Any time that Arsenal faces Tottenham it is a must-win game, it really does not matter at what point in the season or even what cup competition it is, Arsenal simply cannot lose the game and Sunday is absolutely no different.
Now, that is blindingly obvious but context, circumstances and timing make certain clashes between the North London rivals more important than other match-ups between the pair and to some extent that applies on Sunday.
Both teams lost last time out and with the international break coming up neither team wants to go into that period on the back of two straight losses.
Additionally, Arsenal has a great chance of going five points clear of Tottenham and even at this stage of the season that is significant.
But for that to happen Arsenal have to get at least four things right on the day.
Take their chances
Speaks for itself, Pepe missed a great chance against Liverpool that could have made all the difference, Aubameyang missed the penalty at Wembley and that would have made all the difference come the end of the season. Arsenal must be more clinical, simple as that.
No mistakes in defence
Errors by David Luiz last week were very costly and that has been the hallmark of Arsenal for the last couple of years, silly avoidable mistakes in defence, they must be cut out.
Defend the flanks
Arsenal basically gave Liverpool freedom of movement down the flanks at Anfield, that cannot be allowed to happen again, it is incomprehensible why Emery allowed that to occur, hopefully, he has learned from his grave mistake.
Stop the counter-attack
Tottenham can be deadly on the counter, they have the pace to really hurt Arsenal and pushing too many men forward without consideration for defending could end up deciding the game and if Emery selects too many attack-minded players you can take it to the bank that Spurs will be looking to counter at every opportunity.
There is more of course, but by getting these four things right Arsenal will give themselves a clear advantage I am positive about that.
if emery starts with the best squad and stop tinkering,we will win
He should not experiment, he should select his best team not the kids
Emery will probably go with Mkhitaryan and bench Pepe this week ? the only thing we know is Xhaka will definitely start ?
Kev 82
Arggggghhhhh!
Elneny > Besiktas… on loan?!!
Emery > Besiktas on loan ? ?
?? funny boy, Kevin!
Predicting an Arsenal lineup these days is like predicting the lotto eh Sue ??
Ain’t it just?! Got good old Unai to thank for that!
What did you think of the draw? Urgh it had better not end up back in Liverpool (or London!!)
What time’s the EL draw tomorrow? ?
1 Sue give us the Celts ? man city got donestk again what’s that 4 season’s in a row ? Is that draw rigged ? Chelsea have a tough group ? haha yeah Allegri our next manager? ?
Yes to give Liverpool an easy draw!!
Ooh I’d love it if we got Celtic! So Tierney, Holding & Bellerin should be back next month – spot on hey?!!
Not that easy Sue Napoli and Salzburg are good teams Liverpool will go through but they’ll work for it. That’s what I like to hear because full back is a weak area for us ? is Monreal going or not ?
I don’t know.. reckon we’ll see a lot happen over the next few days & not only to do with us..
I would like Monreal to stay yeah he’s getting older but he’s a good servant ? did you see Ronaldo punching the ground because he missed a chance ? well Sue I’ll let you get off to sleep draw tomorrow ? goodnight, sleep well and don’t work too hard tomorrow ????
Leno
AMN Luiz Sokratis Monreal
Torreira Willock Cellabos
Pepe Laca Auba
This is how we should start. High energy team.
Non negotiables are Torreira and PAL starting. Xhaka on the bench
arsenal must win,am dead sure about it
We start without Xhaka we win…we start with Xhaka we lose.. anyone fancy that bet?
Real Madrid, Lyon, Angers, Barcelona, Newcastle, Burnley all 4-2-3-1 set up.
Without KT, Bellerin and Holding that would have been hard to hold Salah, Mane and Firmino at bay imo.
The 4-4-2 diamond invited Robertson and TAA forward to leave the space for Auba and Pepe to use and get 2v2 situation …. almost worked too.
Emery is not tinkering as much as people like to think….. Changing the players in the formation around when we have so many new faces is normal to find the best pairings right?
I think we will see a 4-2-3-1 again so Sunday and I’d say it will probably be:
………. Leno
AMN.. Sok.. Luiz.. Monreal
Torreira…. ???
Pepe…. .???……. Auba
………Laca
as for the ???….. that’s why Emery “tinkers”….. Ask on here and you will get a variety of combinations of Willock, Guendouzi, Ceballos, Xhaka, Ozil, Mhiki…. He’s finding out who works best.
we lost 3-1. It did not almost work. Liverpool just recycled the ball to TAA and Robertson the whole first half. Players who have 23 assists between them last season. They put a ton of pressure on us, win a corner, and TAA grabs another assist. That’s called a plan not working. Just because they didn’t immediately score does not mean our plan was effective. Pepe had one good chance the entire 90 minutes, Auba had a decent chance which was created partly by a GK error. Our performance didn’t look much better than any midtable side that goes to Anfield and sits back, sorry to break it to you.
Recycled the ball to what end though? Firmino, Salah, Mane couldn’t dribble it in and most of the time Robertson and TAA couldn’t find anyone with the cross.
