A New Year and a New Era for Arsenal begins with a home game against Man United, and Dan can see us getting our first three points for a very long time. So here are his predictions…
Brighton 2-2 Chelsea
Over Xmas, Chelsea won at Spurs and Arsenal – yet lost at home to Bournemouth and Southampton. So, it’s hard to know which Chelsea will show up…
Burnley 2-0 Aston Villa
Given the hard years they have had you would think that this would be the one Xmas Villa fans would be happy.
Yet talk is they want Dean Smith out, despite being the man who got them back into the Premiership. Defensively they are not good enough for this level but have enough firepower to stay up.
Newcastle 0-2 Leicester
It will be fascinating to see how both teams approach this. Leicester like to counterattack but how positive will Newcastle be? The Foxes may have to change their approach…
Saints 2-2 Spurs
If this was a month ago, I would have called this an away banker. Yet this is the most confident the Saints have been all season, especially with Danny Ing’s scoring form. Having someone who can get you 12-15 goals can be the difference between relegation and survival. If Spurs play like they did at Norwich they will drop points.
Watford 1-1 Wolves
Watford clearly needed just that one result to boost their confidence, and I think they will now put a run together. Wolves have put a lot into their last two games, so it might be a good time to play them.
Manchester City 2-2 Everton
The reason City have not been able to compete with Liverpool is they keep having moments in defence where they will do something silly. I also think the standards Pep Guardiola sets are so high it’s hard to maintain every year. Everton, suddenly confident under Carlo Ancelotti, will believe they can trouble the Champions back 4.
Norwich 2-1 C Palace
This is a game which Norwich should be on the front foot. They realize they are not good enough to be parking the bus. Attacking football nearly got them the win over Spurs and with a bit of luck it will here.
West Ham 1-0 Cherries
So West Ham have appointed the manager who wasn’t good enough the last time he was interim boss and 18 months feels like a compromise. Moyes will keep them up (which I think Pellegrini would have) but we will be discussing in the summer his negative style of football.
Arsenal 1-0 Man United
It’s so nice to actually be gutted to lose a game because we played so well, which didn’t happen enough in 2019
That’s why I’m fairly positive after the Chelsea defeat, there’s such a thing as how you lose, if we play like that every match, we will be fine. It’s nice to see us have some kind of identity and a plan which will only get better the longer Arteta has to work with the group. The only worry is how quickly we tired..
Liverpool 1-0 Sheff United
Liverpool have picked up the knack of winning games without playing well. They easily could have dropped points at home to Wolves. I can see that carrying on here against United who have, so far, been one of the closest sides to beating the Reds in the League.
My line-up prediction:
…………… Leno
Niles . Sokratis . Luiz . Saka
…… Torreira …. Xhaka
Pepe ………. Ozil ……. Martinelli
………….. Aubameyang
Xhaka?
Is he not leaving?
I hope Arteta is just talking Xhakas price up when he said he doesn’t want him to leave
You hope so and I know so. MANAGERS ARE FINANCIALLY SMARTER THAN FANS, generally speaking. Xhaka will be gone very soon, so rejoice!
We played that 2DM formation all season for same result; lost or draw!
With 2 midfields defending all game long, team is driven in our own half majority of the game. Check last game stats, 3 times more balls are played backwards!
Until we get one players in front of CBs only, the team is driven backwards and defends most game. Useless to have attacking players if ball can’t reach them. Then it looks as they not doing anything and ratings are low. How can they play with no ball?
Playing 2 DM,s doesn’t have to dictate the way we play, if like city you played players like Fernandinho and rodri you wouldn’t see a backyard pass played while our defence would still be protected, I have watched Fernandinho playing as a CB and running from his own box to the opposite box unchallenged,guve the ball and go back to his CB position without a problem!why do you think Arteta wants 2 new DM in january actually these were his demands on taking the job and if it happens you’ll see a complete different defence by that i mean with the same players trust me,!
I hope we can beat Man United… they have been inconsistent and poor away from home…but our home form is not good either
Arsenal 1-3 ManU
I fear you may be right.
Arsenal at home is perfect for a counterattacking United who struggles against teams who sit deep. And Arteta is a disciple of Pep and Arsene.
Will be curious if we do play naively against a team who we know will wait to counter.
On the other hand, it’s early to judge Arteta who needs at least 1 year and 2 transfer windows to begin transforming this mediocre team (and we are mediocre – even Leicester’s starting 11 is better than ours, so ours is 7th at best).
Diogenes, Had to chuckle at your quaint expresion “even Leicesters start eleven is better than ours”! Well, you are not wrong but I’d say that is the funniest and biggest undertstatement I’ve heard for years. “Even De Bruyne is better than Xhaka” might run it close, if you want a good laugh! You admit we are mediocre. I suggest that LEICESTER, SITTING SECOND AND ABOVE CITY, are “even better than mediocre” to borrow your strange choice of language!
