Official Arsenal team to face Brighton – Pepe and Tierney on the bench

Official Arsenal team announced – Has Freddie Lundberg got it right?

If Freddie wants to have any hope of securing the Arsenal job on a permanent basis he needs to start by getting his team selection right.

Not many were impressed with the team he stuck out against Norwich City at the weekend. However, it was good enough to get a draw and there was an improvement.

Tonight’s team sees Torreira, Bellerin and Sokratis start and Pepe and Tierney on the bench.

The game kicks off at 20.15 UK time. Match Preview here and for comparison, our predicted defensive lineup, midfield and Forwards.

Links to streams will be put in the comments where to watch the game live and free so keep checking in.

Also, if you go to the official Arsenal website you will be able to get live commentary text and Arsenal radio.

119 Comments

    1. I’m just worried about Sokratis

      However, this match is supposed to be an easy home game, so it would lift the underperformers’ spirit if we win

      1. Like the line up except Kolasinac. Unless Tierney is not fully fit, otherwise I don’t get it.

        We just dont have good CB pairing right now so Luiz and Sokratis is ok. As long as Mustafi does not play. Holding doesnt seem to be fully ready yet after being out for almost a year, so not a surprise there for not playing him.

        I like that Matteo is actually starting on the bench. I’m a big fan of his but we dont want to over play him, still very young.

        Lets go boys!

    2. Socratis and Luis, a marriage made in hell.Chances of our keeping a clean sheet? Tierney on the bench?Assume Holding is unfit?Difficult to fathom why FL persists with these centre backs but will cut him some slack for being the new man on the block.Bench looks our strength and might salvage us a draw.

    3. ThaGunner23 for being a great fan. Support the coach until we know for sure he has absolutely nothing to offer. In Freddy we’ll trust (IFWT)

    4. He should just subtituted wilock already and bring in pepe. Wing is ineffective and ozil and auba ate helpless and clueless there.

  1. Well…. “Sokratis returns”…. doesn’t inspire any bit of excitement in me at all…. Kolasinac, Xhaka, even Willock (after his last performance)?, I fear for us…. but let’s see how it turns out though. COYG!

  2. He sees them in training. He knows them better than we do. Pepe deserve to be dropped on the bench till he adapts.

    Today’s match will show if they learnt lesson from last match.

    Let’s hope the team wins.

  3. I remember some saying that Freddie picks the Europa team and he should be allowed to pick the premier league team. Now we can all see what he’s capable of.

  4. Diamond formation again, so we will win the ball possession. Sokratis shouldn’t start again due to his physical condition, but I guess his defending stats are one of the best among the CBs

    ………………. Leno
    Bellerin . Sokratis . Luiz . Kolasinac
    ………………. Xhaka
    ………. Torreira …….. Willock
    ………………. Ozil
    ……. Aubameyang ……… Lacazette

    If Lacazette and Ozil are still unwilling to take high risk like what they did in Norwich, they should be dropped at the next match. I feel Ljungberg and Mertesacker rely too much on the players’ stats to make the selection, like Emery

  5. It doesn’t matter if we win this or not but this is the most stupid Arsenal line up I’ve ever seen.

  6. I dont care about the players he picks, all I care about is the performance on the pitch and three points.

  7. £102 million spent …let’s leave them on the bench…They’ll never adapt if they don’t play!
    Probablt weaker defence than usual, which is saying something.
    This is just awful.

  8. Is Emery still there??
    Why willock after his last performance? I really don’t get it.. but I’m hope he proves me wrong .
    All the best.

  9. Really? Tierney, Guendhouzi & Pepe don’t start? Martinelli deserves a start too.
    Another safe play planned that may end in disaster.
    Ljungberg seem clueless too….well, he’s been part of Wenger and Emery.

  10. Freddie’s line up is baffling again. This is a reminiscent of last match’s selection. How can a coach leave out 3 specialist wingers on the bench in a home game? Who is he counting on to expand the pitch for us? Freddie seems to play in a reactive manner as I don’t see any sense in the choice of his attackers.

  11. Hopeless … sooner we get a serious manager on board the better … guys a risk averse novice and it shows

  12. We are in for a frustrating period. Freddie who?
    I don’t like this selection. Why? We’ll win and he will he was right.

  13. the only good things about this line up is guendozie is finally benched and saka is no where to be found.

  14. Freddie,should just leave if he can still pick Willock to play for d team.He has nothing to offer for Arsenal.

  15. Not the team I would have picked, but then I’m not the coach and do not see them every day at training. I also don’t know how fit each player is.

    COYG

  16. What’s with this diamond love? Squeezing Laca, Auba and Ozil into the team leaving our full backs with no proper cover.

    I hope we win obviously, but where’s the lessons learnt from the previous poor performance?

  17. Sokratis, Luiz, Xhaka and Kolas all start. God help us! Goodbye Freddie , you won’t be caretaker for long!

    1. Brighton dominating possession at the Emirates..
      Very irritating long passes , can’t play short passes… Very painful to watch

    1. Stupid idiotic selection again from Freddie, sorry to say but none of arsenal ex players are or show any signs of being good managers …we should just ditch the idea of explayer as manager.

