Watford v Arsenal Preview, Line-up and Score Prediction

We make the short trip to Vicarage Road to take on Watford today, with Arsenal looking to get their first win of the season on the board.

We have had an exciting and busy week in the transfer market, but unfortunately neither of our two prospective capture Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez have been able to complete their moves in time to feature today.

Arsenal will still be taking a strong squad to take on the Hornets, despite the likes of Alex Iwobi, Aaron Ramsey, Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista all missing through injury.

Rob Holding managed to put in a decent defensive display alongside stand-in captain Laurent Koscielny last week, and will no doubt be awarded the role again as he gets to grips with Premier League football.

The two midfielders at the base of our midfield is hard to predict, although Granit Xhaka remains the most likely starter, with one of Francis Coquelin, Santia Cazorla or Mohamed Elneny likely to play alongside him.

Walcott has been doing well out wide so far this season, and is likely to be given the nod to play off the striker alongside Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, with the former getting his preferred role back after being forced to play as a makeshift striker in the previous two matches, as Giroud will no doubt be taking his slot back.

Watford put in a resilient performance against Chelsea last week, but were put out of the cup after a long 120 minutes on Wednesday, and they may well not have had enough time to recover from that properly. The likes of Ighalo and Deeney, as well as other first-team members were also featuring on Tuesday night, and that could well take its toll as they look to stop us from picking up the points.

Predicted XI:

Cech
Bellerin  Holding  Koscielny  Monreal
Xhaka     Cazorla
Walcott         Ozil           Sanchez
Giroud

I expect us to get off the mark today with a 3-1 win, with Giroud to open the scoring. Anyone fancy the score-cast?

Gooner P

Tags Arsenal Watford

17 Comments

  1. I am actually nervous about this game.We are still unprepared and i don’t know where the goals are gonna come from. Walcott should not start as a first teamer he is a bench player I’d rather have the ox there with sanchez on the other wing.As for the central midfielders I’d like to see xhaka with cazorla with ozil just behind giroud.I won’t be able to see the match but i hope we win or else its curtains for another title challenge:(

    1. ox would be a better impact sub than walcott…imo walcott isnt a player to make instant impact coming as sub

      1. The ox this year luks a different player.he is hungry and i dont think it will be gud for us to bench him.it can affect his morale or even make his drive get lost walcot should be a better impact sub only reason he picks up late is his attitude.

  2. I’m nervous about every match – such is the gooner life

    I don’t see the logic of playing Xhaka- he’s looked below par so far. And we have other great options. He’ll come good I’m sure – but price tag alone doesn’t earn you a spot

    Agree start Ox (Walcott on the bench)
    Carzola and Coq to start for me

    Cech
    Bellerine Holding Kos Monreal
    Coq Carzola
    Sanchez (on left) Ozil Ox
    Giroud

    1. Xhaka can pick a pass that goes straight to a foot or chest at a gr8 pace even opponents can’t be able to stop it, let him start..

      OT.. Heard mustafi and Lucas were to do their medicals yesterday, what happened? Still on their way?

  3. Xhaka must start playing games from the 1st minute so it’s him + either Santi or Elneny. Coq is a liability in my view, brainless, always on the brink of leaving us with 10 men.

    I do fancy your 3-1 score as long as Ozil and Giroud start too.

  4. Look we have too much average players.
    Ramsey Wilshire Elneny xhaxa coquelin all squad players at best.
    Cazorla is the only cm whos good enough.
    The others are only reliable bench players.
    In my opinion coquelin should support Cazorla because he plays him to his strengths.

    cech
    bellerin holding kos monreal
    coquelin Cazorla
    ox ozil Sanchez
    giroud

    Watford 1 Arsenal 2

  5. i dont care who score as all i want is a win.. even if its Cech that score i still want a win at all cost.

    any starting line-up should win as far as they are in my red and white..

    watford 1:4 arsenal

  6. Predict a 2-1 win for us.its gona be tough we just luk lost in the final third.if giroud starts will be gud sanchez as a striker is not giving us an outlet

  7. I think bellerin and walcot will not work.both are weak defensively and this lets bellerin gets exposed alot. He also seems uncomfortable at the moment.this is only gud when we attack but when we defend its not gud

    1. Bellerins been one of our best performers so far. Monreal is the one having trouble, but I do agree on Walcott. Also I seen a write up of Arsenals worst performers so far, and it went Alexis I think was the worst. Ramsey and Iwobi were pretty bad all round. And Monreal of course, Walcott was bad but not as bad as others. Kos Ox Bellerin Holding were among our best I think, and I cant remember too much more. Oh yeah, and Cech was bad too, but they blamed it on the defending a little.

  8. I prefer we start the ox then we bring theo in the second half.his pace can be effectively used at that time and teams are also tired and we will be less vulnerable to be attacked on that flank.but knowing wenger dont be surprised to see cazorla in the wing and coq and xhaka in the base of midfield.i think wenger said giroud is short for starting the game? Thus sanchez upfront

  9. I would be surprised if Wenger starts with Ozil today, as it seems that he wants to ease him back into the team, to avoid injury ? We will Probably see him come on in the second half .. but hey, what do I know ? Sanchez Hat-trick? Yes, i fancy some of that today! ?

    ——————————- Cech
    Bellerin —– Koscielny —- Holding —- Monreal
    ——————- Elneny ——- Xhaka
    —– Ox ——— Cazorla/ Ozil ——- Sanchez
    ————————– Giroud

  10. If you play Xhaka beside Cazorla he’ll get terribly exposed. In my mind, he’s not a player to play as a lone CDM. In addition he lacks the speed and agility that Le Coq possesses. Meanwhile what has El Neny done to be benched? He was far and away our midfielder in preseason.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors