Remember when we spoke of how Mikel Arteta now has his best midfielders available? Paul Merson now asserts that the midfield battle against West Ham will determine the outcome of the game.
This Saturday evening, Arsenal has a short trip to the London stadium to take on their city rivals West Ham. This season, the Hammers haven’t had the best start; in fact, their new head coach, Julien Lopetegui, is under pressure to deliver or risk becoming the next Premier League coach to lose his job.
They defeated Newcastle 2-0 last Monday, and they aim to surprise our Gunners once again. However, ex-Gunner Paul Merson doesn’t think the Hammers have what it takes to stop a free-flowing Arsenal. He asserts that Arsenal’s midfield brilliance will shock West Ham’s midfield, laying the foundation for the Gunners dominance.
Merson said on Sportskeeda: “West Ham got an incredible win against Newcastle. But they are never going to keep this free-flowing Arsenal team out of the game.
“I have a feeling Arsenal will destroy West Ham’s midfield. Their midfielders are no match for Arsenal. I think this will be a comfortable win for the visitors.”
With Declan Rice, Mikel Merino, Martin Odegaard, and Thomas Partey all available, it is just up to Mikel Arteta to pick his strongest midfield combo to give Tomas Soucek and Edson Alvarez.
Partey has demonstrated his indispensability and is currently irreplaceable. One cannot overlook the impact of Odegaard’s creativity in the Arsenal attack. Therefore, the decision lies in who will play LCM between Merino and Rice.
Partey-Rice-Odegaard or Partey-Merino-Odegaard. That said, with the fixtures packed and games after every 3 days, rotation will be key so every midfielder gets ample game time.
After Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, many believed they had finally overcome their poor league run before the break. A victory on Saturday would confirm this; it would be a positive step towards Arsenal’s goal of consistently winning as they strive for league glory.
Sam P
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“Doesn’t think the Hammers what it takes to stop a free flowing Arsenal ”
The former Arsenal man turn pundit is right, free flowing indeed.
The gaffer tail is on his back fresh from recent goal fest
Now that how creative spark is back, the Bubbles will be hard press to deny us the full portion of the spoils
Over confidence is a dangerous thing.
Well, I do recall the same level of confidence, following a very good Arsenal run, going into the Bournemouth game only last month.
Liverpool’s current, pretty significant, lead in the EPL means Arsenal certainly can’t afford any similar surprises now – and we’ll have to hope the Merseysiders also slip up (on more than a couple of occasions, at least).
I’m really scared of overconfidence. It has done a lot of harm to us in the past. Just like it did to Sporting Lisbon last week.
I suppose pundits need to make calls like this as it’s their job. It just makes me extremely nervous when pundits say things like “this will be a comfortable win”… It probably is the case, but still makes me nervous!
I guess the main thing is that the players mustn’t have that expectation going into the game, that’s the difference I suppose.
Arsenal just has to be focused and get the job done. That’s it!
Yeah, laser focused 😎