  18. Why does Chambers always get punished? Not only was he easily our best defender in our last game, he’s been our best defender all season, yet back on the bench!

    Luiz is clearly working for Chelsea, yet is NEVER dropped! Sokratis has been playing Sunday league type football. Feel so sorry for Chambers.

  19. UE was obsessed with Xakha n now Freddie is obsessed with Wilock… ☹️…if continues to play these xhaka, sokaritus, luiz and willock then I am afraid he has learnt nothing from sacking of UE and wont last beyond this season.

  20. Freddie not leaving his mark at all, he is picking the team Emery would pick, kolasinac, luiz, xhaka, ozil etc. I dont understand why Tierney, holding, chambers, pepe, martinelli etc aren’t being thrown in. I think it should be an easy home win but im not finding Freddie the fresh air i had hoped. Not very excited and i want a top coach installed pronto. Benitez, get him now.

  21. Brighton who are without a win on the road since the opening day, we didn’t win at all in the league since October 6th Let’s get this one today !!!!

  22. We have become absolute joke of a club, the owner should step in and give the job to proper manager, Freddie is an ex Arsenal player but he is no better in his selection then UE. I hope we don’t go for saving money again n give him the role full time….spend some fuc*ing money Kronke n get a damn proper manager in.

  23. Interesting that ljungberg system is to get the fullback or forwards out wide and put low crosses and cut back while 3/4 players swarm the box. Better than pointless sideways passing.

  24. I dont care who ever is on the pitch. All I want to see is how they play. If they shoot, if they possess, if they press, score, win and earn three points…that’s what I want.

  25. Same tactics as UE, torreria is playing as B2B, Wilock hasn’t touch the ball, auba n Ozil r played out of position.

  26. Bottom 4 looks like a real possibility here, if we can keep working hard in making absurd team selection, useless tactics n non productive football with jokers in the team….we might be able to achieve it.

  27. I gotta say this has been one boring game so far, no threats from our side at all.
    I don’t see what Willock is doing better than Guendouzi.
    Plus if his tactics involves playing from the wings why TF is our 72 million pounds player on the bench?
    I gotta admit SK far i haven’t enjoyed anything from this game, looks like the regular Thursday Europa league football. I pray we get a good manager soon

    1. What have we become after Wenger 😔, bottom half teams run circle around us n we struggle to string 3 passes together. What will some people say again here .. Brighton out passed Man city as well hahaha..that seems to be the excuse every time.

    2. I think it’s time to face reality and accept that we are a really poor football side with no direction. Unless urgent action is taken immediately a relegation dogfight is a genuine possibility.

  28. frustrating is to see Arsenal defense backing up backing up …please shoot straight useless forward line that’s enough how much I can take

  29. Really can someone please tell me what TF Willock does better than Guendouzi other than give slow passes and misplace ball?

    1. He is not raw, he is plain shit n bang avg same as all the other English Messi n Ronaldo we have in our club coming from academy.

  30. I’ve been supporting Arsenal for over 60 years and this is the first time I have seriously felt we could be relegated and it’s not even Christmas yet!

  31. I just marvel at these remorseless referees with a very clear secret agenda against Arsenal.
    Two penalty fouls ignored yet Bellerin was purnished..

  32. Willock is so useless in that midfield. Switch him and put Ozil central then sub in Pepe. My gosh Freddie 🤦🏽‍♂️

  33. Yes yes finally, the game has become a bit exciting atleast for brighton. We are going down we are going down Arsenal is going down.time to sell Kronke or your profit margin will get thinner n thinner…

  34. God, I feel so much pity for Leno.
    The look OK his face said it all, this defense, this team, and our coaches so far all clueless.
    PEA absolutely useless on the RW, Ozil useless on the LW,Willock of no use at all.
    What next? Should we expect him to bring in Nelson next in place of Pepe and Martinelli?
    Lots of fans are willing to trust FK but so far he’s been doing totally a lame job

  35. Xhaka is the only player who can distribute the ball properly in our midfield but why they still saddle him with marking which he is poor at is what I don’t understand. I wonder the role of other midfielders in the field

    1. He is a clown? And you are a fan – clap for yourself.
      If you can not even see the effect the rubbish officiating is having on the players, then I don’t know what else you can see.

      1. Please drop this excuse, the ref has done nothing wrong.
        Our players keep falling to the ground like a bunch of Dominoes.
        They’ve been poot alongside Freddie’s lame selection.
        Leave the ref already.
        When are we gon stop creating excuses each game?

