Yes, we all know that Arsenal gave us a terrible performance against Crystal Palace on Monday, but it is fair to say that right now Patrick Vieira’s team is one of the most inform sides in the Premier League at the moment, especially at Selhurst Park. In fact, in all competitions since New Years Day, the Eagles have only been beaten by Liverpool and Chelsea.
The good news is that this weekend Chelsea were humbled by lowly Brentford and Man United were held by Leicester, so we are still on course for Third or Fourth if we can regain our confdence against Brighton on Saturday. Okay, so Tottenham got a very good win aginst Newcastle, but despite the doom-mongers we are still favourites to finish in the Top Four.
As Arteta said on Monday night: “We’ve got a game in hand still and we need to play. We know that with nine games a lot of things are going to happen, we have to play each other and we have to play some big games coming up. We have to focus on ourselves and the problem that we had today is not Spurs, it was us and what we did in the first half.”
It is of course imperative that Arsenal bounce back against a Brighton side that has nothing to play for, and considering they are currently safe from relegation and have only won one of their last ten games. They will certainly not be a tough challenge like we faced at Crystal Palace, even if we have to play without Tierney, Partey and Tomiyasu.
Also we are playing with the Twelfth Man behind us at the Emirates, where we have only lost to Liverpool and Man City in our last 14 home matches, and with another three points in the bag, perhaps the Arsenal fans will be less pessimistic than they are at the moment.
Onwards and Upwards!
Even a draw would unfortunately mean our top 4 hopes are pretty much over.
BHA, Southampton, United, West Ham and Leeds matches are must wins now given that we at least draw against Spurs. Anything against Chelsea is a big plus.
I hope so much to finish 4th but somehow I think it’s not going to happen,
I think spuds have the bit between their teeth and scoring lots of goals,
With Partey, Tierney, Tomi all missing it makes it harder,
I think we should play with wing backs and 3 at the back..
Ramsdale
White. Holding gabby
Esr. Looko xakai. Saka
Odegarrd
Pepe. Martinelle
PEPE is better than lacazatte
I think White should play at RB, and Holding brought into the line up.
————– Rams
White – Hold – Gabriel – Nuno
——— ASL – Xhaka
Saka – ESR – Martinelli
——- Lacazette
How can you even think of playing Nuno, after the disaster he just had. He is an absolute rubbish player and a handicap to the team
I’m not worried about Brighton, because our home supporters will intimidate them and our players have surely learned from their last defeat. I think Lacazette and Partey will work their socks off to prepare for that game
GAI,Partey will not be fit and if he plays it is because he has been rushed back.
Hopefully Lokonga can play CDM as good as him
As for Pathey not been fit, we have Ben white as option apart from SLokonga. And Holding can play Centrally.
What of Pathey”s injury scare?
Tavares remain a big weakness from the left side teams would want to capitalize on that.
I heard we won’t have other option because Tierney is injured. Tavares would likely perform better at home
Now that the onus is on him (Tavares) to perform let’s hope he regain the form that made him bench Tieney early season.
Where are the goals going to come from, over reliance on Saka and ESR when Lacazette is firing blanks is a problem. Think aterta should play 2 upfront with Nketiah also starting to help in the goal scoring which is urgently needed.
Well written. Well thought out. Well articulated. We can only look up, not below like Jose Maurinho once said.
Play
Soares. White. Gabriel.
Sambi. Xhaka
Saka . ESR. Martinelli
Nketiah. Lacazette
I think white should play DM alongside Xhaka, we can’t afford to leave the midfield to lightweight Lokonga ,
———– Rams
Cedric – Hold – Gabriel – Nuno
Smith-Rowe-White – Xhaka
Saka –Lacazette/Pepe – Martinelli
Or
Holding- White- Gabriel
Smith-Rowe-Lokonga-Xhaka-Nuno
Saka- Lacazette/Pepe- Martinelli
Odegaard’s biggest weakness is strength and it’s a problem to the team, especially against physically fit teams.
