With all of the first round of international games now done and dusted, Arsenal can get back to business and our season really starts to hot up, with our first domestic cup action coming up along with the Champions League group stages and the Premier League to consider.
This week is a big one for the Gunners, with a trip to France to face PSG in the middle of two Premier League games against Southampton and Hull City that we must surely win to keep up with the early EPL pacesetters. As well as challenging for the title, though, Arsene Wenger and the players will be desperate to end our long run of finishing as runners up in Europe and having to face one of the group winners in the next stage.
The French champions are clearly our main rivals for top spot so we could really do with at least a point on Tuesday. With injury problems and fitness concerns I would think that the boss would want to rotate at least some of the players for Saturday and Tuesday but he will also want as strong a side as possible for both matches.
I still think we can do this, however, because the two games are likely to be different and so maybe different teams would be better suited to each one. Against the Saints at home I think we can be more adventurous and start with the more creative Santi Cazorla and Granit Xhaka in midfield. Against PSG we need to be more solid and so Coquelin with either Ramsey or Elneny might be the better option.
Wenger may also want to start with a different forward lines, such as Giroud through the middle on Saturday and the new striker Lucas Perez in Paris, where his pace and counter attacking ability will be more useful. I would also consider saving Alexis Sanchez for the Champions League match in order for him to be as fresh as possible.
How much do you think Wenger can afford to rotate the Arsenal squad for these crucial clashes?
Bob.
The only change I’d expect to see is Perez taking girouds place after Southampton against psg as there won’t be much space in behind against saints this is where giroud is handy .also I’d expect mustafi to come straight in and stay there.why would we rest players 3 games into a season! Barcelona rest nobody all season
Haha never read the full article u said pretty much what I said apologies,although I do believe cazorla and xhaka should play against psg I believe we can win and must try to coquelin is second choice now for me and should only play when xhaka is unavailable.cazorla puts a shift in and will be key starting off counter attacks something coquelin won’t do
For Southampton:
Cech
Bellerin – Mustafi – Koscielny – Gibbs
Xhaka – Cazorla
Walcott – Ozil – Sanchez
Giroud
For PSG:
Cech
Bellerin – Mustafi – Koscielny – Monreal
Coquelin – Ramsey
Oxlade – Ozil – Sanchez
Perez
Lets play our strongest squad
We’ll finish second in our CL group and bow out in the quarter finals anyway…
This is where we must trust Wenger. He knows the abilities, availability and fitness of his squad better than we do. And these things can vary from one game to the next.
My guess…….. the squad will change, but not much.
The Martin Skrtyl sending off for his foul on Kane is now getting more comical… He now claims Kane was “attempting” to provoke him by playing closer to Skrtyl in “his” area of defense.
So you see, the fact that Skrtyl got a second yellow for a hard foul (when he actually deserved a straight red for the subsequent stamp on Kane’s leg) was actually KANES FAULT for daring to play in the area Skrtyl was defending and for “getting close” to Skrtyl in the process.
The nerve of that fella, Kane.
In reality Skrtyl just does not know how play/defend without cheating and he is not accustomed to the refs actually punishing his repeated cheating so he lashes out at Kane. This sounds like the schoolyard tantrum of a year old. “It’s all YOUR fault I acted badly.
Anything less than wins in those two games would make me believe we are not yet ready to challenge for titles.
And any hopes for this season will be cancelled
Do you know how many games PSG lose at home every season?
A comprehensive win against Southampton and a draw away to PSG would be a good result. I feel we can win both games. PSG will be very adventurous. We need to be compact, discipline and hit them on the counter. They play well in the first half of games. It is all about game management. We won’t loose in France.
A comprehensive win against Southampton and a draw away to PSG would be a good result. I feel we can win both games. PSG will be very adventurous. We need to be compact, discipline and hit them on the counter. They play well in the first half of games. It is all about game management. We won’t lose in France.
key to avoiding this: start ur best XI in both games which includes Perez upfront (not Giroud) and Mustafi in CB(not Holding).
.
we can make subs after we are leading comfortably or rotate against HullCity and NottinghamForest