Pick your Arsenal team to face West Brom today

There is no doubt that today’s away game against 8th-placed West Brom is a must-win for Arsenal, after finding ourselves 5 points below 4th-placed Liverpool in the table, but who will Wenger choose as his best XI for such an important match.

Wenger blamed the 12 day gap between games as the reason for Arsenal’s poor start against Liverpool a few weeks ago, then he claimed a lack of confidence for the start against Lincoln last week, but as most of our first team played last weekend and scored many goals in the second half then neither of those should apply this time around.

So I think Arsene will play mostly the side that faced Lincoln with just a few changes.

For starters Cech will return in goal as per Wenger’s policy, and the defence is unlikely to be changed either except for Monreal replacing the injured Gibbs, and Bellerin, Mustafi and Koscielny as our usual mainstays.

With the Ox going off injured last week, I think our central midfield will be comprised off Coquelin and Xhaka, and Ozil to return to his normal berth. I’m guessing Wenger will want Elneny to get some minutes at some point, maybe after Xhaka gets his usual yellow card?

Up front? I don’t think birthday boy Walcott will start after his snub from England, so I’m choosing Alexis, Iwobi and Giroud as our forward line, with Theo waiting on the bench to inject some pace late in the game.

Who do you think will be the starting line-up?

Admin

5 Comments

  1. I know Wenger will stick to his beloved and predictable 4-2-3-1 formation. Although I think Wenger will not use my team selection, if they use 4-2-3-1, I just want to see:

    ——————–Cech———————-

    Bellerin–Mustafi–Koscielny–Monreal

    ————Coquelin–Ramsey———–

    Walcott——–Sanchez———–Iwobi

    ——————Welbeck———————-

    Actually I wish to see other formation, like what Barcelona used against PSG in Nou Camp:

    ——————–Cech———————-

    Gabriel——–Koscielny———–Mustafi

    ——————Coquelin———————-

    ————Ramsey–Iwobi———–

    Walcott——–Sanchez———–Perez

    ——————Welbeck———————-

    Like what the admin said, I think we will see:

    ——————–Cech———————-

    Bellerin–Mustafi–Koscielny–Monreal

    ————Coquelin–Xhaka———–

    Walcott———-Ozil———–Sanchez

    ——————Giroud———————-

    Actually I prefer these players in the line-up, if they are fit for the match:

    – Debuchy : If he is not injured, he can be competitor for Bellerin. He is not as pacy as Bellerin, but he is more experienced, better in defending and can push Bellerin to improve his level. Currently Bellerin is just fast, but not too good in defending and sometimes he created wrong passes. Maybe because of the wrong system.

    – Mertesacker behind Mustafi and Koscielny : He is very slow, but I think he can read the game better than the other two defenders and has different style of defending. Mustafi and Koscielny have similar aggressiveness, which is good sometimes, but doesn’t always work. They often made mistakes. In Barcelona, Pique would anticipate the threats behind Mascherano and Umtiti (if they use three defender formation). This is why Mascherano’s role is very important. He pressurized the opponent’s attackers, made the defending job easier for Pique. Mascherano also starts the attack, often distributed the ball to Barcelona’s attackers from the back. I think Arsenal really needs a central defender with a good vision like him, whose role can be filled by Mustafi or Koscielny.

    – Ramsey : Because I prefer to have Coquelin back as a defensive midfielder. I think Ramsey will play well as a box-to-box midfielder, if he has the right partner in the defensive midfield area, like Coquelin. I think Xhaka still needs time to perform as a defensive midfielder and Coquelin also needs time to play as a box-to-box midfielder.

  2. I just hope everyone is right and we will drop some points. If we start Giroud and Ramsey we have a better chance of dropping points.

    I am convinced Wenger will only consider leaving of we finish 6 or 7th. He will definitely stay if we finish 4th. I am a West Brom fan today. SAD.

    1. He will stay anyway unless something biblically bad will happen at the club. I never understood fans wanting their favorite team to lose but hey, I guess not everyone is like me.

      1. @ Budd – If winning means losing things become complicated. I just can not deal with another year of the same. If it takes us losing every remaining game of the season to be able to start next season with a new manager who will do things differently then so be it.

        How many more years can we deal with this mediocrity? Can you take another 5 years of Wenger? I promise you if he is given 5 years he will take them.

        1. I quit caring at the end of last season. I told you all that the structure is rotten to the core and we are nothing more than customers in this globalised football. With or without me this is going to happen anyway so I either accept it or give it up completely. Truth be told I haven’t decided yet. I hope you did because I am pretty sure there will be at least two more years with Wenger at the helm. Kroenke wills it, he will get it. He is happy with Wenger and the team.

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