Arsenal host Premier League strugglers Watford tonight at the Emirates, in an important week of fixtures.
The Gunners will be confident of walking away with all the points, while Premier League leaders travel to Anfield to take on fourth-placed Liverpool. We simply cannot afford to not win today to take advantage of the points dropped by one or more of their rivals. The win is also all the more important as we look to go into the weekend’s trip to Chelsea ourselves, where we will need to be at the top of our game to come away with a victory.
The Hornets wont be confident of coming away with any points, but will need to be scrapping for some should they draw ever-closer to that relegation zone. They currently have an eight-point cushion over the third and final relegation spot, but their form has them at serious risk of joining the fight for a place in the top division.
Arsenal have won the last seven consecutive league encounters between our two side, with Watford winning the eighth one back in 1988, but will be able to take a little confidence from their cup win over us last season, which I have to say, they deserved.
I don’t get to say this much, but we have almost a full squad of players fit to feature tonight, with only Santi Cazorla sidelined through injury, while Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny are out due to suspension and international duty.
We also have a tough battle for places for our attacking roles, with Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck having nailed their returns to the first-team this weekend, and with Lucas Perez, Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud, Alex Iwobi and Mesut Ozil all worthy of starting today.
Predicted XI:
Cech
Bellerin Mustafi Koscielny Monreal
Coquelin Ramsey
Iwobi Ozil Sanchez
Giroud
Our team should be buzzing with confidence at present, and I expect it to show. I’m expecting a dominating display, with Arsenal taking a lead into the half-time interval, before adding to it in the second-half. I’m going for a 4-0 win today, with one or two of those coming from the bench of hungry forwards we are bound to have.
What are your predictions?
Pat J