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Official Arsenal team and preview for Hull City away

With Arsenal facing our third match in a week and desperately needing all three points from today’s away match at Hull City, Arsene Wenger would have wanted as many first team players available as possible, so it will have been a big blow to his plans to lose Olivier Giroud.

The France international forward was probably in line for his first start of the season, but he picked up a knock as well as a very harsh red card in the Champions League clash with PSG and has not even made the bench today. At the same time, however, the Gunners’ chances have been boosted by the return to match fitness of one of the other striking options Theo Walcott.

The flying England forward comes straight back into the team and it is his international team mate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who misses out with young Iwobi keeping his place. Whether it will be Walcott or Alexis Sanchez playing through the middle is anyone’s guess.

The only other change made by the Frenchman is at the back, with veteran keeper Petr Cech coming back in and the midweek hero David Ospina dropping back to the bench, so Coquelin and Cazorla continue to be our first choice central midfield pairing and the summer signing Granit Xhaka will have to wait.

Cech
Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal
Coquelin, Cazorla
Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi
Sanchez

Subs: Gibbs, Lucas Perez, Ospina, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Holding, Xhaka, Elneny.

Will this starting XI get the job done for us today?

Bob.

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Tags Giroud Walcott Xhaka

156 Comments

    1. I think both Alexis and Theo are better on the wings
      I don’t think Theo is decent up front
      Last season he hardly scored or not scored enough

      If i had the choice between Alexis and Theo, I would always choose Alexis

      I’d like to see Perez up front

      1. Its not about who is better, alexis is being marginalized and wasted up front…he’s better attacking from the left….and we can afford to waste walcott there…he doesn’t do much from the side

          1. I think he scored after he moved back to the wing position when Giroud came on. Wenger needs to keep him on the wing. I think he should be playing a striker up top, be it Perez or Akpom if Giroud isn’t able.

  2. Wow, this is crazy! Let’s spend 30m on xhaka and not play him. Let’s spend 17m on a striker and play a winger upfront…. Coq is awesome but not as a b2b. Sanchez is awesome but not as a striker. Why can everyone see this apart from Wenger? I wanna see Lucas play against these teams!

  3. We simply don’t have a coach. did he buy lucas perez to warm the bench? the same way he did with Podolski and now Perez. Somehow.

  4. From Wenger’s recent comments, Xhaka is competing with Cazorla, Ramsey and Elneny for the starting 11 and not with Coquelin.

  6. I just hope we see Perez somehow in this game. Maybe second half. Thought Xhaka was awesome against watford. Nothing against Coquelin as he knows his onions too. Well, Xhaka will play handful of games this season.

    No one can predict Wengers lineup anymore…..Lets hope we get the points we need

  7. The arrogance of this manager my word.

    Hulls tactics are going to be clear rough us up get on ozils and Santos, sanchez fave kick them most likely injure them.

    This ****** of a manager why doesn’t he understand some games they need extra muscle around them to protect them from these and I describe them as “dog type players”

    1-1 for me

  8. Just get the 3 points. It’ll be a struggle yet again because of this hindered lineup, but I’ve given up on us actually playing well.

    1. But we got a point at PSG, we fought for it and had some serious luck.
      Not worried at all about the height.
      I dont want us to play kick and rush.

  11. Coquelin and Cazorla start 3 matches in a row within 8 days when we have Xhaka, Eleney, Ramsey

    This is asking for trouble injury wise. 3 matches in almost 1 week is a lot of football

    Also Arsenal paid over £30 million for Xhaka too

    Cazorla is WC, Coquelin is very good. I don’t want to lose them like last season

    1. He is gonna rest a lot of players against notthingham.
      And we will probably rotate today after 65 minutes.

  13. Here we go again i do hope lady luck is on our side….. I only hope iwobi was taught how to defend during the week….. 1-3 scoreline for me… Carzola to score

  14. Get 3 points and I am happy
    If we play poorly and somehow manage a win I won’t complain
    That’s the mark of a champion, to get a win somehow even if not playing well
    A win is a win

  15. Hahaha ?
    like I said in the prediction article:
    Raised eyebrows and plenty of Moaning! ?
    This was boringly predictable! ?

