Could this Arsenal XI shock Chelsea tomorrow? Of course they can!

Although Arsenal are in a terrible run of form, when it comes to games against our local rivals Chelsea, we always seem to step up a gear, and there could not be a better time to do that than right now, when we are desperately trying to keep up with Tottenham in the race for the Top Four.

It is a fact that we are missing having Tomiyasu, Tierney, Partey and Lacazette, but we actually played very well without them against Southampton at the weekend. If we only had someone to put the ball in the back of the net on the day, but we must not assume that the players we do have cannot do the job as they have proven they can win games all through the season.

Yes, we have been supremely inconsistent, but doesn’t that mean that we can suddenly regain our belief and turn our form upside down once again? I don’t see why not, especially as Chelsea have been playing constantly and could rotate a few players. They are certainties to finish in the Top Four so are not as hungry for the win as we should be.

So this is the team I fully expect Mikel Arteta to put out tomorrow night….

Ramsdale
He will need to be at his best tomorrow, and we know he is more than capable.

Soares – White – Gabriel – Tavares
Tavares put in a good shift against the Saints and Soares has been full of energy. We just need both to be more direct going forward…

Xhaka – Lokonga
Xhaka needs to stand firm and Sambi should be improving again with more minutes under his belt. He needs to prove that he deserves his place.

Saka – Odegaard – Martinelli
These three should be swapping around and confusing the Chelsea back line. They have 20 goals between them this season, so why not a couple more tomorrow?

Nketiah
Eddie is always capable of having a flash of brlliance, and hopefully he will have one that doesn’t hit the post or the bar for a change..

———————————————–

If all these can get motivated to prove themselves against one of the best teams in the world, they could make a name for themselves, and with our supersub Smith-Rowe (9 goals) waiting to come on and make an instant impact. He’s done it many times before already this season.

Do you think this team could shock Chelsea if they are in the mood?

Sam P

Tags Chelsea v Arsenal

19 Comments

  1. If you go by heart, you hope for an Arsenal win.

    If you go by your head and reason, its a thumbing incoming.

    I predict 4-1 to Chelsea.

  2. If Chelsea doesn’t rotate their team and played their first 11 they will be too much for our young guns. We don’t have a towering CF that can threaten their back line and especially their inform keeper aerially . The last time we won in Stamford bridge Auba scored; but we don’t have such effective forward at the moment. I hope our players can make things difficult for them and probably win. We need Holdings at the back for this kind of game either White or Gabriel is looking tired they have played many games this season. If Saka can also be rested for at least first half and we try PePe. Best luck to Arsenal anything can happen in football.

  3. Its wishful thinking but what else can we do being where we are. Beaten by Palace, Brighton and Saints we have to resort to this self deluding as the realistic alternative is too painful.
    Well, this surely is what we expected after appointing 3 jockers: Arteta, Edu and worse of all Vinai Vinkatesham. About the last one someone asked me where did we get him from and he wondered if he had managed even a cricket club.
    It’s time for Kroenke to cut his losses and appoint real professionals and save the club from further embarrassment.

  4. We actually did the double over Chelsea last year. We soundly beat Lampards Chelsea 3-1 and got battered at Stamford Bridge by Tuchels tean. Luckily because of Jorginhos mistake and our defense holding, we managed to win. We looked like Burnley, but won.

    Then this August it was shown to us how it is to play against Chelsea when luck isn’t included and class prevails.

  5. Gonna be hard to peg back the 9 points lost to the last 3 “easy” games and if Chelsea turn up they might blow us away. We are massive underdogs not expected to win so I would adopt a policy of targeted chaos. We need to score goals so if Laca is not back I would make one change Pepe for Nketiah. If I am a Chelsea player I do not want to see Pepe starting because Pepe has a freakish ability -admittedly hardly seen these last three seasons -but this guy is due something extraordinay. We are under dogs but hopefully prove to be dangerous under dogs. COYG

    1. For real. Losing 9 points on a roll against fodders like Brighton, Palace and Southampton is absolutely hard to swallow at the moment.
      I am drained at the moment. Embarrassing.
      It’s going to be very difficult to see many positives come the end of the season.

      Serious clubs don’t lose like this. Arteta needs to fix himself because he is making some of us lose patience with him. Needs do much much better than the rubbish we have been served up for the majority of this season.

      I don’t even know where to start. Very disappointing.

  6. Laca and Nketiah just are not doing it, so why won’t MA give Martinelli a shot upfront? I would love to see that, with ESR, Odegaard and Saka supporting him.

    I expect a 2-0 win for Chelsea given our current form, key injuries, and huge amount of inexperience.

  7. It may sound negative but I think arsenal need to switch to a back 5 with holding starting. We think we have improved defensively but reality is that we have not. Playing the same silly old way from season start is going to get us 0 points.

  8. Nothing is impossible when one PREM team plays another. But,realistically I do not see us getting even a point against Chelsea, as it is very unlikely . But POSSIBLE!

  9. I’m expecting a draw at best and hope that Liverpool thrash ManU tonight

    3 losses on the trot against less expensively assembled teams was not good for morale (mine or the players)
    I also don’t want to contemplate a thrashing tomorrow either as I’m going to the Emirates on Saturday.

    A very big week indeed and I can only cross my fingers and hope the Chelsea keeper has butterfingers tomorrow and we play with a couple of rockets up their derrières

  10. Can Arsenal beat Chealsea? Of course they can! Will Arsenal beat Chelsea? Highly unlikely.

    A team can do anything that is physically possible, but that does not mean that they will actuall do it.

    It is, after all, hypothetically possible that this Arsenal team can win all the remaining matches, romp the leauge next season by winning all their matches 8-0, while cliching the Champions League, the FA Cup and the League Cup along the way. I won’t hold my breath, though. Would you?

  11. I would make a few changes to the 4-2-3-1 formation:
    Ramsdale
    Soares White Gabriel Tavares
    Xhaka Elneny
    Saka ESR Pepe
    Martinelli
    In this way, we have got real attacking impetus upfront with the pace of Pepe and Martinelli and the talent of Saka and ESR. Elneny is more experienced than ASL, so I would put him beside Xhaka.

  12. I’m with PJ-SJ on this. Mind you if we do pull it off it won’t be as stylish as the FA Cup win against Conte’s Chavs. No matter, from here on in every fluke counts.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors