At least Arsenal fans should be going into today’s game against Man United with a bit more confidence than they had against Barcelona on Tuesday night. We may not have won at Old Trafford since Adebayor scored the only goal in 2006, but Louis van Gaal’s team is decimated by injuries and are dropping away from the Top Four like a stone.
It is crucial that we don’t slip up though and we need at least one of strikers to find his scoring boots and I’m going to put my money on Theo Walcott coming good today, maybe assisted by Olivier Giroud?
I certainly don’t think that Wenger is going to take any chances and will stick to (what he thinks is) his best team, which means the same side that played Barca but without Oxlade-Chamberlain who I, for one, am not going to miss!
So here is today’s line-up:
Giroud
Walcott Ozil Sanchez
Coquelin Ramsey
Monreal Koscielny Mertesacker Bellerin
Cech
Gabriel has resumed training, but I am certain Wenger will not throw him in straight away. He has always trusted the Koscielny-Mertesacker partnership and he will stick with that until Gabs get’s match fit against lower opposition.
Many people want Le Prof to take a chance on Danny Welbeck as a starter instead of either Giroud or Walcott, but Wenger has already stated that it will take the England man a bit of time to get back to his best form. He said: “Welbeck is back in the squad but we still have to be cautious with him. He is still in the squad and he is not completely over his knee problem. He has done really well and is very fit. I have to analyse that.” So I’m predicting he will be on the bench and brought on for the last half hour or so, depending on circumstances. Otherwise we will have our familiar first XI.
Score Prediction…
Man United 0-1 Arsenal (Walcott 41)