We need desperately to start winning and putting a run together. Not only are we losing touch with the top 4, we are losing touch with the top 6. Now the Europa isn’t what we all want but if we dont get into even the Europa next season, we are in dire straits. Our finances are such that the hit from no Champions league is biting us badly, no income from the Europa would mean, we would have to sell players and we would not be getting any players in to replace them. Our finances are that bad, we will be having the equivalent of a closing down sale without any European football. Its not my opinion its fact!
I thought Chelsea would win because they came off
a humiliating home loss to Southampton.
Both Arsenal and Man U are clubs low on confidence shadows of their former selves.
Arsenal are in a must win situation and are at home.
Well half an hour into New Years day GMT+13 here with fire works going off.
I expect PAL to finally provide fireworks at the EM and blow Man U sky rocket high.
My prediction Arsenal win 5-1.
You are super optimistic….
United is super good on counter…
I am not having any hopes…
And over the years we have mental block against united since our 8-2 thrashing by them… We always start game with low confidence..
Here we go again with the laugh a minute comedian! 5-1 eh? That means your hero Emery must be about to be reappointed and Arteta sacked today which would please you. You still have not answered the question I asked you yesterday but then again why bother with reality when you can choose fantasy . Eh agu eman! HO HO HO! Father Christmas brings you 5-1 wins but he brought me a brain; 68 years ago, to be precise. Perhaps he can spare one for you , if you are a good boy!
@Jon would you get a room with Agu on new years eve and maybe light some fireworks up together?
What a sinister thought!Ugh!
Arsenal would surely beat United by 2 goals to 1 insha’Allah. No doubt about it.
It will be 3-1 to United..
Their Front 3 will open any defence on counter attack… Rashford, Martial and James all are quick and prolific….
Our Defence is slow and miserable…
If we attack united then they will absorb our attack and they will hit us on counter… So 3-1 to United
Alright Mr Paul the octopus…lol!
Arsenal will beat man utd atleast by a 2 goals difference.Thus is it boys and girls.I am not just being optimistic,i am very confident after seeing the fight they put on sunday.
Newcastle will give a good fight and i hope they win,at st.james park its not gonna be easy to beat them(but we did :-()
Watford vs Wolves is going to be a fascinating game and i hope watford will get the 3 points cuz their confidence is flying right now.
Pep guardiola is not gonna lose and i want them to lose but i think they will win comfortably.
Shfd utd is going to be the team that will beat liverpool.Ya! at anfield.They can defend and their midfield is strong.And that guy,Mousset he is very very good.
Spurs will lose.
Chelsea has a big chance to lose.Brighton can play the ball and also keep the ball from being played.I know chelsea’s away form is good but i dont think they will win
The burnley game,i have no idea….
West ham game,no idea…
Crystal palace might apparently draw
I’m hoping Aubamayang signs off with a goal or two as I’m sure he’ll be gone before this window closes.
Anyway, Happy New year to all fellow Gooners on here, it’s been painful recently but let’s keep the faith, hope we get through this and regroup in the summer. I’m convinced Arteta is the man to lead us into a bright future. Peace and Love xxx
Totally agree, GB. Happy New Year to you too!! 🥳
I think the game against united is what decides his fate with us.There are reports that he pulled out of the contract talks but i think he may change his mind after this game if we beat man utd with a bangggg.
MA has brought a vibe with him and that vibe can influence auba’s decision but we need to win man utd game.
And i hope MA will choose martinelli over laca cuz GM’s got pace and if pepe starts tomorrow we can be a serious threat to them offensively but considering the defensive side i think MA will go with nelson
Who is this Dan anyway? Said we were winning against Chelsea!
Unless he smokes some heavy crack, looking at MU lately and Pogba saved for this game, it is obvious that it can only be worst than Chelsea.
I watch their two last game; phenomenal attacking strike & speed, passing, solid in defense, way more than Chelsea!
In fact, it is the team that can beat Reds in such form! Dan is a cracked who even smoke that damn pipe!
We can’t predict Arsenal at all, formation only tells right away! As soon as you see 2DM, it is a draw at best! We spend all game defending, playing backwards!
As long as we don’t play Luiz as DM infront of CBs almost as a third CB, we will conceid and not be able to play forward, takes that to score abd win a game, doesn’t it!
Common sense and why Arteta is crap, incapable to see this but actually picks Sokratis as first player in defense! That tells it all!
@mogunna – wow you called Arteta crap! Thats it you will be removed from the fan base for that comment.
Arteta is the saviour and he will save us from relegation this season and then again next season and in his third season we will creep back into top 10 after he amasses his own squad. Cant you see how lucky we are to have Arteta? Have some faith please!
Jim, this is being preconditioned on Arteta being given funds in the transfer market to buy the PLAYERS and dispose of the surplus players he WANTS. This has not been afforded either Wenger or Emery.
It is cheaper to sack head coaches, than spend £50-£200 million to upgrade the squad. You only have to look at the progress the LA Rams are not making in the NFL.