He has only had two brief senior appearances for Arsenal as a sub since Arsene Wenger was sufficiently impressed by his performances for Costa Rica at the World Cup finals, and you just know that Joel Campbell is straining to be let off the leash properly. Well the signs suggest that this weekend could be his time.
Arsenal are set to unveil a new front line with the pace of Alexis Sanchez on the left and Danny Welbeck on the right. So why not go the whole hog and use the pace and trickery of young Campbell on the left. That way the Man City defence will not be able to focus on one flank and not worry about pace down the left. Three really fast forwards is a nightmare for any defence.
However, I am not just guessing here, because there is a reason for me to think that Wenger has the Costa Rican in his plans. Campbell was not even on the bench for Arsenal under 21s last night as they beat Aston Villa 2-0, despite having played the full 90 minutes and impressing in their previous game against West Brom.
With just over a day between that reserve game and the Man City match, no player involved would be recovered in time, so I think Campbell’s absence means that he will be in the squad tomorrow at the very least. And Wenger is talking about being bold, so I think he is going to hit them with pace on three fronts, with Campbell on the left.
It will make for an interesting and exciting game, if I’m right that is. What do you guys think?