Arsenal travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday to take on Premier League leaders Chelsea with no option of a draw.
The Gunners have fallen a whopping nine points behind the Blues, and despite the daunting task, we simply have to target all three points or give up on our hopes of winning league title in the Premier League era.
With such an important fixture coming up, another writer here at JustArsenal has called for Danny Welbeck to be given the nod to start against Chelsea, given his emphatic return to action with a first-half brace against Southampton, as well as finding Theo Walcott to set up the third.
That kind of performance in the opening half against the Blues will have them rocked, and we simply cannot afford to go into the match using our usual system, which includes Olivier Giroud playing as the sole striker.
Alexis Sanchez is also a strong candidate to lead the forward line however, standing as our current top goalscorer, as well having Theo Walcott back to play-out the system which had us firing on all cylinders earlier in the term, and alternatively to Bob’s earlier suggestion, this would be my favoured selection.
We also have the daunting midfield problems also, with Granit Xhaka banned, Santi Cazorla injured and Mohamed Elneny awaiting for the AFCON final on Sunday. This leaves us to consider Aaron Ramsey, Francis Coquelin, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to fill the two roles in front of the defence.
The Coq-Ram pairing had looked likely to start, but recent news claims that the Welshman has been ruled out with injury, and if the Ox can manage to play nearly as well as he did last week in the role, we will have plenty of goal-scoring opportunities at Chelsea this weekend.
Who would you pick to fill the six midfield and attacking roles on Saturday?
Which midfield/attack should start v Chelsea?
- Alexis Sanchez (16%, 501 Votes)
- Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (15%, 454 Votes)
- Mesut Ozil (15%, 451 Votes)
- Francis Coquelin (14%, 426 Votes)
- Danny Welbeck (12%, 359 Votes)
- Theo Walcott (11%, 333 Votes)
- Lucas Perez (7%, 220 Votes)
- Alex Iwobi (7%, 212 Votes)
- Ainsley Maitland-Niles (2%, 66 Votes)
- Olivier Giroud (1%, 39 Votes)
- Aaron Ramsey (if fit) (1%, 19 Votes)
Total Voters: 590
Coquelin, Oxlade, Walcott, Ozil, Lucas and Alexis
That was my choice too 😉
ox coq
ozil
sanchez welbeck lucas
OX COQ
Özil
Theo Alexis Iwobi/Welbeck
imo if we consider the form of people the ones who should definitely start are: Ox, Coq, Özil, walcott and alexis… only decision should be between iwobi/welbeck and lucas
If they attack down the middle we won’t be able to deal with it in midfield. So pack the midfield and play counter. 4-5-1
We haven’t got any midfielders except coquelin
I’d like to know which 11 lover-boys voted for Ramsey? ?
Come on…. Own up! ?
Wtf… Make that 12
13 ?
would av chosen Ox in CM but he is also unreliable n can also turn shit overnight like Ramsey.
4-1-4-1
cech
bellerin-mustafi-koscielny-gibbs
coquelin
walcott,iwobi,ozil,Welbeck
alexis
The best way to defend is to attack. l enjoyed the MAN City game against West Ham in which they employed the 4-1-4-1 formation. It might work for us….or backfire in a massive way.
Sanchez
welbeck Walcott
Ozil
Coq Ox
but if Ramsey is ok, we might see a very frustrating lineup
If we wanna get any point from this game then No ozil and Iwobe.
OSPINA
Bellerin—-Mustafi—Kos—–Gibbs
Coq —–Oxlade—-Ainsley Maitland
Perez—-Sanchez —-Welback
this sould be our starting 11.