Arsenal will be keen to return to winning ways when they take on Aston Villa this afternoon, and our luck on the injury front has continued.
The Gunners have no new absences to contend with at present, with Mikel Arteta confirming to Arsenal Media that we will continue to take extra precautions with Takehiro Tomyasu after he aggravated a previous injury. The boss also admitted that ESR had an issue prior to the recent Liverpool outing also but he is claimed to have been fine since.
Predicted Arsenal XI:
Ramsdale
Cedric White Gabriel Tierney
Partey Xhaka
Saka Odegaard Martinelli
Lacazette
Once again, we are expecting the manager to name an unchanged line-up a we have grown accustomed to in recent weeks, despite Emile Smith Rowe’s availability.
This team should have more than enough in the locker to be winning this matchup, with our rivals not showing the most consistency this term, while Philippe Coutinho could well pose as the danger man that will need taking care of.
Do you think Smith Rowe should come into the side today? Could our lack of changes start to take it’s toll on the squad?
Patrick
I just pray we get 3 points from this match.
My head tells me it will be a draw.
Arsenal havènt drawn a mat ch for some.
Our Norwegian could not make much
headway against Pool.This is to be expected
Jota was given time and space.Arteta shd have 2/3 players surround him.
If Countino is isolated,I fear the worst.
Three games in hand could become one or none if the gunners fail to win
I like two parts of the season most. The first ten games when everything seems new and hope is in the air. And the last ten games when league position and all the big trophies are decided. We are entering this final phase with real hope of top 4 for the first time in 5 seasons. It really does feel like top 4 will be a trophy. Liverpool was a free hit. But Villa 15 points behind us is a game we need to and we should win keep our top 4 push intact. These sort of games are the real test of our credentials. Squeaky bum time looms
I would like to see abit of rotation today maybe a start for ESR and Pepe ,freshen up the first 11 ,couple of players looked leggy on Wednesday .
Yeah, definitely would like to see Saka rested and Pepe in at least
Yes Dan I believe he will tweak it a little bit , less recovery warrants that. 3pts and we are back on track
Can’t believe we are on the same page on this!! lol
Lacazette is too old and too slow.
Also, he massively panics in front of goal whenever he’s in a one-on-one. His performances have been laughable. all these comments I keep seeing like ‘yes but he’s good off the pitch’, doesn’t help.
Even Donkey would be better selection or play Pepe as a forward. Anything is better than Lacazette
Villa will be well drilled & tight on players like EG. Martinelli, doing their best to keep them under control. Scoring first would help. On paper Arsenal should win this, but all Prermier League teams can be dangerous these days, so still got to work hard for it.
Yes Dan I believe he will tweak it a little bit , less recovery warrants that. 3pts and we are back on track
We are seeing arsenal on form however a striker is one of our major weakness
Let’s get back to winning.
Get the liverpool game out of out heads and just focus on today’s match (Villa).
He should starte with pepe instead of saka
For me unlike everyone else who is broken by the defeat of our previous game i can see a beginning of another unbeaten run that will include the utd,spuds and chelski games.COYG
Nketiah should come in for Lacazette
He offers work rate as well, And he should be playing more often and the best strike partners for saka and ESR cos he knows them too well from the academy
If Laca isn’t scoring then why is he starting
Whatever he is doing at 30.. anyone can also do it, let alone a youngster
We are killing our chances by playing Lacazette
We can’t keep relying on our young wingers and Ode for goals all the time..
Lastly aside from Lacazette not actually scoring, he too needs rest.. He should be one of or the most hardworking player on the team but instead we are always talking about resting Saka or Martineli when Lacazette puts in the real shift and at 30 and nobody calls for rotation on him
Feels like a real make or break match to me … win and regain momentum lose and could trigger a slide … would love to see a starting line with esr martinelli and Pepe ( just to give saka a break) with partey twinned with anyone but xhaka … won’t happen though
I agree Buddy, given that we don’t have many strikers in the squad now that Auba has left and Balogun has gone on loan it does surprise me that Eddie still hasn’t started a League game for us this season, that is a lot to do with Laca being Captain I think, but as you say maybe today with Laca playing twice already this week
RW1, not sure I agree today is make or break, I don’t think a loss would trigger a slide myself, we would still be in the fight
I reckon a draw today would be OK but we are capable of a win for sure
Enjoy the game all
We are gonna pay for these missed chances, the same happened in Liverpool game . To be honest don’t renew the contracts of laca and nketiah, buy 2 new strikers in the summer