Despite everything, my wish is we finish in the top 4.I therefore think that Rob Holding should be re instated in the starting 11,so that either Ben white moves to right back or Maghalhaes moves to L.B. Starting both Cedric and Nuno is suicidal.
We should beat them given their form, but make no mistake, we are in big trouble with our injuries.
Nuno has been so bad of late, which means we effectively have zero natural options at LB. In fact, I think we can only use him as a wingback and not a fullback.
Xhaka cannot even switch to LB for a short period, because of no Partey.
If I was a Wolves fan I wouldn’t have completely given up on top 4,, If I supported West Ham I certainly wouldn’t have done so
I think ManU & Spurs have the edge because they have goalscorers but we are still very much in this fight
I have no problem at all with Cedric who can also do a decent job on the left but I have no problem with Tavares either, no issues with Sambi or Holding coming in, Leno or Ramsdale? I’d be OK with either
Xhaka can play the more recent Partey role, so could Elneny, Eddie would be a welcome option to Laca right now, or play alongside him wide left even
Pepe could come in for Saka if needed, ESR could switch to Ode’s position and Tomi will be back at some point
Martinelli is capable match winning performances
We have a good squad, a good team, good players, OK they didn’t show it on Monday night but don’t give up on them now Gunners
I’m pretty sure the players won’t be chucking the towel in, Brighton will be another difficult game to win but I bet the players are chomping at the bit to try to put right their wrongs of Monday night
Injuries are going to take a toll on our sprint for top 4. Tavares and Lokonga not used to playing and rusty as we saw against Palace.
Possibly new formations to minimize the impact of injuries is also a likely scenario. Our strength was defense, and now that is shaky with the players covering due to injuries.
We have struggled to create and score all year (again!) and it is unlikely our attackers can step up and take the pressure off a revamped back 4.
More likely we go with a back 5, or revert back to negative tactics and our attackers are so defensively positioned that we can’t take advantage of counter attacks, or are so slow in the buildup.
We really need to rally around the team, but I’m concerned that we don’t have the horses to finish the race for top 4.
For arguments sake, if we miss on top 4 due to the recent injuries, should someone be held accountable? Money was available after all, as we saw with the Dusan bid. Auba and Chambers moved on and we could really use the depth now.
Only one person responsible if we dont make top 4 and that is the manager. He got rid of too many players and did not replace them and it will cost us at the end of the season so if we dont make top 4 he should resign
He surely couldn’t afford to keep all those players, sitting on the bench for half of the season. You see what happened to the primary backups’ form. After we missed on the cups games there was little choice but to send a lot of players on loan.
Where’s Miguel Azeez, he could do justice in a midfield 3 with Xhaka and Smith-Rowe.
Deapth is the key to be a big 6 boys in premier League. Since January transfer closed. I knew we were in big trouble when an injury will occur to on of the starters. Now we are there.. Tierney and partey are out when we need them most… Top for now needs a miracle like it’s happening in Trafford..
I think they learn from last game amd they play well on next game
Commenting on our thin squad due to out going is like quarreling over spoil milk.
We still have a good squad, better than our opponent Brighton who don’t seems to know where the two sticks are.
We haven’t lost two matches in a row for some time especially at the office, We must hit them hard and early, then manage the game.
Now that we are not the favorite any more we can quietly go about our business, but first we must win this one comfortable.
Nice points you make, very rational comments about rebounding for the next game. We should have been ready for Palace, but our performance showed that the boys were not.
Last match was important and winnable, yet the boys flopped and missed a golden opportunity for points and to close on Chelsea in 3rd.
Pressure for this match too, I would argue a bit more pressure due to the loss to Palace. Hopefully we will see a reaction and proper response after that loss.
Strongly agree, we should have been ready alright.
One of my main reasons for begging, besieging and reminding any willing ears that would listen, That Palace was the most important matches of the remaining ten, was partly because I was a little nervous, lol
Like a cold old diesel engine Arsenal always find it hard to get into gear after a break
The fact that we hard that kind of first half just after the international break goes to tell alot about how the break affected our team as evident in the resulting injuries we are now withnessing to keys players.
We just need to win against Brighton and build another momentum