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Confirmed teams for crunch Brighton v Arsenal game – A strong Arsenal line-up

Arsenal must try their hardest to get all three points in every single game to keep us neck and neck with Chelsea in the race for Top Four, and we have been told that Unai Emery is still refusing to rest any players during this Xmas glut of fixtures.

So with this in mind I chose a strong predicted line-up for today’s game at Brighton when I wrote my game preview earlier…

Leno
Lichtsteiner..Koscielny..Xhaka..Sokratis..Kolasinac
Torreira..Guendouzi
Ozil..Ramsey
Aubameyang

And here is Emery’s confirmed selection….

I must admit I’m surprised to see Lacazette and Aubameyang both starting. The boss really must be going for it!

So other than Laca starting instead of Ramsey, I had predicted the same side. So the next question i; Did I get the formation right?

Admin

PS And for those Brighton fans watching, here is the Seagulls’ line-up as well….

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81 Comments

  3. Ramsey should be starting matches like this for f**k sake?…what are we paying him for?? Now we all have to watch this match on our toes hoping Torreiera doesn’t get a yellow.. I hope his selection doesn’t come back to bite him against Liverpool.. I’m so worried now, If Niles should play midfield in stead of Torreira it would’ve been so so much better..
    COYG!! F**king Spurs just keep going and going

    1. Why Guendouzi keeps starting week in week out despite not doing well and needing a rest is beyond me.What does AMN need to do to get a get at CM or even Ramsey?If I was AMN I’d advise myself for the next season.The club will not wait for him to become a star because and he’s done well when even played out of position.He’s a better defender and dribbler than Bellerin at RB but the one and huge problem is that he lacks the understanding of a fullback which means it’s just like putting a CM at fullback which in the long run will not work.Shame he doesn’t start and to me we are putting a possible world class talent on the bench.

      1. Three minutes in Xhaka gives the ball away leading to a dangerous Brighton counter yet people will still tell you Xhaka needs Torreira and Torreira needs Xhaka.We even have a quality youngster who had MOTM at Old Trafford but is deemed too young enough and said to be just another overrated English youngster by some.

  6. Well the major worry is Koscielny. He’s cost us 3, possibly even 4 goals in just 2 games since his return. If he wasn’t playing against Southampton, I have no doubt we wouldn’t have lost. Other than that, the team basically picks itself.

  7. Maybe 4-1-2-1-2:

    ………………………….Leno
    Lichtsteiner . Koscielny . Sokratis . Kolasinac
    …………………………Xhaka
    ……………Torreira …………. Guendouzi
    …………………………..Ozil
    ……Aubameyang ……………… Lacazette

  8. City pull your fingers out… the spuds will go joint 2nd… defo don’t want them winning the league, but then I don’t want Liverpool to win it either ????
    Come on Arsenal!

    1. City losing with 5 minutes to go. That’s why we need city to be the only one standing out, so when they have an iffy season, hopefully we can be the ones to take advantage so long as we keep improving. Really don’t want Liv to pass on them before we’ve even made it into the top four. I don’t know why some AFC fans say it’s good for the league, it’s bad for us.

      1. That’s a real pisser… along with Spuds scoring 5 & Liverpool scoring 4!!! We really need to win & I’d love Watford to win too ?
        COYG

  9. Ozil plays again, and it’s away, so things look a little smoother in the relationship. Not sure about the back four, looks 433, no mishaps hopefully. We really need this one lads.

    Lacazette and Aubameyang together is the main thing though, I saw someone trying to prove Ozil of doing well by saying, X, Y and Z playing with Auba and looking crap on the creative front. Then saying how Laca, Auba and Ozil done good recently, so it means Ozil is the best. Auba and Laca, I seen the same X, Y, Z playing with those two and they done very well at times, in fact our run was in larger part to Laca, Auba, X, Y and Z, than any other combinations.

