Premier League Fixtures Make For An Interesting Start For Arsenal

The Premier League fixtures for next season were released on Thursday and they present Arsenal with a few challenges. We had a very difficult start to our campaign last season with a home game against City and a trip to Chelsea, but this season seems a touch easier with a trip to Newcastle followed by a home game against Burnley. On the face of it those are easier games, but given our away form for the last two seasons it’s hardly surprising the game against Newcastle will be live on TV with the chance of an upset particularly high.

There were no real expectations of getting anything from those two opening games last season and it wasn’t too much of a surprise when we lost both of them. However, we will be expected to take a minimum of four points from the opening two games next season and we should really be aiming for six points. With a trip to Liverpool and a home game against Spurs to follow before the first international break it makes six points almost a necessity from our first two games.

After that game against Spurs we have a run where we have 12 games in a row against teams who finished below us last season before a busy and difficult festive schedule. During that 12 game run we will also have our Europa League group games to contend with, but four of those six games will be followed by home game in the league. With squad rotation we will hopefully be able to keep the players relatively fresh during that period and possibly get a good return from those games.

Our primary target for next season has to be a top four finish after missing out for the last three seasons and anything that can help us achieve that target is a good thing. We might have finished the season in a bit of a mess, but it can be argued that both United and Chelsea are in an even worse state. If Chelsea can’t overturn their transfer embargo they are in a whole heap of trouble with Eden Hazard already departed while United ended their season in disarray and it will take an awful lot to improve them.

Our actions in the transfer market will give us an indication of what to expect next season with players needed in so many positions. For a start we need to replace Aaron Ramsey, Danny Welbeck, Petr Cech and Stephan Lichsteiner after all of their contracts ended and they either left on free transfers or hung up their boots. Only Ramsey had any real impact on the first team last season and it will take an awful lot to replace one of the few players to come out of last season with any credit.

We didn’t see too much of Welbeck due to injuries and I think we can replace him with one or two of the younger players coming through while saving a lot on his wages. If he could have avoided missing so many games due to injuries in his time at the club I think we would have missed him more, but his injury record makes him a worry for any team considering signing him. Both Cech and Lichsteiner will probably be replaced from what we have already too as neither of them had too much impact on the first team last season too.

There are rumours of just about all of our defenders leaving, but I think we need to try to keep Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding while I think both Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis Papastathopoulos should be kept too. Like so many other Arsenal fans I think Shkodran Mustafi needs to be moved on while Sead Kolasinac and Callum Chambers are both rumoured to be surplus to requirements too. We definitely need to sign some defenders who can help to cut out the individual errors that lead to so many of the goals we concede.

In midfield there are rumours of Granit Xhaka being surplus to requirements or maybe even wanting to go to play in the Champions League while Lucas Torreira has made it known that he’s not too fond of life in London. I think we really need to hold on to Torreira while I’m not so sure on Xhaka. When he’s good he can have a real influence on our control of a game, but he just does not seem to learn from his mistakes as his lack of positional awareness and perpensity to give the ball away cost us dearly time after time.

I can’t say I’m looking forward to next season too much, but the troubles of some of our rivals could open the door for us. I can’t see us challenging for the title and I would be very surprised if it isn’t a two horse race between City and Liverpool like it was last season. I’m far from convinced Spurs can do any better than they did this season and I think they’re another team who could and probably should be in our sights.

While I’m still far from convinced Unai Emery is the manager to lead us forward I’m also pretty sure he’ll still be here come the new season. While our final position was marginally better than the previous season and we collected a few more points too as well as reaching the Europa League final it was still a failure because of our inability to make the Champions League. If we can break into the top four next season it will have to be judged as some form of success and it might well be enough for Emery to continue in the job.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal Show Some Backbone As Baku Beckons

Arsenal went to Valencia last night for the second leg of their Europa League semi final knowing nothing short of qualifying for the final would do in their quest for Champions League football for next season. After winning the first leg 3-1 at home last week they had a lead to protect, but their recent Premier League form gave us real cause for concern. I was far from confident of making the final and the early goal to Valencia looked like it might be just what they needed to overcome the deficit.

I hadn’t factored in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang having his best game in his 16 months at the club though and he equalised soon afterwards. Half time came and went with the tie still in the balance before Alexandre Lacazette gave us the lead on the night and left Valencia with a huge hill to climb. They did manage to equalise, but enter Aubameyang again with two more cracking goals to give us a 4-2 win on the night and a 7-3 win on aggregate.

