It would be very easy for the Arsenal players to take their eyes off the ball this weekend, but it is absolutely vital that the Gunners do not become complacent and that we make sure that all three points are going to stay in north London after the visit of Aston Villa in the Premier League clash on Sunday.
A quick look at Villa and their form tells you that this game at the Emirates stadium should be a nice and easy win for Arsenal. Apart from their two FA cup wins against Blackpool in round three and Bournemouth last weekend, Paul Lambert’s men have on a terrible run, with just one win from their last eight EPL games and that was in the first week of December.
Their main problem has clearly been in scoring, with no goals from their last five league games. But when you see that their last goal came in a draw against Man United, you can see why we must not ttake them for granted. They are a bit of an enigma really and do have some quality players, such as Benteke and Agbonlahor. They also have a talented new attacking player in Carles Gil, who scored a great goal for them at the weekend.
We know from experience that Benteke can be a real handful if he clicks and I worry that the FA cup win, the Gil transfer and the news that Fabian Delph has signed a contract extension will have significantly lifted the mood at the club. So they will be coming to London on Sunday with nothing to lose and a renewed belief, which could be a dangerous combination for the Gunners to face.
And while they have been struggling to score, they do not let many in. Only four Premier League clubs have conceded less in fact and Arsenal are not one of them, so it will be a day for focus and possibly patience. But Arsenal won’t let the momentum slip now will we?
The only dangers are defending the way we did against Brighton. In other words, playing Flamini.
I agree Flamini is the weaklink at the moment,however we need to make sure we do not under estimate villa.im confident of another good win and three points.coyg !
Everyone talks about Flamini while forgetting that Koscielny was all over the place at the first goal.
we gotta see the whole team as “DANGEROUS” and ofcourse Leave no stone un-turn in the wake of their destruction……… Plus fLamini and szcesny ain’t gonna ruin my day…..*to the bench boys*!
how’d ya’LL fancy a
“RoZZa-Coq” axis?
Fantastic i guess!
not only flamini but i don’t really trust the chambers – koscielny partnership. just hasn’t worked this season I think Wenger saw that coming and signed Paulista.
@dilla…….. Chambers at RB plus gibbs play so much of a wing-back than a Left-back …… This contributes to part of our defensive woes
We need to have same mentality and set-up as City game. No easy games in EPL, and it would be criminal to let slip our good run
Ospina in, Bellerin & Monreal as FBs, Kos and Per at CB
Le Coq, Santi, Ramsey
Ozil, Giroud, Alexis
Assume Ox still out so Theo, Akpom, Tomas to be included on bench
COYG focus on a good win to put us in decent shape to play the Spuds following week
Bsaed on current form I would start Rosicky over Ramsey. If he can play anything like against Brighton we will be difficult to beat with orher regulars back in the starting XI. And maybe Walcott for Özil although I think the right side could suit him.
Hopefully the same lineup we had against Man City. Coquelin is vital for keeping clean sheets. We should also start Monreal again, and I don’t find myself saying that very often, but he is slightly more cautious than Gibbs. I imagine Carles will be on the right again and he seems there biggest threat.
monreal is a better defender than gibbs for me. at CB monreal he is awful but when he plays LB he plays with a lot more urgency than Gibbs. Gibbs is just too casual for me. lazy tracking back and is not a solid one-on-one defender. the competition between them will only make our squad stronger.
our home form has been pretty good for the last couple of seasons so I’m not too worried although villa is never an easy game so hopefully the rested players are back in the team which should leave us a very good bench if the match gets tight. Where is Paulista btw?
Thumbs up for
___________Giroud
_____Sanchez Rosicky Walcott
________Coquelin Cazorla
Monreal Koscielny Mertesacker Bellerin
___________Ospina
Thumbs down for
___________Giroud
_______Ox Sanchez Walcott
________Coquelin Cazorla
Monreal Koscielny Mertesacker Bellerin
___________Ospina
I wouldn’t bring Walcott in to the team straight away, becuase he doesn’t defend for us. Chamberlain has started to defend more for us recently. So the team selection at the top of your comment but with Chamberlain in for Walcott. I agree Rosicky should play instead of Ramsey. Cazorla can collect ball from deep as well as Rosicky. Anyway regardless of Walcott or Chamberalin that lineup should be enough to win most games from now until end of the season.
@HA559
Exactly. Bring on Theo at about 70/75 mins. to kill off the match…
There is no reason why we shouldn’t win, given our form and our players returning from injuries along with Opsina, Monreal, Bellerin and Coquelin all playing really good in defensive positions. That along with Villas form right now. As long as we find the first goal, it should be a win from there, since they will start to open up. You know they will defend from the first minute and play counter attack, Aston Villa do this even against smaller teams.
Maybe that is the reason why Villa don’t score due to the fact that when other teams attack them,they only attack with a few players. But unlike other Villa many of the smaller teams don’t rely solely on Counter attack in every game.
Lineup vs Villa:
Ospina
Bellerin Mert Kos Gibbs
Ramsey Coquelin Ozil
Walcott Giroud Sanchez
Subs: Szszcesny, Chambers, Monreal, Flamini, Rosicky, Ox, Akpom
Cazorla not in starting lineup or on the bench???
And when the hell is Paulista being announced? Getting beyond a joke now… Everyone keeps saying its imminent and he’s been granted a work permit but he’s no where to be seen.
Seriously. What the hell is wrong with Arsenal? How long do we have to wait until Paulista is a Gunner? It starting to become amazing that we could take this long to sign a player.
Has Paulista taken a medical yet?
He got his work permit and surely everything has been signed.
It would be cool if Paulista could come on the field to play his first game in the Emirates as a sub. (Hopefully after a big lead)
Anyway, word is that United are after Cavani or Benzema (2 players we should have gone after). Hopefully, they are unsuccessful because right now I can see us going after 3rd place not just 4th (especially after getting Paulista and return of Walcott and Ozil)
Good Luck Liverpool…..beat Chelski
Good luck Sheffield United….beat the Tottenham HotSpuds tomorrow night
Chelski v Spuds would be a horrible final
Are we getting a new striker?
With Sanogo, Podolski and Campbell all out on loan can we really compete with just Giroud and Welbeck as our main strikers. I know we have got players that could fit into that position but is this a gamble.
🙂
Akpom – like a new signing!
Reckon we might see something like this….
……………..Ospina………………
Hector… BFG… Kos… Monreal
…………Coq….Rambo………….
Ox……….Santi……..Sanchez
…………….OG12…………………
Bench
Ozil – on at 65min mark
Theo – on at 65min mark
Chambers
Flamini
Gibbs – on at 75m mark
TR7
Szc