  16. We finally clear out the deadwood and yet still refuse to rotate. A third game in a week for Carloza when Xhaka and Elneny are chomping at the bit seems crazy. Squad depth isn’t just insurance against injuries. Used properly it’s about preventing injuries.

    1. Keown reckons Cazorla is the only one who should be guaranteed starter, he thinks he’s the only one up to scratch from day one. Looks like Arsene agrees, and strangely enough Arsene singled Cazorla out at the beginning by saying he’s behind all the others fitness/rusty wise.

  17. From what u saw in the last 5mins of the psg game, sanchez was struggling badly clutching his back etc surely he won’t be 100% and to throw him bk in the strikers position to get more knocks from the centre backs is criminal you ask me

    1. This is Wenger, people complained a lot so he wants to prove to everyone that he is the master of his own world, your complains and criticism will just go quietly coz he is the boss

  18. Wenger will keep playing Sanchez as a striker until he starts banging in the goals in that position just to prove his stubborn point! ? and if and when that starts happening he will go back to playing Sanchez on the wing lol ?

  21. Nice to see our new signings can’t get a look in AGAIN bar Mustafi!!! I get it now, if you put up a MOTM performance then you get dropped for a less impressive player. Sorry Xhaka I wish I knew the truth in why we even bought you and the terms of your contract. We bought Perez and yet we persist with Sanchez up top where he hasn’t performed over and over and over again. Almost like buying these guys was a publicity stunt. I don’t know what’s worse, not buying or buying and not using…

    1. Not buying is worse. We have played 1 champions league match, this is our 5th prem game and we are yet to play a FA cup match or a capital one cup match. There is plenty of time for the new signings to make a significant contribution.Chill!

  22. The closest we looked to finding our rhythm was the match against watford and for that to happen a team have to be playing together in real matches, hull will be looking to counter attack from their park bus situation and will hope to get some free kicks around our box.

    Its really strange that Wenger is trying to turn sanchez in the next suarez , but that will be difficult because although they have the same hunger they are different players, Suarez loves the space between the center back and wing back, while sanchez drifts off the wings to the Center, the only bonus is i think sanchez , ozil and cazorla have a wonderful understanding which comes out more in games like these, so hopefully should be interesting.

    Lets see how our bench is used today which i think may be where our goal or goals come from

  23. I’m not going to complain. I just want to see us win the game and not have so many things to say on what we should’ve or could’ve done differently.

  25. whats with the small club mentality? why should a xhaka be sure to start cause he cost 30 million? or perez because of the 17 million? should we forget the other players? if we have good a midfield that xhaka has problems to get a start then thats a nice thing! of course i would have preferred perez upfront but its not because of the money spent on him or xhaka

  28. I for one will do my best to stop complaining because no matter what we may think or think we know, nobody knows the players better than Wenger.

  30. how may feckless games does walcott play before wenger sees he is utterly useless … perez must wonder why he came

        1. Without Walcott there would be no goal, no penalty, and no Ozil missing a sitter AND he is getting back and defending which is what he hasn’t done in seasons past.

  34. Lol u ppl complain about coq going forward, now it clear Wenger sees him as box to.box and not makalele role

      1. Well considering Cazorla is our designated penalty taker I do blame Wenger as the manager for Cazorla not taking the penalty today. Sanchez should only have taken the penalty If Santi was not on the pitch.

    2. haha if it rains is it Arsene’s fault??
      Highly rated player should be able to take a f***ing penalty mate

      1. It’s not only the penalty. Our players mentality is WEAK. Plain WEAK.

        How can’t the manager NOT be at fault for this?

        Do you think the likes of Simeone would idly just stand there watching Iwobi, Özil, Sanchez, OX etc. missing chances, not showing any passion?