  36. Look at the bright side, we get relegated. We sell most of the players, buy cheap champion ship players n play avg academy talent. The money we make from selling players goes into Kronke next adventure, we fans keep buying season tickets n club marchedise…n keep prasing Kronke for giving us best summer in a decade although our net spend was still 50million. we deserve all this ….karma is a bitch

  37. Now even their own supporters are deserting this shambles of a club. Doesn’t matter who’s in charge of the Team when the owners give zero shits

  38. Now I am missing Arsene Wenger more. Wenger I am so sorry for ever doubting you. The best I ever hqd

    1. I don’t think he has enough energy left to manage Arsenal again

      There are also old players who are past their sell-by-dates, such as Sokratis and Ozil. Arsenal have to get rid of them first to give way to hungry youngsters like Martinelli

  39. Ozil is too limited to be a winger and Ljungberg should have known that. Lacazette shouldn’t play after his awful display in Norwich

    The short passes in Norwich were good, but they chose to play impatiently with direct balls from Luiz and Xhaka. Should have played more patient and use pacey wide players if they want to use 4-2-3-1

    1. We actually played some decent football vs Norwich and apart from backing off stupidly for both 2 goals could have won the game.

      The players are freaking scared to try anything such is our lack of confidence and angry fans on their back.

      1. I thought Ljungberg could take higher risk than Emery. But he chose to make the senior players happy by playing most of them, despite their bad forms

  40. We are so bad people are asking for wenger even though he is the one who bought xhaka over kante and renewed ozil for 350k.
    The priority is to avoid relegation and then overhaul the whole squad.

  41. Can’t get right. Mesut has proven for years he’s useless wife, we start him wide ahead of Pepe. Willock has done nothing to show he proves to start at the 10, played in there ahead of Mesut. Auba is not a wide player, find a way to play him in a front 2 with Laca. Odd to me that Freddie hasn’t looked to employ the 442 that he played in that was so successful with TH14& DB10

    But despite all that, a defensive triangle of Xhaka+Luiz+Sokratis (and you can put slow handsy Chambers in any of those positions as well) will always result in a draw or an L. Unreal that any manager would put that combination of players together.

      1. Hahahaha assist Laca.
        I don’t agree with you, as I feel it’s not fair to to judge much of Laca or Auba in this listless pattern of offensive play.
        But I do agree that Martinelli should get more minutes. Relieving and rotating with those front two is the. Way way to go about it for me.

  42. Arsenal, my Arsenal, oh what have you done

    You’ve turned the love of my life, into something not fun

    We used to be one, now there is one great big split

    So what happened to our, ‘Victoria Concordia Crescit’

  43. Come back of the season about to happen. Pepe to come on and shine. Freddie to start managing. Arsenal to start speeding up the pace of their passing. ~Sokratis and Luiz to become carbon copies of Van Dijk. You hear it here first.

  44. Wrong formation, dead again! What a joke,Xhaka as a DM and Chambers benched, it will never work! Emery finally had it right on last game with Luiz, a CB as DM to add to add to CBs ! We looked so good , controling midfield , attacking like caves non stop!until Luiz injury. What is this crazy team formation?

    Bring Wenger back with Viera to assist him & take over in 2021, !

  45. Fun thing is as they said in the half time discussion, the attendece shows as 50 thousand all but it’s way less because of season ticket holders didn’t turn up so you see for Kronke it will never dry up n cash will keep flowing. He does not care if ppl don’t turn up as long as they are paying for it..which Arsenal fans will keep doing…it’s just the way it is Arsenal has rich fan base they burn their cigars with £50 notes.

  46. Maybe I am not watching the same match with all of you for all these negatives.
    I see an immensely improved Arsenal from what I am used to seeing in the last few games. But the biased refereeing is taking the toll on the team.

  47. No manager in the world could get results with this squad. A complete overhaul is required. Move away from these technically gifted players and get in players with drive, attitude, hunger, some bloody pride in our badge. Give me boring, boring Arsenal any day,hard to beat, grit and determination.

    1. I’ve said it here over and over again and I still stand by it that a total overhaul is needed. Get rid of Luiz, Laca, Papa, Kolasnac, Bellerin who has never impressed me other than his speed, Lucas, Ozil, Pepe who I never admired from the onset and probably Xhaka but he gives his all on the field. Get young and hungry who are willing to prove a point to the world. And I’m not sure FL is the right man with tonight’s line up.

  48. Where the hell was that aggressive, full of energy and desire performance in the 1st half. We look pissed off and angry but we are still vulnerable at the back.

  49. 1-1 is the only thing you can ask to these useless players backing up backing up and be outside is the only thing they do I don’t see it expecting a miracle and the VAR was right

    1. If premier league wants to improve the referee level then they should be punished for mistakes like that missed offside on David Luiz goal. Ridiculous not to see that offside.

  50. I hate to say it but relegation is a big concern. Completely swap out centre backs get holding and chambers in there. It’s farcical.

  51. Congrats Kroenke you have almost emptied the stadium. I hope it hits your pocket you greedy blood sucking leach.

  52. Whooohooo, great performance (by BHA). Gunners toothless as usual, no change. Looks like Freddie is not going to take hard decisions, like dropping Luiz, Beĺlerin and Sokratis.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors