Nottingham Forest vs. Arsenal is the second last game of the season this evening. As a Gooner, you will hope to see an entertaining match in which Arteta and his boys could return to winning ways. I expect Mikel Arteta will give the team the hairdryer treatment and the boss will want to see the hunger return.
Due to injuries (Mohamed Elneny: knee injury; William Saliba: back injury; Oleksandr Zinchenko: ruptured calf muscle; Gabriel Martinelli: ankle injury; and Takehiro Tomiyasu: knee surgery), the Spaniard has to tweak his lineup. It is of course possible that Arteta will change even more considering we are already guaranteed second place, but if he goes with his strongest side, this is the team I expect to see….
Ramsdale keeps his spot at goal; after a disappointing time out, he will be keen to make amends for his errors against Brighton.
In defence, Ben White starts at right back; he has made that spot his own. With Oleksander Zinchenko, William Saliba, and Gabriel Magalhaes out injured, Jakub Kiwior has a chance to prove himself again after a frustrating second half against Brighton. Alongside Kiwior, Rob Holding will return to the lineup as he is the best option due to the injuries at defence. At left-back, Kieran Tierney continues to fight for his Arsenal future, if not market himself for his rumoured departure in the summer.
In midfield, Thomas Partey returns to the starting XI. Jorginho’s struggles against Brighton earned him a spot on the bench; starting him will be criminal. Alongside Partey, Odegaard, and Xhaka (who could play his second last Premier League game as a Gunner), start as usual.
In Attack: Trossard starts at left wing, with Martinelli out injured for the rest of the season. Alongside him in the attack, Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka start.
Ramsdale
White…Kiwior…Holding..Tierney
Partey…Xhaka
Odegaard
Trossard.. Jesus… Saka
With that lineup, I will be betting on Arsenal to leave the City ground happy men. Don’t you think so?
Sam P
Video – Mikel Arteta on More injuries…. A hard week…. What can Arsenal do in the summer?
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3-2-4-1
Ramsdale
White gabby tierney
Jorge. Partey
Nelson. Ode. Esr. Trossard
Jesus
Who’s Jorge? If Magalhaes is injured, here is my prediction:
……………….…… Ramsdale
……. White .… Holding …. Kiwior
…………..… Partey …… Tierney
Saka . Odegaard . Vieira . Nelson
………………………. Jesus
I put Vieira or Trossard ahead of Xhaka, because of Xhaka’s transfer rumor
see below please
League is already gone so I would have made some experiment by playing 3-2-3-2 formation…
White, Kiwior and Tierney as CB
Partey and Jorginho as CM
RW Saka
LW Trossard
Number 10 Odegaard
And CFs would be Jesus and Nketiah..
Ramsdale
White. Kiwior. Tierney
Partey. Jorginho
Saka. Odegaard. Trossard
Jesus. Nketiah
Could work. Guardiola also uses Alvarez as the second striker behind Haaland when Man City have the ball
Viera shouldant be in a Sunday League side
Oh yes he should! Anywhere else, but not with us!
“Oh no he shouldn’t” ! Sorry couldn’t resist panto .
Oh yes he should! Your go!
Oh Jon, really !
Maybe I’d prefer “To be or not to be”. “Alas poor Yorick I knew him well”. “Methinks the lady doth protest too much”. Better class of fare, don’t you know.
EG, To misquote Shylock, “If you comeback at me with superior quotes, do I not now spend the next half hour looking up my book of all Shakespeares works to find a devastatingly suitable phrase with which to floor you?”
Well, no I don’t actually , because I am following all the latest football scores and after that watching the Arsenal game.
And THAT paragraph is from the newly discovered and little known Shakespeare play, “The zany meanderings of Jon Fox”.
Or maybe , just maybe, NOT!
PS: it occurs to me that SOME of our fans might prefer” Now is the WINTER of our discontent!
ONLY zany replies will be of interest!!
Vieira is just having his first season in England, although I agree that his physicality is severely lacking. He deserves a second season, at least for the cup games
You don’t know who jorge is? Please keep up 😊
gai
Jorge is his first name. Full name…. wait for it:
JORGE LUIZ FRELLO FILHO CAVALIERE OMRI.
What do you reckon of that ?
Arteta may as well play this line-up:
Ramsdale;
White, Gabriel(if fit), Kiwior, Tierney;
Odegaard, Jorginho, Smith-Rowe or Nelson;
Saka, Jesus, Trossard.
However, Vieira is not a bad shout because I want to see him one more time.
Jorginho! I took around twenty seconds before connecting the dots 😂
League is already gone so I would have made some experiment by playing 3-2-3-2 formation…
White, Kiwior and Tierney as CB
Partey and Jorginho as CM
RW Saka
LW Trossard
Number 10 Odegaard
And CFs would be Jesus and Nketiah..
Ramsdale
White. Kiwior. Tierney
Partey. Jorginho
Saka. Odegaard. Trossard
Jesus. Nketiah
Kedar, Tierney at CB ? Why ? How ? Who? When ? Where ? But ? Yes ? No ?
Awoniyi would be too strong for him in the air. It’s an interesting idea I suppose, but do we need to do that ?
Tierney play in this position of 3rd CB with Scottish national team
And play with real quality…
Even Arteta used him as 3rd CB in his initial managerial days when Tierney used do 2 roles.
LB when we are on attack and 3rd CB while defending….
His positional sense and reading of game is very very good….
I would say even better than Gabriel, Kiwior and Holding..
May be White as well
Scotland international matches is one thing Prem League is another. You have a better memory than I do, because I can’t remember Tierney playing as an out and out CB for us. If Gabriel doesn’t play then just stick Holding back in. Tierney must be a LB as I see it. Opinions, opinions.
2nd is a lock, so why reward underperformers from last game?
Start ESR not Odegaard, Nelson not Saka, and Partey not Jorginho. Send a message for once.
Those above can always come on as subs.
I hope next year players have to compete and earn starts rather than automatically walking into the lineup and continue on bad form
Here here.
Also think Arteta should look at some different options. How about :
Ramsdale
White , Kiwior , Tierney
Partey , Jorginho
Nelson , Odegaard , Trossard , ESR
Nketiah
Hang on a minute he’s only gone and dropped Tierney again ! Is he playing Xhaka at LB/LWB ?
If so he needs to be reminded that Xhaka playing there has normally been a disaster. At present the team sheet looks like that to me. I think this shows that Arteta will not give Tierney any further opportunities and he will be sold this summer. It’s a pity.
The first half stats of the match showed that Arsenal were in control of the match but to score in it.
They should keep up their control of the match in the 2nd half. And raise the tempo of their game in it. And keep on probing continuously to the equalise in the match and take the lead in it to win the match and win it.