The next two days could turn out to be the most important of the season for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger. A humbling and humiliating Champions League defeat by Borussia Dortmund on the back of a stuttering start to the Premier League season has left us teetering on the brink of disaster.
Morale and self belief among the players must be pretty low and Wenger also has a mounting injury crisis to deal with ahead of a must win away game with high flying Aston Villa, who beat Liverpool at Anfield last weekend, so now is when the manager needs to really earn his money.
Wenger revealed in his post match interview, reported by Arsenal.com, that one of the few Gunners that has played well so far this season, Jack Wilshere, has turned his ankle against the German club and although it doesn’t look too bad, he may miss the game on Saturday.
So assuming that Arsenal are without Jack, how does Wenger go about getting a vital win at Villa? Aaron Ramsey will play, of course, and we really need the Welshman to start showing the form that earned him Player of the Year last season. Mesut Ozil could move back into the number 10 role, which might spark him into life, but we also have Cazorla and Rosicky.
After Mikel Arteta’s shocking showing in Dortmund, I really hope that Flamini is fit again, while our defensive frailties suggest that Chambers needs to play at right back rather than Bellerin. The most important thing for the boss to do, though, is pick up the players and get them in the right frame of mind to produce what we know they can. Will he be able to do it?