Arsenal face CSKA Moscow tonight in the first leg of the Europa League quarter finals.
The Gunners will be eager to get a comfortable lead before making the dreaded trip to Russia in a week’s time, a country we have failed to win in our four trips there under UEFA regulations.
It will be interesting to see if any political tensions spill over to affect the crowds with Theresa May having accused Vladamir Putin of wrongdoing of late, and you would hope that our players will be able to keep their concentration levels up to the max regardless.
We should be boosted by the return of Alexandre Lacazette to our European squad, and having missed the weekend’s encounter due to injury, we may see Petr Cech displace Ospina for tonight’s match also.
Predicted line-up:
Cech
Bellerin Mustafi Koscielny Monreal
Xhaka Ramsey
Mkhitaryan Wilshere Ozil
Lacazette
This team should be able to give us the lead needed to put the tie to bed, especially considering how well we have played in the competition thus far, tied with our home form across all stages.
Laca may not be 100% as of yet, but he looked ready to give his all at the weekend, and I will be so happy to see him back in the line-up, especially in the place of Danny Welbeck whose finishing could do with some work.
The Russians will not be huge underdogs in the tie, but with us being able to concentrate on the competition we should put them to the sword tonight.
I’m going to go for a nice 3-0 victory, with Lacazette adding to his goal on Sunday.
What are your predictions?
Pat J
I’ll take any win. COYG!
Cska moscow will sit back which may frustrate us.
my prediction is 2-0 or 1-0
mesut ozil with the goal(s).
lacazette wll score a brace,i hope he is going to be on fire tonight
Ken 1945, please read my reply to your “Wenger lying” question on the previous thread with “Wenger in dreamland” heading. I only saw your fallacious question after the threads had moved on.
Not like you to let a “fallacious” question go without an indignant rebuttle. Glad to see you not only rectified the matter but also gave us all the option to read it. I’ll pass thnx. Do love you, jon.
I hope we win & Iwobi doesn’t play
iwobi can come good under a diff manager.
check Chamberlain what a game he had yesterday he even scored a cracker. Wenger out. arsenal 4:0 cska coyg
Sorry but it’s getting really boring hearing about Ox
lmao, mate.
Nice prediction ?
quite. wish him wellish… but he used to score the occasional great goal for us in between looking bemused & some unfortunate injuries. sorry sue, you said you were bored of the topic & I piled in with my 2penceworth. oh well that’s online forums for you!! Appreciate your comments & spirit , sue. 🙂
I would think one has to happen for the other to occur
2-1 it will be hard game, but nontheless i expect a win. Ramsey and wilshere to score
@Arseneout, Wilshere has scored his last goal for this season.
I think we have a 70/30 chance to progress through this round. But against Lazio we are 40/60 to go out and against Atletico I give us no more than 5 % chance, even at our best. Hence the chance of winning the Europa is vanishingly small, to us realists.
Jon, we all know your opinions by now – you have made yourself clear on countless occasions, but could you please hold your legendary sour negativity in check at least until after the match? If Arsenal are terrible, then feel free to let loose, but in the meantime there are real Arsenal supporters on this site who actually want their team to win tonight’s match and the Europa Cup. Thanks for your understanding.
Joey , you disagree with me and think that gives you the right to state that I am not a “real” fan, despite attending almost 60 years, when in rage and frustration at how badly our club is being run, not only by Wnger but also those above him, that I resolved never to give another penny to the club of my heart, my life, while charletans run and manage it. How dare you say I am not a real fan, because I give my honest opinions on a site for Arsenal fans? EH? What makes you think you have the right to tell someone of my 60 years attending that I am not “real.”? You have no conception how silly you sound making childish and low IQ comments as you have . You should apologise to me and would do so, were YOU a real man.
On the contrary, Jon, I know all about your 60 years of being a fan, etc etc – everyone on this site does! You never let up about it. But just because you keep on playing the same old record, doesn’t mean we have to listen, let alone like it. Lighten up, loosen up, lose a little of your rage and enjoy tonight’s match. At your age, you have probably deserved some fun! COYG!!!
jon is that really you? (5% seems generous for you) & who are these “realists” you claim to have with you? they’re not Imaginary realists are they? Are you at home, discussing how bleak the club’s future is, with an entourage of imaginary realistic friends who all agree with you? careful, wouldn’t want arsene wenger claiming that- “you’re the delusional old fool who’s run out of ideas and worthwhile contributions to arsenal & maybe before we axe him, we could probably get rid of you first” cos that would be harsh.
Comon you gunners. Laca two goals today or maybe a hattrick ??
You guys we are fav. Other teams do fear as more then we do fear them so dont be all so negative about the games to come
I predict 3-1
Rambo , Ozil and Laca .
Sorry to be a party pooper but even if we get past CSKA we will have to play Atletico Madrid sooner or later unless some underdog does us a favour. This is a team that’s ranked 4th in Europe by virtue of being of being 1 point off the 2nd placed team (Barcelona) and 3rd placed team (Bayern) and currently lies 2nd in the top ranked league in europe. We are ranked 10th in europe and lie 6th in the 3rd ranked league in Europe.
Just to name drop a bit:
GK: Oblak
Defenders: Godin, Filipe Luis, Savic, Juanfran
Midfielders: Koke, Gabi, Mendes
Attackers: Vitolo, Griezmann, Torres, Correa, Diego Costa
Sorry but this will feel like the EFL cup final against Man City.
I’m not sure I agree with you on this.We are capable of beating AM in a one off game.Last seasons FA Cup Final proved this when we easily beat Chelski who were odds on favourites on the day.
We can only play it one game at a time but we have got it in us to win this cup.
Thank God for realists like you among all the one eyed ones on here. I want us to win the Europa but recognise that with such as BELLERIN, XHAKA, IWOBI AND WELBECK in the team / squad , we are not going to. Telling the truth upsets some fans. I can never understand why so many people are afraid of the truth. Most of them hope Wenger stays. HOW SAD !
How silly of me to overlook Elneny too. If only WENGER HAD DONE SO ALSO!
Yes Jon, agree those mentioned should be nowhere near the AFC campus, let alone play for the club as none have improved after joining us.
They have no caliber unlike the younger teams Arsene played in last decade. Song, Nasri, Fabrigas, rosisky, hleb were skilled players.Who brought them here, I really don’t know and why.
it’s not true until it happens-its your opinion, mate. anything can happen and that’s why they still play the matches rather than let your “realistic” thinktank of doom generate the results. How re you calculating these statistical predictions?
Yeah the team could lose but they could win & are on a good run atm.
If enjoying the team’s success when they win & hoping they put things right when they lose, is denying some fundamental TRUTH (yeah caps for emphasis) then I can’t HANDLE YOUR TRUTH! I can, it’s just boring, repetitive and aggressive! lots of love!
I appreciate that without Aubameyang and without Lacazette at 100% Its going to be even tougher but I hope we can still not just win but win big. We did it against AC Milan so even though that doesn’t mean it will happen against Moscow, we are still capable of it.
Almost always i am happy with any win but this match i will be only satisfied with a win or draw.
I would be happier with a big win because if not the 2nd leg will be nerve racking. It’s mainly because of my health. I don’t want a heart attack watching the 2nd leg
Also, think about it. The first match is a home match so if we don’t do well at home it will be extra tough to do well away
So hopefully we can win big tonight, if not then any win will be fine or draw will be ok i guess.
Should be an easy win. But Wenger’s teams have an ability to turn easy wins into embarrassing losses.
3-0 to the Arsenal
As usual I want wenger out , however, I won’t put a penny into Arsenal until he’s gone and I will still want us to win