that.

"The club weren't ever in as good a position as they are right now. Twenty years ago, we were in this position, but the club didn't really have the resources or the backing, but I feel like Arsenal are ready to do this again and again.

"In 2006, it felt like they climbed a mountain and fell off it. The club is really nicely positioned, so people are calling this group the Unforgettables. I feel they are extra special because they are on the brink of doing something that no other Arsenal team have done - which is what you strive to do when you join.

"To win the Champions League on foreign soil would bring beautiful memories, and no one could say they don't deserve it as they would've gone the entire competition unbeaten. Finding a way to win would be some achievement."

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