FIT: Arsenal footballers warm up at a training session on Monday ahead of Tuesday night’s match against Dinamo Zagreb. Picture: REUTERS/MATTHEW CHILDS

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LONDON — Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger still believes his side have a "strong chance" to qualify for the Champions League last 16 for a 16th consecutive season as the Premier League side and Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb face a do-or-die contest.

With both sides struggling at the foot of Group F, each six points adrift of Bayern Munich and Olympiakos Piraeus, their chances will be buried unless one of them can win at the Emirates Stadium Tuesday night.

Even then, they have to rely on the prospect that Bayern and Olympiakos do not play out a draw at the Allianz Arena.

Yet Wenger’s hopes will have been raised by a period of turmoil for Zagreb, who were hit by two scandals in a space of three days last week.

Their CEO, Zdravko Mamic, was arrested last Wednesday for alleged transfer irregularities, and midfielder Arijan Ademi was handed a four-year doping ban on Friday after testing positive following Dinamo’s 2-1 home win over the Gunners in September.

Wenger is remaining optimistic that his side, whose faltering form continued with a 2-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, can still overcome long odds and continue their remarkable record of consistently reaching the last 16.

"If you ask my deep gut feeling, I want to stay in the Champions League," the Frenchman told reporters when asked if failing to make the last 16 might actually aid their Premier League title ambitions.

"We will give absolutely everything to stay in the Champions League. I think we still have a strong chance, but it will be very tight now."

After watching his side being hammered 5-1 at Bayern Munich in their last European outing, Wenger said: "Let’s hope Bayern beat Olympiakos and we win at home against Zagreb, which would leave us with a chance to qualify from the last game."

Meanwhile, John Terry believes Chelsea’s fortunes could be changing as the struggling English champions travel to Israel with the prospect of qualifying for the knock-out stages.

The Blues captain was in upbeat mood after Chelsea’s 1-0 Premier League win over Norwich City on Saturday.

Terry believes the win could help re-energise their season, starting with a victory against Maccabi Tel Aviv Tuesday night that would secure Chelsea’s qualification from Group G should Porto not lose to Dynamo Kiev.

"We have three points on the board now in the Premier League and switch focus to the Champions League again," Terry told Chelsea TV.

"We’re delighted to win. Relieved as well. Hopefully, we can put ourselves on a good run of games now and climb up this table. We can build on this now and hopefully get another win in the Champions League (on Tuesday)."

The Norwich win, secured by a goal from the recently out-of-sorts Diego Costa, was only the team’s fourth league victory from 13 games, but they still lie 15th on the table with José Mourinho’s immediate future as manager still very much under the spotlight.

Qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League would represent further welcome respite and Maccabi, who are bottom of Group G without having picked up a single point in their four games, should hold few concerns.

Reuters