    I believe the person who mentioned it will understand this, and maybe some who read it, will have any idea of who X, Y, and Z, could be.

  13. Nile did very well last time and I would take him any day in place of Litchsteiner. I would also replace Guendouzi with Ramsey

    1. Our fans making the Alex stadium their home!!!!!! I love the spirit!!! Singing Torreira hoooooh…???
      COYG!

  15. Xhaka adds nothing to the midfield one of the most clueless players I’ve seen in a long time … Absolutely nothing there save ocassional crossball … Would prefer Ramsey there at least he understands the idea of moving ball forward sometimes …

    1. Just twenty-two years and I’ve not watched Arsenal as long as most of you here have but I can’t even believe older fans even rate him.I mean how on earth can this be the midfielder some Arsenal fans want to be a mainstay and be the captain of the team?At times I keep scratching my head,observing and wondering what’s so special about him and still can’t find many positives and even for the few miles away from being good enough.I still maintain that when AMN is given a run of three games in the first team at CM neither Guendouzi nor Xhaka will be able to displace him from the team again.

  17. The truth of the matter is we don’t really have enough quality to be in top 4 so we depend on other teams screwing up to stand a chance of CL football … Possible but it’s a pretty sad state of affairs for a club with its ostensible resources …

  18. Only last week I said why is Xhaka taking corners. Brighton’s equaliser is exactly the reason I questioned it.

  20. In fact we need to sign 2 top quality CBs in January if we want that top four spot. Koulibaly and Skriniar though I doubt we’ll get any in January. We need 2 top quality defenders else we’re screwed.

  22. You simply cannot rely on the Arsenal defence.
    Another sloppy goal conceded.
    The Arsenal defence needs a complete rebuild.
    I am sure Emery will make his mark on that defence – Wenger may have been happy with it but Emery cannot be….

    2. Let’s be fair, it was Litch who messed up, instead of heading it out wide for a throw in, he tries to be clever and head it to a CB that wasn’t there.

      Apart from that I don’t think our def has done too bad.

      Kos isn’t long term for us anymore and I think he has done alright so far today, Holding was looking like his replacement and I hope he comes back from injury and finds that form again fast 🙂

      Sokratis is a warrior and although he isn’t the best CB, I think he has shown enough already in his first season in the EPL that he is adapting well, I have hope he can play a bigger role next season.

      Kola is doing better def this time, he is far from the best def LB but he is using that strength of his to his advantage, almost like the coach looked at him as a individual and coached him how to use his strengths in this team 😛 Again, this gives me hope he can play a bigger role next season, if Emery can get him to def better, then I think there is no doubt he can be a truly great LB.

      As for your stupid dig at Wenger, Wenger wanted a CB in Jan but Gazidis spent all window trying to penny pinch on the Auba deal that Wenger didn’t get a CB. If he was truly happy with it then why did he want a CB?

      1. Wenger wanted a centre back?
        When did you hear that one?
        And Wenger came out literally 12 hours ago an stated that Emery’s faith in his (Wenger’s) players justifies Wenger’s belief in the players he signed.
        I don’t think myself it is faith Emery is showing in this defence – more of having to work with what he has got.
        The defence is costing everything.
        If we had a quality defence we would be challenging with the attacking prowess we have ….

        1. That was a totally shambolic display littered with mistakes and lack of fighting spirit. Xhaka cannot get a corner past the front post defender so why have him taking them all. Lacazette is the only player that looked like producing a bit of trickery that might have saved the day so why take him off. Top 4 finish is highly unlikely if these displays continue.

    1. I wonder ooo Sue. We need CB reinforcements in January. Really I can’t wait for the January transfer window. But we can only hope.

        1. Have you got some nice plans for New Years Day?
          Having a few friends around for some nibbles?
          A few glasses of wine?
          Or signing some quality defenders?