In the other semi final Chelsea scraped through against Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties to set up another all English final in Baku on May 29th. Playing the final in Baku has it’s problems for Arsenal as UEFA can’t currently guarantee the safety of Henrikh Mkhitaryan due to the ongoing political situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia. It’s comical that UEFA have allowed the final to be played in a country with some much hatred for others and it’s not as if they couldn’t have seen it coming.

Mkhitaryan didn’t travel when Arsenal played away to Quarbag earlier this season for the very same reason. Officially Arsenal chose not to pick him in the squad for that game, but ultimately it came down to his nationality. UEFA have had time to consider a solution since then in the knowledge that Arsenal have been second favourites to win the trophy all along. 

Personally I think the game should be moved to a country where you don’t need to get assurances of player safety for a European Final because the locals can’t be trusted. I have no doubt the game will go ahead in Baku though and Arsenal will have to do without a very good player which will surely be an advantage to Chelsea. With so many travel arrangements already made I doubt if the game could be moved, but UEFA have a lot to answer for.

Back to all things bright and beautiful though and the attitude and commitment shown by the players last night was magnificent. I wondered beforehand if they had being saving their best performances for the Europa League and I don’t think we need to wonder any more. Without a doubt we would be in with a much better chance of finishing in the top four if the players had performed in the league in any way similar to any or all of their last five Europa League games.

If we win the final and qualify for next season’s Champions League all will be sweetness and nice, but failure to do so will lead to some very serious questions being asked. Option one is obviously my preferred option and we can worry about the state of our squad and style of play when we have a trophy in the cabinet. Hopefully that will be the case and we will have the whole summer to start work on the rebuild that is so badly needed, but at least it will be from a position of strength. It has to be a lot easier to attract the players we will be chasing if we have that trophy and the prospect of Champions League football next season too.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal Get A Little Closer To Baku

With our top four hopes marginal at best Arsenal have nearly all of their eggs in the Europa League basket and they took another step towards the final at home to Valencia last night. It was a night that started badly with Valencia scoring first after only 11 minutes, but Arsenal were ahead within 15 minutes of that goal and they added a crucial third goal right at the end of the match. While a two goal advantage going into the away leg is quite good the away goal Valencia got is definitely worrying.

While the defensive performance from Arsenal wasn’t great the front two certainly made up for it with excellent performances. Both Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were really up for it and besides scoring the three goals between them they also harried and chased the Valencia defenders from the first minute to the last. Like quite a few others I’ve been critical of both players recently, but then again I’ve been critical of most of the rest of the team too.

I wondered before the game whether the players had been playing so badly recently because the semi finals were weighing on their minds and after last night that seems quite possible. They definitely showed an awful lot more desire and commitment than they did in their previous three league which all ended in defeat. The chances of a top four finish aren’t dead just yet though and a win at home to Brighton on Sunday mighy just reignite them if Chelsea drop any points at home to Watford earlier in the day.

I thought we were good value for our win last night despite Valencia having a few chances of their own. It’s easy to be critical of our defence, but at this level you have to expect the opposition to make chances and we had the best of the chances by a long way last night. It remains to be seen if we can create enough chances away from home to get an away goal which might just prove crucial to our hopes. From the evidence of last night I think our pace in attack is a real asset in that away game and performances anything like last night from our strikers should hopefully be enough to get us through to the final.

Looking towards Sunday it’s really a matter of who’s up to playing as the hectic schedule looks to be taking it’s toll on the players. Laurent Koscielny looked like he had to go off last night as he had nothing left after giving his all yet again and I thought the team as a while looked very tired towards the end with the exception of the two strikers. It’s been a very busy time for all the players recently which hasn’t been helped by our wafer thin squad.

The long term absences of Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Danny Welbeck as well as the recent loss of Aaron Ramsey denied us of four players who would have been crucial to the squad at such a busy time. The fact that the arrivals of Stephan Lichsteiner and Denis Suarez didn’t work out denied us two more players and those losses have added to the work load for other players. I really don’t know if they have enough in the tank to keep our top four hopes alive until the final day of the season by beating Brighton on Sunday.

On the face of it we should have an easy task against a team with only one goal in their last seven games, but it might not be so. They will either be playing for the result they need to assure their Premier League survival or free of any shakles if Cardiff don’t win their game against Palace. I hope we can get the win and a few goals to go with it would be great, but keeping players fit for next Thursday night is fairly important too.

We’ll have an idea of what we will have to do before the game depending on how Chelsea do against Watford earlier in the day. They have to go to Leicester on the final day and that’s no easy game either, but our trip to Burnley is a tough one too. Despite looking dead and buried I think we will fall behind United if we don’t win our last two games as they have two easy games and it would be a real blow to finish sixth again so we really need to win our last two games.

