Arsene Wenger has a big tactical decision to make as Arsenal prepare to travel to Birmingham to face Aston Villa. The Gunners desperately need a morale boosting wing after what happened in Germany on Tuesday, but another defeat would leave us well adrift of the league leaders and even shorter on confidence.
Wenger set Arsenal up to attack Dortmund and to be fair to the Frenchman, the injury and illness situation did not leave him a lot of choice. But with Calum Chambers and Mathieu Flamini available for selection again, the boss could put out a side designed, first and foremost, to be solid and give nothing away.
Wenger has reason to be wary of Villa as well, because Paul Lambert’s men have made a flying start to the season, with three wins and a draw from their four Premier League games. But when you look more closely, you see that the games have not been the hardest, with Newcastle and Hull at home and Stoke and Liverpool away. Of course that result at Anfield has us worried, but the Reds were off colour and failing to threaten much after the Villans had grabbed an early lead.
Villa’s form has been based on their defence, conceding just one goal so far, but they have not been scoring many. So while I am not saying Arsenal should forget about defending, I think we can afford to be a bit adventurous. What do you think Gooners?