With Arsenal having won the first two of the Europa League group games, there should not be too much pressure on Arsene Wenger and the players going into the game on Thursday, or at least that would have been the case if the Gunners had not suffered that turnaround to lose at Watford.
The knives are out for the boss in the football media once again, and a few of the individual players as well after another performance that has added fuel to the fire of the old adage that Arsenal have got a soft centre and don’t like it up ’em, with the Watford penalty scorer Troy Deeney not helping by suggesting that exact thing.
With injury problems mounting and another away game against Everton to deal with on Sunday, the boss was probably planning a fart of changes and a weakened team for the trip to face Red Star Belgrade, but what would another bad game and result do the already fragile confidence of the squad?
I would be tempted to pick a strong Arsenal team and try to get the job done and the fans smiling again, but there is always the risk of losing an important player to a knock or worse. At times like this I do not envy Wenger his job. What would you do?
D.N.