Finally with the Europa League final in Baku it’s a serious haul for Arsenal fans if we do make it. My brother in law spends half of the year in Dubai and he got himself a ticket as he’s actually nearer to Baku than London is. I hope he gets to use that ticket watching the team he has supported since he was born next to the stadium play in the final and lift the trophy.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Valencia: Europa League Semi Final Preview

It’s been a bad couple of weeks for Arsenal since they beat Napoli to book their place against Valencia in the Europa League semi-finals. Three consecutive Premier League defeats have left our top four hopes in tatters with only two games to go. With our top four place looking so doubtful through the league we have to try to qualify for next season’s Champions League by winning the Europa League.

To do so we will have to somehow turn around this dreadful run we have been on and get the better of a very good Valencia side. Like us their best chance of playing in European football’s biggest competition next season is through the Europa League as they’re fifth in their domestic league with three games to go. 

Unai Emery has a few decisions to make ahead of the game with his formation and personnel on the night of crucial importance. We have done well at home in big games this season with the results against Spurs, United, Chelsea and Napoli in particular standing out. We’re going to need some of the commitment and attitude shown in those games if we’re going to take a lead to the second leg in Spain next week.

I think he has to play his strongest team possible which should see Mesut Ozil return from the knock which kept him out of the debacle at Leicester, but otherwise there won’t be too many changes from that team which is worrying considering the performance they gave. Laurent Koscielny was rested of course, but he had to come on when Ainsley Maitland-Niles was sent off, but hopefully he’ll have something left after only playing 45 minutes. I think we have to play both of our strikers in the hope we can get a couple of goals to take to Spain with us next week.

As bad as our away form has been we managed to win away to Napoli after we had beaten them 2-0 at home in the first leg. If we can get a similar result at home to Valencia I think we have every chance of progressing over the two legs and our cause will be greatly helped if we can keep a clean sheet tonight. Valencia aren’t exactly a swashbuckling team who score loads of goals and they will be very difficult to break down, but I think we have to win tonight to have any hope of progressing.

We’ll see the return of two players who weren’t really considered good enough for Arsenal with both Gabriel Paulista and Francis Coquelin probably in the starting line up for Valencia. To be honest I don’t think they were at a level to which we would aspire, but they’re certainly no worse than most of the rest of our current squad either. Hopefully it will be an unhappy return for both players as they’re on the end of a very positive result for Arsenal.

The last week has been very difficult and the efforts of the players allied to poor team set up and tactics from the manager only made it worse. We offered so little in attack against both Wolves and Leicester that it’s hard to believe the same players can put on a top class performance tonight. I think we have to hope this semi final has being weighing on their collective minds and they can find what’s required of them tonight.

We came so close to reaching the Europa League Final last season, but we were undone on the break at home when we were 1-0 up in a game we dominated and could/should  have won. It seemed like such an Arsenal thing to do and I can only hope we don’t get a repeat performance tonight, but nothing is certain with these players. I’m hopeful of the win and making it to the final, but I’m certainly far from confident.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal’s Trip To Leicester Previewed

It’s been a bad, bad week for Arsenal with two defeats in the Premier League at home to Palace and away to Wolves which leaves their top four hopes no longer in their own hands. Two victories would have seen us third in the table with a top four place very close to a certainty and the manager able to maybe rest a few players ahead of our Europa League semi final first leg at home to Valencia on Thursday night. It wasn’t to be though and now we have to hope for other results to go our way as well as taking enough points ourselves to take advantage of other teams slipping.

On that note we will be greatly helped by the two teams who are realistically fighting for that last Champions League place for next season playing each other on Sunday afternoon. With Spurs already four points clear of us and some favourable fixtures to finish their season I can’t see them missing out on third place despite the distraction of their Champions League semi final games and their incredible ability to bottle it when the going gets tough. Even their loss at home To West Ham shouldn’t be enough to derail them, but you can never be sure just when things will finally fall apart for them. We’re only a point behind Chelsea and we’re two points ahead of United so realistically we want United to win which would leave them both level on 67 points with two games to play.

For us to benefit to the maximum we would obviously need to win at Leicester, but a draw wouldn’t be the worst result as long as United can win that game. If United win both them and Chelsea will be on 67 points and a point at Leicester would leave us on 67 points too and our goal difference is superior to both of them. Chelsea would have a minimum of three goals to catch up while United would have a maximum of nine which would surely make us favourites if we can win our final two games.   

Winning at home to Brighton won’t be easy for us despite how badly they have done recently as it comes between our two games against Valencia while winning at Burnley will be even tougher given our away form and the fact it comes three days after the second leg against Valencia. At the same time United will be playing two of the bottom three and they will have a real chance to try to catch up on the goal difference gap while Chelsea don’t have the easiest fixtures either and they have Europa League semi finals to contend with too. I can see it going to the last game of the season and I think we will finish in the top four if we can take seven points from our last three games.

So a point at Leicester wouldn’t be the worst result unless of course Chelsea get something at United and it would put our fate firmly back in our own hands. Of course getting a point at Leicester won’t be easy when you consider how bad we were at Wolves on Wednesday night and how bad we are generally away from home with the exception of a very good performance away to Spurs. 

Leicester contain plenty of pace and a real threat on the counter attack and that’s something we seem to have a real problem coping with. Unai Emery hasn’t really done anything to improve us defensively this season, but he hasn’t been helped by long term injuries to both Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin. If we’re going to get anything from the game I think we are going to have to play five at the back.

Like many others I have been fairly critical of Shkodran Mustafi this season, but he wasn’t on the pitch at Wolves when others showed they were just as capable of making the mistakes for which we berate him. With Laurent Koscielny playing game after game at the moment I think we will have to rest him before something gives which will probably mean Mustafi coming back into the team. The other central defender will surely have to be Nacho Monreal as it’s a little unfair on Konstantinos Mavropanos to expect him to come in at the deep end again. Maybe Mavropanos can be slowly developed starting with cup games next season, but it’s asking an awful lot for him to play at this level in such important games.

If Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has recovered from his minor procedure I expect him to play, but Alexandre Lacazette might well be rested ahead of Valencia. The injury to Aaron Ramsey seems to have been a real blow to how we had being playing and we could really do with him against Leicester, but he isn’t ready to return and probably won’t ever play for us again unless we reach the Europa League Final.

We seem to have problems no matter what way we play away from home. If we try to take the game to the opposition we get taken apart on the break while we simply can’t stop the opposition if we try to sit back and hit them on the break. I would be very surprised if Leicester didn’t try to get among us and pressurise us as it seems to work for almost every other team on our travels.

If we concede the first goal we’re in a huge amount of trouble as we have only taken one point away from home so far this season after conceding the first goal. We have allowed the opposition an awful lot of shots against us compared to the shots we have taken despite having more possession than our opponents on average away from home. It’s our inability to create chances from all of our possession which is really harming us and I think it has a lot to do with us not having a genuine wide player to speak of in the squad.

The manager has to make do with what he has though and hope he can get a performance out of them to get the result we need. I would be happy with a point to keep our top four hopes alive ahead of a very difficult game at home to Valencia on Thursday night, but I have real reservations about our ability to even do that. For me our biggest problem is our lack of balance and that’s something that just can’t be sorted with the players we have so we just have to make do. It’s accentuated away from home and there can’t be many teams in the Premier League who don’t have a genuine belief they can beat us on their own patch.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal’s Trip To Wolves Previewed

It looks like the fight for a top four finish is going to go right to the wire this season with Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and United all still holding out hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League. As it stands Spurs are in the best position of the three and their run in is probably the easiest too. Arsenal are still in a pretty good position too despite losing at home to Palace on Sunday, but that defeat ended the room they had for an error with four games still to play.

They’re a point behind Chelsea with a game in hand and superior goal difference going into tomorrow night’s game at Wolves. United are a further two points behind Arsenal before they play at home to City tomorrow night and their goal difference is in a real mess. With United playing at home to Chelsea on Sunday one or both of them will drop more points and I will be very surprised if City don’t beat United too.

While the ball is still in our court we really need to get something from Wolves to move ahead of Chelsea and move further away from United. We still have three more games to go after Wolves and having three of our last four games away from home doesn’t help when you consider our away record this season. Those away results have improved a little recently with victories at Huddersfield and Watford and a draw at Spurs in their last four away games.

We also lost at Everton in that run and to be honest the only good performance was at Spurs. We were very lucky to beat 10 man Watford while the win against bottom club Huddersfield was far from convincing. The defeat at Everton was possibly our worst performance of the season and another performance like that will not be good enough to get anything from Wolves.

Our biggest problem at the moment is our fixture congestion added to a small squad and Unai Emery is struggling to put out a team that can get a result from game to game. Our midfield on Sunday just wasn’t up to the task while individual errors at the back handed Palace their goals. While the manager might have got his original team selection wrong he changed it enough at half time to get the win we so badly needed, but those errors proved so crucial.

If he can bring both Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka back into the team against Wolves I think we might exert enough control in midfield to give ourselves a real chance. At least we can recall Sokratis Papastathopoulos from suspension, but I would be very surprised if Laurent Koscielny starts again considering how much game time he has had in the last two weeks as well as his age and the fact he’s not too long back after a long term injury.

