With the Gunners facing what is supposed to be the whipping boys of Champions League group A this evening and the match being at home, most Arsenal fans will be expecting a reasonably comfortable Arsenal victory over Ludogorets Razgrad.
Perhaps we should not be too confident, though, because Arsenal have slipped up plenty of times in the recent past when facing a side we are expected to sweep aside. It is not only our own ability to shoot ourselves in the foot that should be a concern either, as the Bulgarian champions have already taken a point away to Basel and they beat Victoria Plzen and Red Star Belgrade in the qualifying stages so they are no mugs.
You would still expect the Gunners to be too strong for Ludogorets if we are on the ball, unless the captain of the Bulgarians is right about Arsenal having a weakness in our side and they exploit it, as Svetoslav Dyakov has suggested in an Evening Standard report.
He said, “Arsenal is one of the teams which are playing some of the best football in the world, they can play their style of game against Barcelona or anybody, there is a lot of movement, a lot of passing the ball. It will be a pleasure to play here against them.
“Teams like Arsenal have very few weak spots, our coach has given us the information and I can’t disclose it. If we have some luck and play well, we can expect something from the game.”
This could be a bit of mind games of course, but if not, what do you think the weak spot they think to have found in our team is? Could it be something as general as the theory that we do not like a physical battle? Perhaps it is one player they think might be a weak link, such as the currently below par Nacho Monreal on the left.
Could they be planning to mark key attacking players like Mesut Ozil or Alexis Sanchez out of the game. What do you think Arsenal’s weak spot could be?
Bob.