  24. Just stop this pessimistic crying, if you haven’t notice 4-5 of our players are leaving this summer we need to replace them plus also add some quality to our squad now imagine the amount of time required to set up a chemistry between players so personally I don’t think we are going to sell any players this summer so we must back xhaka and other players whom we underappreciate so much

    1. Sure Splash but we ought prioritise reinforcement in our defence. signing at least 2 top quality CBs. And also backup for Monreal and Bellerin.

  25. Ozil at it again. He just won’t help out in defending. Disgraceful player that turns up for just attacking once in 10 games. I can’t wait for this guy to be sold.

    1. This has nothing to do with coaching, it’s an attitude thing. If he had put in just that extra effort to pin Locadia, the goal would have been averted. So many holes to point at but I’ll wait till the end of the game.
      I hope we win to close the gap on Chelsea cos Tottenham seems invincible at the moment.
      Iwobi on for Ozil.

    2. Thank God i wasn’t the only one who realizes he is responsible for the goal .
      also we need to get rid of of Stephan Lichtsteiner as quick as possible . He can’t cross , defend , pass, run or do anything remotely resembling football .

      1. It boggles my mind. He just let Locadia that to run free into acres of space when he knew he was near to him. Good job by Emery to show him the bench for being so stupid.

    3. Yet if you look at how poor we became after he came off for attacking then you can see his worth.
      How much did we test Ryan in the 2nd half compared to the 1st?

    1. Ozil haters are proclaiming it is all Ozil’s fault…
      Our attackers need to trust the defenders to defend and not make schoolboy errors, Licht was at fault and his experience makes it worse, he knows how to win yet makes basic errors like that.

      Of course our attackers need to press when we do not have the ball but they are the 1st line of defense, not the last.

  27. On the whole I am pleased with the new manager – drops non-performers, no favourites etc. We are struggling to move beyond 5th or 6th because we have allowed the squad to stagnate. If you have a squad of around 25 each of whom if lucky has 5 years at the top, then each season you must replace 5 just to stand still. Have AFC been doing that? No! We have too often stuck with ageing injury prone players who have taken up valuable squad space and contributed less and less. These players earn fortunes, so let us not feel sorry if we have to get rid of deadwood more quickly.

    1. No favorites? I cant agree, we can all see how poor Dhaka , Iwobi, Mikhitarian, Holding, were yet they were allowed to start. I know he has a poor set of players left over from Wenger but I am surprised at some of the team selections.
      We have been lucky in some games but what concerns me again is the Wenger mentality in the team where we sit back on a lead and allow the other team to play back in. Against the poorer teams we have sat back and played tiki haka again….we of the top 6 are the ones that play side and back most

    1. I agree why sub lace but I would take off leichsteiner….I know he was free but he has been poor, in all his games, can’t defend, cross and unlike per no positional sense.
      Why are u having a dig at guendozi? He is young and I want him to try everything in his first in the epl, he will be a bomb once he understands the pa e

      1. 1 Yellow away from missing the pool game?
        Guendouzi did make a lot of sideways and backwards passes, Torreira was the DM and the CM partner could have offered more going forward?

        To be fair on the young lad, he stayed on his feet more this time which was nice to see.

      2. Well gryphon3000 because every time he had the ball it looked like he was going to lose it & 8 our of 10 times he did….. and when he didn’t lose it he passed it sideways or backwards…. I like him, but he was poor today.
        Why on earth we even bothered with Lichtsteiner.. I’ll never know ?

    2. High percentage of possession.
      Passing sidewards and backwards.
      Poor defensive performance.
      Lack of penetration.
      Three points dropped.
      Its like Wenger never left.
      And Liverpool away to look forward to.
      I cannot wait….

  31. For a club that is meant to be known for playing attacking football, we don’t have pass the ball backwards a lot ?

  34. the squad just isn’t good enough. Even if we manage to get 3 points there’s another half a season to play. We can’t keep a clean sheet at all, cant kill games off early, and give every single team we face a golden opportunities to beat us. There’s just no way. Emery has done a good job even making us look like we can rival the other top 4 clubs.

      1. This is still a Wenger team and whilst it remains so we will at best be the fifth or sixth best team in the league.

  39. That was fu$#in rubbish,be lucky to get In top 7 if this continues with United and Watford flying,don’t we have any centre halves in the under 23 squad? If they can kick a ball forward there already an upgrade on what we playing now.

  41. This team is simply not good enough . We need at least 6 players . 2 CB’s, AM, RW, B2B,RB

    Auba’s hold up and linkup play are trash . for every goal he scores he misses 3 or 4 . Giroud anyone
    Kolasinic was not as electric as previous matches before this.
    Ozil chooses games to feature in .
    All players above 30 need to leave except Sokratis for now (Kos,Cech,Steven L).
    I see talent in Iwobi but he simply is not improving and is looking like a championship player with every game .
    Guendouzi is inexperienced but is performing better than other under-performers.
    AMN in this game looked like someone who was not interested .
    We are not the only club suffering from injuries . Tottenham simply plug the youth to fill were can’t be filled and they are scoring goals for fun .
    Can someone imagine Lacazette in the Liverpool team to replace a certain Firmino .
    Emery’s man management is beginning to look suspect .

  42. The 2nd half was not what I was expecting, I was expecting us to attack more and produce more chances, instead we regressed and their GK could have a snooze during that period.

    Ozil may not be the best defensive player but he was contributing towards our attacking movements, helping us penetrate and get shots. I do not blame Ozil for their goal, he could have pressed more but that is not him, Ozil is not Torreira. Licht could have headed the ball out for a throw in. Why do people want overlook the defender making a defensive error and blame the ACM for making a defensive error? Urghh.

    Laca being subbed again… WTF Emery? Laca can score and he has scored a fair number of goals after he has done the hard work, he does the hard work and then gets dragged off for Iwobi… Not the same goal threat.

    Praise to Guendouzi for staying on his feet more, a good step in his development I feel.
    Leno done well, maybe he could ask Cech for his head gear 😉 When he collided heads with their player I did honestly wonder why more GKs don’t wear protective gear for their heads like outfield players protect their shins.

    1. Why do we make up excuses for Ozil . What separates a top class player from the rest is consistency . Which creator in world football would let a man just run past him to score a goal .Licht is old and should not be playing football anymore . A lot of Arsenal players act like divas .every single player in the Mancity squad can be taken off without a fuss.
      i believe more in Laca than Auba .

      1. Who is making excuses?
        I recognise he is not the best def player.
        I also recognise that the attack is the 1st line of defense.

        I do not buy into the BS that the goal was his fault like mindless idiots will proclaim.

        We have defenders for a reason. Lich done a schoolboy error and that is why we conceded a goal. Yes Ozil could have done better in pressing however we also need to recognise Ozil strengths AND weaknesses, no player is perfect FFS.

        Auba is not the type of CF to hold the ball up like Giroud which you recognise from your posting above.
        I will not disagree with Auba being poor at holding the ball up and as such I would hope the boss doesn’t ask Auba to hold the ball up, I hope Emery will play to the players strengths… Like people asked of our ex manager.

        It is not making excuses. It is recognising the truths. It is accepting that no one player can do everything and that this is a team sport.

        But go ahead and dismiss it all as some Ozil fan boi making excuses.

        1. You do make a lot of valid points .
          All players all have their strengths and weaknesses . However the game is evolving . Even Messi tries to go for headers . If Ozil doesn’t put in a little more effort he will be gone . I don’t blame Ozil alone for that goal as the whole arsenal back line is horrendous . This just makes me think Steve Bould is stealing a living as a coach at arsenal .
          Midkemma who do you think got a better deal Dortmund with Pablo Alcacer or Arsenal with Auba. another question is what has happened to our academy .

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