The manager has to balance his team selection enough to leave something for Sunday’s trip to Leicester while giving ourselves every chance of beating Wolves too. It’s not going to be an easy task and it’s made tougher by our upcoming Europa League semi final first leg at home to Valencia on Thursday of next week. After Wolves it’s Sundays and Thursdays for us until the end of the season unless of course we beat Valencia to make it to the final which is two and a half weeks after our last league game.

Our other two league games are at home to Brighton and away to Burnley and I think we will probably have to win them both to finish in the top four. We could lose to either Wolves or Leicester as long as we beat both Brighton and Burnley and more than likely still finish in the top four. If United lose to City it should take only seven points in our last four games to finish ahead of them while the same amount of points should be enough too if Chelsea were to lose to United next weekend. It’s all getting very tight and complicated, but at least it’s in our own hands.

I digress just a little from my Wolves preview and to be honest there isn’t too much I can say. They have a very good record against the top six teams in the Premier League and we were probably a little lucky to get a point at home to them in November. They will look to hit us on the break and that’s where we are probably at our weakest. Palace might have scored their three goals from set pieces, but until that game we had a very good record defending set pieces this season.

I can’t say I’m overly confident of Arsenal getting something from Wolves, but then again Wolves haven’t looked good since they lost their FA Cup semi final to Watford. They might raise their game against one of the big boys, but then again with little to play for they might not quite be at the races. It’s a game where the result is all important and performances aren’t overly important at this stage of the season with so many games, such a thin squad and so much at stake.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal’s Europa League Trip To Napoli Previewed

Our Europa League quarter final first leg at home to Napoli last week couldn’t have gone much better with a two goal win and a clean sheet to boot. It leaves us in a healthy situation going into the second leg tonight, but we still have a fair bit to do to guarantee a semi final spot against the winners of the Eintreacht Frankfurt and Benfica tie. Normally you would think we’re in a very healthy position, but our away form has left so much to be desired this season.

Our cause wasn’t helped by having to play at Watford on Monday night in the Premier League, but playing on Sunday wouldn’t have been much better as we had played our first leg against Napoli last Thursday night. It’s that time of the season where teams challenging for trophies have to try to get the best they have from the players available twice a week. After playing Napoli we have to play at home to Palace on Sunday and away to Wolves on Wednesday night. 

Unai Emery has to judge which players are up to starting against Napoli and which ones need a rest to prevent possible injuries. At the same time he also needs to pick a strong enough team to insure qualification for the last four while keeping the games against Palace and Wolves in mind too. Our chances of a top four finish are probably a little better than our chances of winning the Europa League, but I have no doubt the manager would like both and who can blame him if that is the case.

We have to hope Laurent Koscielny will be fit to play after taking a knock at Watford on Monday night while Sokratis Papastathopoulos is bound to start as he’s suspended from domestic games. With both Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles starting on the bench against Watford you would imagine they will both play, but a lot will depend on the formation. If he’s up to it hopefully Lucas Torreira can start too with one of Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka partnering him in midfield. The midfield axis will need to offer support to our defence quite often even if we play three central defenders.

Alexandre Lacazette sat out that win at Watford on Monday night which could well see him lead the line tonight. With Mesut Ozil starting that game on the bench he might be in line for a call up tonight even if he did play the second half on Monday night. It’s going to be a tough night for us and Ozil’s ability to hold on to the ball and make chances for others could be crucial. With Napoli having to push for goals I would have thought Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s pace on the break would be crucial tonight so we might see him play up front or out wide as well as Lacazette.

That win at Watford was far from impressive considering they had 10 men for almost 80 minutes of the game, but it was a hugely important three points. They moved us into the top four and our chances of staying there are increasing with each game at the moment. I’d be surprised if we catch Spurs considering their run in, but we can stay ahead of both United and Chelsea as they both have to play each other and have some other tricky games too. I think we will finish ahead of Chelsea if we win three of our last five games while we might need a point more to see off the challenge of United.

Back to tonight and our chances of making the Europa League semi finals for the second season in a row. The events at the Etihad last night showed how unpredictable football can be, but they also made our need to make the semi finals even more important in my opinion. Spurs might just make it to the Champions League Final before bottling it and it would be simply magnificent if we could win a European trophy when they fail to do so regardless of which trophy it is.