      2. I agree with you that he should be able to take a penalty but if you ask anyone who takes Arsenal’s penalties they will tell you it is Cazorla. Before that it was Arteta even when forwards were fouled to cause the penalty and were also capable of taking pens and before that it was RVP. It all always be more forgivable when the designated penalty taker misses than when someone else takes it. It’s kind of like when Harry Kane was taking all the corners In the England game that raised a great many questions. The fans will be questioning WTF is going on.

      3. I agree with you that he should be able to take a penalty but if you ask anyone who takes Arsenal’s penalties they will tell you it is Cazorla. Before that it was Arteta even when forwards were fouled to cause the penalty and were also capable of taking pens and before that it was RVP. It will always be more forgivable when the designated penalty taker misses than when someone else takes it. It’s kind of like when Harry Kane was taking all the corners In the England game that raised a great many questions. The fans will be questioning WTF is going on.

  42. lol, why doesn’t Cazorla just take pens, it shouldn’t be a question at this point. Overall though great 1st half, everyone looks good, even Walcott is playing well. Ozil still a bit slow to get into the game though, hopefully that changes.

  43. WHY WAS SANCHEZ TAKING IT INSTEAD OF CAZORLA WHO HAS SCORED LAST 2?

    Let’s see… 4 penalties, 2 misses.

    How about spend the next 2 weeks only training penalties?

  45. There are parts of the goal when taking a PK it’s impossible to save, besides that you’re always giving the goalie a chance if you hit it at his diving height.

    1. I don’t get it, the game is good so far and we are dominated, we are leading and they are a man down. Sure we could have easily been 3-0 up at very least but you score some, you miss some so what has Wenger done exactly wrong for this match?

      1. Whats the point of Coquelen in this game? he and Cazorla are a partnership that consists of 2 short players, both slow on the ball and Le Coq leaves the back 4 too exposed. He is often more in front than Alexis is, who starts as a CF? It doesn’t work… Why no Peres? It’s Hull City.. If we don’t trust him here, why did we buy him? I will not comment Theo…

      2. “What has Wenger done wrong?” Well in my opinion he is playing Sanchez up front when he is clearly better on the wing. However much he scores up front will be less than what he would be capable of scoring from the wing. Cazorla is our designated penalty but Wenger allows Sanchez to take the penalty for this game. Wenger is keeping our 17 mill striker on the bench therefore not fielding our strongest side. If Perez isn’t going to start against teams like Hull what teams would he start against? If Wenger can’t sign players for our A team, there is something wrong with that alone. Perez didn’t have to play international football, he is good striker but Wenger choses to bench him and make Sanchez less effective in one swoop. I like Iwobi but not at the expense of not fielding our best starting 11. Fortunately we are winning but we also won against PSG and Wenger did much wrong there aswell.

  48. Lol if it was Giroud who missed Ozil’s sitter or this penalty i can only imagine the amount of hate and insults

  50. U lazy ******* Iwobi u have seen some clueless players in my time when it comes to defending but this **** is taking the Michael this game, what is cheeses me off more why isn’t any of the players giving him loads. Even hull attack has been down his side purely because of him not tracking his man.

      1. True. Iwobi’s finishing is worse than Cameron Jerome’s. Özil’s as well. And Sanchez’ penalty was as weak as Walcott’s

        1. Not sure his finishing is poor. We’ve needed someone to shoot from edge of box…led to goal on Tuesday and goal today (should have been 2)

        2. Iwobi’s finishing is average at best, but he’s not even the worst finisher on the team. Walcott and Ox aren’t much better at all. And Cazorla can only score penalties now. Outside of Alexis there is no reliable goal scorer in this entire lineup.

  51. The mentality of this team is so weak. All the players on the pitch are bunch of p*****s. I bet if they had been in line waiting for the new iPhone 7 and 5 minutes before opening I would arrive and cut in line first, not one of them pansies would say a thing. This weakling mentality has to come from the manager. Just look at the penalties we’ve had taken by Sanchez, Özil or Walcott. Even I could do better.

