Arsenal vs Doncaster Preview by Jon
A disciplined performance against Chelsea on Sunday gave many Arsenal fans optimism moving forward. Wenger’s men mark themselves as the only side to prevent Conte’s Chelsea from scoring at home since his arrival in April 2016. More importantly, Arsenal finally succeeded in stopping the rot against their London rivals at the Bridge after five successive defeats.
Interestingly, there was a distinct lack of Alexis Sanchez or Mesut Ozil in the team who delivered a professional display against the blues. And whichever side you sit on in relation to the debate, it’s difficult not to see certain individuals looking spirited by their absence. Wenger may look to exclude the pair once again for the midweek cup tie in a bid to maintain this hunger in his side; particularly given the question marks hanging over Ozil’s fitness still.
It’s likely that a rotation policy will be employed against the weak opposition with several youngsters and fringe players expected to appear. These will probably include Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Chuba Akpom, Mohamed Elneny, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Calum Chambers and David Ospina. Rob Holding and Alex Iwobi could retain their places from Sunday’s team as Wenger looks to mould both talents into permanent fixtures in the senior squad. Reiss Nelson ranks highly on players Arsenal fans wish to see utilised on Wednesday. Many believe he should be given the opportunity to start which would certainly be a considerably less substantial risk than usual given the quality of the opposition.
A man that earned himself a senior debut nine years ago in this competition could feature in Jack Wilshere. The 25-year old is expected to start in the midfield alongside Elneny after making a substitute appearance in the Gunner’s 3-1 win over Koln last Thursday.
As for the visitors, they have suffered a reasonably dire start to the season. Darren Ferguson’s side are currently hovering above the bottom four in League One, adrift only by goal difference. Sunday marked the third time that Rovers have failed to find the net this season, suffering a frustrating 1-0 home loss at the hands of Scunthorpe this time round. Despite dominating the visitors for increased spells during the game, Doncaster’s potency in front of goal ultimately cost them.
Marquis poses the biggest threat for the lower league team, scoring three league goals so far as well as striking the post during Sunday’s match. But the home advantage coupled with the sheer divide between quality in the two sides should see Arsenal cruise to a landslide victory.
by Jon from missingstudsfootball