I can’t imagine we will try to defend too deep tonight because it really isn’t our strong point and I think we might have to score in order to progress. I wasn’t impressed with Napoli defensively last week and I think we will make the last four if we can take just one of the chances which come our way. We certainly go into the game in a very strong position and I am optimistic about our chances despite the evidence of our away form in the majority of our games this season.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Napoli Nobbled While Watford Await Arsenal

Before our Europa League quarter final first leg at home to Napoli I said it was vital for us to keep a clean sheet and hoped that we could possibly take a 2-0 lead into the second leg next week. I hoped the team could come up with a performance similar to the ones which helped us to win at home to Spurs, Chelsea and United this season to try to offset our incredibly poor away form for the past few months. The team delivered all of those last night and despite the feeling that it could have been more we have to be happy with taking that 2-0 lead into the second leg.

It’s still not going to be easy over there and we might well have to score an away goal to insure our qualification for the last four. I am very hopeful that we will make the semi finals though and there’s a very real prospect of meeting Chelsea in the final in Baku next month. I’m not counting any chickens though and our away form is probably the main reason for that.

The intensity of our performance was the key for me last night and the ability of our two wing backs to get behind their defence was a crucial factor too. Sead Kolasinac in particular might not have always picked out the right pass last night, but if he can continue to get into those positions we will score from them. Ainsley Maitland-Niles was like a different player from the one we saw at Everton last Sunday, but to be fair to him he was far from the only player who underperformed in that game.

We need to find that intensity in our remaining away league games if we’re going to get the points we need to finish in the top four. I’m not sure if it’s anxiety on the part of the players or if Unai Emery is getting them to play more conservatively away from home, but whatever it is it needs to change. We clearly cannot keep a clean sheet on our travels and the only way to counter that is to make sure we score at least twice for which we will have to offer an awful lot more in attack.

Of course part of our problem at Everton was the lack of control in midfield and the return of Lucas Torreira from suspension is a huge boost. He showed how much we missed him last night and he has to be in from the start in every game from here on in once he’s fit to play. Hopefully missing three games through suspension will have given him a little rest to recharge his batteries ahead of the business end of the season.

If we are going to make it to the Europa League Final I think it would be a huge advantage to us if we had already booked a Champions League spot for next season before the game. If that final was our only route to the top tier of European football it might increase the pressure on the players and we could do without that ahead of a final. Of course I would gladly sacrifice our place in the final if it meant we finished in the top four, but let’s be greedy for the moment and hope for both.

I think the return of Laurent Koscielny was another added bonus last night and we always look stronger defensively with him in the team. He was on hand to cover Nacho Monreal time after time last night when Napoli got in behind him on our left. I think Nacho still has a little to learn about the positioning of the left sided central defender in a back three/five despite the amount of time he has played the game.

Hopefully we can welcome Granit Xhaka back soon to add to the alternatives in midfield. I thought Torreira and Aaron Ramsey worked really well together last night, but Xhaka has a lot to offer in the middle too. I won’t say too much about Ramsey as the thought of his departure at the end of the season for free is quite hard to get my head around. He does look like he’s determined to leave on a high though and he has a penchant for scoring goals in Cup finals too.

Anyway it’s onwards to Watford on Monday night and it’s going to be far from easy for us. Our away form added to their achievement of reaching the FA Cup Final could make life tough for us, but I’m hoping they might just take their eye off the ball after reaching that cup final. If we can catch them still in party mood it might be enough to give us three more crucial points in our fight to finish in the top four.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Napoli Preview

Arsenal face one of their toughest home games of the season tomorrow night when Napoli come to London for the first leg of their Europa League quarter final. Napoli are currently second in their domestic league, but they have absolutely no chance of catching Juventus and they will have to settle for the runners-up spot. They’re a very good team though and more than capable of causing Arsenal some very real problems on the night without even considering what might happen in the second leg.

Given Arsenal’s abysmal away form I think a win in the home leg is absolutely crucial and we really need to keep a clean sheet too. The game at Everton on Sunday showed just how disfunctional we are away from home and it left our hopes of finishing in the top four in real doubt. With four of our last six Premier League games away from home we might have to depend on the Europa League as our route into next season’s Champions League and progression to the semi-finals would certainly be a great boost for the team.

If we’re going to progress I think we will need to get a few of the players who missed the Everton game back and hopefully both Laurent Koscielny and Granit Xhaka will have recovered from their respective injuries in time to play against Napoli. Lucas Torreira will of course be available as he was only suspended on Sunday and that domestic ban has finished so he can hopefully have an influence in the final six league games too. Aaron Ramsey didn’t start on Sunday either as he was carrying a knock, but he didn’t appear to show any ill effects when he came on.

Unai Emery surely has to go with his strongest possible line up and we are at least helped by not having our next league game until next Monday when we pay a visit to Watford. Petr Cech is our cup goalkeeper so he will start, but after that I hope to see a Koscielny and Sokratis Papastathopoulos combination in the centre of the defence with Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles either side of them. If he opts for three central defenders I would prefer to see Nacho Monreal get the nod over Shkodran Mustafi, but I imagine Mustafi would benefit from that decision.