VVD fouls Guendouzi to make the space for Matip, stupid mistake by Luiz and then one moment of class from Salah, beyond that they had very few other chances.
Auba and Pepe both wasted at least 2 opportunities and a shirt pull on Pepe was ignored by VAR that should have given us a penalty, all still with an understrength squad…. What more do you actually want?
Had Emery gone there and played a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 and been torn apart (like last season for example) fans like you would still be moaning because he didn’t learn from the last time and did the same thing again…. Hell that was some peoples biggest gripe about Wenger ?♂️
Couldn’t agree more. That line up was so baffling I lost my faith in Emery. I mean how do you do that? At Anfield?
Tell me what is the weakness in this lineup below:-
Leno
Sokratis Luiz Monreal
Amn Kolasinac
Ceballos Torreira
Pepe Lacazette Auba
It has width, defensive protection and counterattacking capabilities.
Why couldnt we use this?
We all know he is going to play Xhaka… so the midfield better be Torreira Xhaka and Ceballos .
If lacazette and torreira are not in the starting line up then it would be obvious that emery is crap
I’ve already said it that Emery’s tactict last weekend against Liverpool tends to suggest that he was afraid of losing heavily. That was why he played too deep. The best way to defend is to attack. He would have made life difficult for Liverpool if he had unleashed all his strike force against them. This would have kept them busy defending than attacking. That said, against Tottenham this Sunday, Emery should not be smart enough to think that them ” Mickis” will be the ones to win that match for us, He should be bold and smart enough to play pressing football. Arsenal has never lost playing pressing football. Let them attack and challeng all 90 minutes. He has the players to do that. The selection is his to make and that’s why he’s being paid.
Danny Mills and Steward Robson sound the same and act the same. Both have monotonous voices and negate Arsenal automatically. For me they are a pair of wally’s. Most pundits are not that bright. Not enough education and too much attachment.
There is no doubt that we have a potential fighting force. Our biggest problem is not the team….it is Unai Emery. We all thought we were getting a warrior, but after Liverpool, it’s clear he is a damp squib. If Emery get over the ‘Warrior’ to the team and picks a warrior’s team we will win. But if he falls for the Xhaka script and even plays Nelson and Xhaka then we will probably lose. Xhaka is an ‘Animal’ in the wrong way and Nelson, sadly, is not good enough.
So we must play Auba, Laca, and Pepa…our ALPs. We need Torreira to bite, Guendouzi to recycle and Ceballos to energise. At home I hope Kolasinac gets a start because the guy can take care of himself and Tottenham will have a make shift right back. AMN needs to DEFEND and leave the attack to the ALPs. If Emery can break his romance with Xhaka we can win. With Xhaka, expect a booking, penalty and slow non-spontaneous football. Remember Xhaka vs Brighton….4th place at stake I say no more.
There is no doubt that we have a potential fighting force. Our biggest problem is not the team….it is Unai Emery. We all thought we were getting a warrior, but after Liverpool, it’s clear he is a damp squib. If Emery get over the ‘Warrior’ to the team and picks a warrior’s team we will win. But if he falls for the Xhaka script and even plays Nelson and Xhaka then we will probably lose. Xhaka is an ‘Animal’ in the wrong way and Nelson, sadly, is not good enough.
So we must play Auba, Laca, and Pepa…our ALPs. We need Torreira to bite, Guendouzi to recycle and Ceballos to energise. At home I hope Kolasinac gets a start because the guy can take care of himself and Tottenham will have a make shift right back. AMN needs to DEFEND and leave the attack to the ALPs. If Emery can break his romance with Xhaka we can win. With Xhaka, expect a booking, penalty and slow non-spontaneous football. Remember Xhaka vs Brighton….4th place at stake I say no more.
For these four things to happen admin Emery would have to leave out Luiz and Xhaka these two players are serial mistake makers, but both will play I am sure of it I cringe every time they get the ball at their feet in anticipation of the next mistake,Chambers for Luiz and Torriera for Xhaka,permanent please Emery.
We can’t predict our lineup! Emery will be adapting to Tothenham that’s what he keeps telling us adapting.. adapting… adapting.. to the opposition.Why should we not play to our strength? So is adapting to opposition our game plan! If it is we are doomed.what are our strengths as a team? Adapting!!?
Our full backs can play a key part by getting their priorities right.If they can keep Son and Lucas Mora quiet we can win .With Luiz and Xhaka in the team defensive errors are virtually guaranteed so AMN and Monreal or Kola should refrain from bombing forward unless they are covered.
Whatever the outcome on Sunday, i’d still be supporting Arsenal.
Not holding my breath for this one as I do have a bad feeling. Niles is the weakest link in our defence which would likely be made up of 3 part-time defenders in himself, Luiz and Kolasinac.
Leaving only Socratis as a recognised defender who tends to collect yellow cards for fun.
I feel our chances of getting a good result hinge more on Spurs imploding due to the first team injuries they have and the Ericksen situation.