    This game should be in bed really. Instead, we have to bite on our nails while Hull just parks the whole bus with fast forwards waiting for counter attack.

    What a coincidence that the only match we’ve won with comfort this season, had Xhaka starting.

    1. Kos and Coq have been fine and Santi, but the rest don’t deserve the shirt.

      No effort at all, Ozil must sit on the bench or change attitude

      1. @Ugabooga,

        I agree. However, knowing our luck, Santi will get another yellow and get sent off and then it’s the usual heart attack/nail biting ending.

      2. Ozil can’t sit on bench because we still have no No 10. who is better. He has been bang average most games this season tho, don’t get it. Let’s hope he can get a goal or assist since we’re playing with 10 men. Looks lost at times.

  53. You are funny but right. Maybe our attackers should use 2 weeks to learn how to take penalties. Seems we will have more penalties this season. Cazorla should have taken it though.

  54. ideal game to bring back xhaka for carzola put on perez for walcott and give adelaide a shot at glory … let c what the impotent one does

      2. You misunderstood my comment. I was asking why Wenger hadn’t subbed Xhaka for Santi, in response to all the preceding comments. It would seem logical when Santi was on his final warning, which would mean missing a game, and he must feel compromised by not being able to tackle, otherwise running the risk of being sent of. SMH.

  60. 140 grand a week for strolling around for 90 minutes … walcott is the biggest fraud in global football bar no one

    2. Goal? Assist? Set up Ozil for the sitter he missed? I think he was even involved in the penalty. Even seems to be defending finally.

      1. Mate just don’t bother. If Walcott scored 20 goals people will still complain. So far this season he has been decent and much better than last

      2. jesus the whole 4th place mindset of fans is sad … zero attacking threat not an assist as that was iwobi who has 2 actually … appalling passing across the 70 minutes check out his first touch where tight control is required defending seriously!!!! … rerun the game and watch it without your rose tinted glasses

  68. Lol it is so sad how we are 2-0 up and i haven’t seen anybody on hear celebrate in any shape or form. All i see is complaints in a game we are dominating. If i wasn’t watching and only reading the comments here i’d think we are 5-0 down

  69. Lol it is so sad how we are 2-0 up and i haven’t seen anybody on hear celebrate in any shape or form. All i see is complaints in a game we are dominating. If i wasn’t watching and only reading the comments here i’d think we are 5-0 down

    1. what a stupid comment .. we now have a team with 3 DMs on the pitch against a 10 man newly promoted mediocre team and we are not sure we will win it .. u think thats a performance of a team challenging for epl and cl … you are even more clueless than the manager you worship

      1. You were saying? 3-1 up. I’m not clueless and i don’t worship Wenger but you’re the one lacking sense. We are playing away and have a game on Tuesday so no point overworking the players as a few will start on tuesday. If we push hard to force more goals and get an injury you’ll be the first one to insult Wenger again

  71. What a great piece of managing by Wenger.

    Throw Perez to the deep end against our bogey team and sub him off at 60 min.

    Then when leading 0-2 against 10-men team after 60 minutes, don’t give him a single minute.

    GENIUS Wenger

  75. Cmon admin, I’m being moderated and tw@ts like rkw are using the C word and generally being a kn0b!

    2. They need to change the rules for this. It was definitely a penalty but it shouldn’t be one when the player kicks the ball in a direction away from the goal and then proceeds to fall over the goalie without running in the balls direction anymore.

      1. You are absolutely right, I don’t know who thumbed you down, it maybe within the rules of the game, but not the spirit, it was playing for a penalty.

    2. And when leading 0-2 against 10-men, newly promoted team, the genius makes a defensive sub and concedes immediately.

      GENIUS

  89. I am pleased with 3 points, keeping in touch with City, but too many players are just playing average, so I’m not happy.

    Even though we dominated possession, it was not a excellent game. Our finishing is so poor.

    Xhaka omg omg

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