I think he will go with three central defenders which will put an onus on the full-backs to do an awful lot of our attacking and try to get behind the Napoli defence in wide areas. If there’s a midfield axis of Torreira and Xhaka I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ramsey and Mesut Ozil in front of them with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the lone striker. The other option is to leave probably Torreira out and put Ramsey beside Xhaka with Alexandre Lacazette playing up front with Aubameyang.

All of those options would leave no place in the team for Alex Iwobi or Henrikh Mkhitaryan which would be tough on Iwobi who was one of the few players not to fail miserably on Sunday, but he only played for the final 15 minutes. Mkhitaryan hasn’t looked sharp since returning from his injury and he was in great form before it. Hopefully he can regain that form soon because there is no doubt we need his class before the end of the season.

We’re well and truly into the business end of the season now and Arsenal are still right up there in the fight for a top four finish as well as in the last eight of the Europa League. I still can’t say I’m overly confident of them achieving either goal due mainly to our awful away form and the amount of goals we concede. Before the last round we were second favourites behind Chelsea, but Napoli have moved ahead of us which gives you an idea of how serious a threat they are to us. The betting is very close though and anyone who has seen Chelsea in recent months would be equally apprehensive about their chances as I am of Arsenal’s.

What we need in the first leg is the sort of performance we saw at home to Spurs, Chelsea and United this season and those games proved the players have it in them. If we can keep that elusive clean sheet and get at least a couple of goals I think we have a real chance of making it to the semi-finals, but it’s going to take a monumental effort from every player from the first minute to the last. It would be great to make it that far though and maybe even welcome Santi Cazorla back to the Emirates if his Villarreal team can overcome Valencia in their quarter-final match up.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Newcastle United Preview

It wasn’t a great weekend in terms of results for Arsenal with both United and Chelsea scraping narrow victories, but crucially Spurs lost to a last minute goal at Liverpool on Sunday. That defeat for Spurs means that a point at home to Newcastle tonight will move Arsenal up into third place on goal difference while a win will move them two points clear of Spurs and United with Chelsea a further point back and seven games to play for all four teams. It’s staggering to think Spurs saw themselves as title contenders only five games ago and now they’re really struggling to finish in the top four.

It looks like it’s going to be an extremely tight end to the Premier League campaign at the top of the table as well as in the fight for the top four and the Champions League places that go with it. All of the teams involved in those battles have the added distractions of European quarter finals to contend with and it’s certainly going to be interesting for all involved. Arsenal have the chance not only of securing a crucial top four place, but maybe even putting a European trophy in the cabinet too.

Those aims are still a bit off though and they quite literally have to take it one game at a time. After tonight’s game five of our last seven league games are away from home and our away record is nothing to write home about so far this season. We’re going to have to turn that away form around if we’re going to achieve anything, but at least the signs were very encouraging in our last away game at Spurs. 

We play a Newcastle team tonight who have only won two of their 15 away games, but no other team has drawn more games away from home and they have a fairly impressive defensive record on their travels too with only the top two and Wolves conceding less away goals. Of course Arsenal are in pretty good form at home themselves with nine home wins in a row and 25 goals scored in those games. Only the top two have taken more points and scored more goals at home and they haven’t lost at home since the opening day defeat to City. 

As much as we have to be wary of this Newcastle team our home form suggests they have an awful lot more to be wary of. I know we haven’t always been at our best in those nine victories, but we found a way to win each and every one of them when it was required. If that spirit is called upon tonight I think the players have shown they have it in abundance at home at least.

Unai Emery has a few decisions to make ahead of the game and his biggest problems could be in midfield with Lucas Torreira still suspended and both Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey carrying knocks from the international break. Those issues should see Matteo Guendouzi in from the start with one of Ramsey or Xhaka probably playing with him which might just mean the manager opts for three central defenders. I suppose it depends on how many attacking players he wants to get into the team and whether he opts to play both Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan from the start.

He certainly has plenty of attacking options, but the inclusion of both Ozil and Mkhitaryan would probably mean either Alexandre Lacazette or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missing out from the start. He still has Alex Iwobi, who has been in very good form recently, to consider while Denis Suarez continues to wait for his chance since joining on loan over two months ago. I have a feeling Lacazette might be the man to get the nod despite Aubameyang being our top scorer as Lacazette didn’t have the distractions of international duty over the last couple of weeks.

In defence we should at least get to see Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis Papastathopoulos continue to grow their partnership with either Shkodran Mustafi or Nacho Monreal playing with them if the manager opts for the three central defenders. Whatever formation he opts for it’s the two wide defenders who seem to add so much to our attacking and for that reason I think Sead Kolasinac will play with the improving Ainsley Maitland-Niles on the other side.

I hope Ozil is in the team as he brings the guile which is needed to open things up and the returning Mkhitaryan was in great form before his injury. We might have to be patient as we wait for the goals that are needed tonight and those two players can be the ones to make the difference when it matters most.

To be honest while a point would put us third on goals scored ahead of Spurs and goal difference ahead of United anything short of a win would be a real blow. We travel to Everton at the weekend with United not playing (although they do travel to Wolves in midweek) while Spurs open their new stadium with a tough home game against a Palace team who can be very dangerous away from home on Wednesday night. Chelsea play at home to both Brighton and West Ham in that space of time and we will only stay ahead of them if we win tonight as I expect them to win both of those games.

We have a maximum of 13 games to play this season starting tonight and the rewards of doing well in those games are pretty high. Let’s hope a win tonight will get that run off to a good start and we can continue it from there with no pesky international breaks to worry about until the season is over. I can’t say I’m certain we will finish in the top four or win the Europa League, but I hold out a lot more hope now than I did only a few games ago.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

We’re The Famous Arsenal And We’re Going To Wembley

Arsenal are all of a sudden on a nice little run in the league with five wins in their last six games even if four of those wins did come at home. They managed a 2-1 win away to Huddersfield in that run too with the only blemish coming in a 3-1 defeat away to the reigning champions. That run has seen them climb above United and Chelsea into fourth place and even close the gap to third placed Spurs to four points before they play each other tomorrow.

Only a week ago Spurs were being tipped by some “experts” to mount a genuine title challenge on both Liverpool and City, but two defeats in a row have left them looking over their shoulders and trying to avoid falling back into what looks like a dogfight for a top four finish. The supposed wisdom was they had gotten through the period of Harry Kane’s injury without losing ground on the top two and his return would signal the start of their title challenge. Only a week later after defeats to Burnley and Chelsea their hopes are in ruins and Kane was lucky to avoid a three game ban for violent conduct while Mauricio Pochettino is awaiting the outcome of his FA charge for confronting the referee after the defeat at Burnley.

It’s difficult to believe how these so called experts could have actually believed serial bottlers Spurs had finally changed their spots. They have proved time and again when the going gets tough they head in the opposite direction. If they’re going to keep a safe distance between themselves and the three teams directly below them they have to beat Arsenal tomorrow.

The game will be played at Wembley as Spurs new stadium still isn’t ready six months after it’s due date. They have lost four of their 13 league games at Wembley so far this season and they have actually taken more points away from home than at their temporary home. Their fans would like nothing more than a comprehensive win over Arsenal, but Wembley is a ground with a lot of very fond memories for Arsenal.

They have won the FA Cup there three times in the last five years and it’s an awful lot more than Spurs have won in more years than I care to remember. Unfortunately Arsenal’s away form has been pretty awful for the past few months and even the win at Huddersfield was far from convincing despite their lowly position. If Arsenal are going to close the gap on Spurs to one point they are going to have to put in by far their best away performance of the season so far.

We have a pretty awful record away to the rest of the top six for a fair few seasons now and surely it’s something that must change at some time. We didn’t play too badly in losing 3-2 away to Chelsea or drawing 2-2 at United, but the 5-1 defeat at Liverpool was very poor and the 3-1 defeat at City was nothing to write home about. It’s going to take a better performance than we saw in any of those games to take the three points tomorrow. We have scored in 12 of our 13 away games though so far, but we have also conceded in all 13 of those games so the chances of a scoreless draw seem fairly remote. 

We have a very hectic schedule at the moment and Unai Emery has to manage his resources as best as he can to get the most he can from those games. The wins against Southampton and Bournemouth in the last week were badly needed, but the quality of the opposition takes a step up from here on. After Spurs we travel to Rennes in midweek before a game at home to United next week and then the return leg with Rennes. It’s a daunting schedule over 12 days and the game with Spurs might just be the most important of them.

I expect the manager to play his strongest team possible which leaves him with quite a few decisions to make. His decision on the deployment or not of Mesut Ozil will certainly give us a pointer to how he rates a player who divides opinion for many, but surely has to be included if we’re going to make the chances we need to win. Ozil played very well against Bournemouth on Wednesday night, but Spurs are not Bournemouth.

One player who will surely play is Alexandre Lacazette as he’s suspended for the two games against Rennes and he has a very good goalscoring record against the rest of the top six. I think he has to play Pierre-Emireck Aubameyang up front with him although he might hold him back to introduce his pace from the bench as well keeping him fresh for the trip to France. Both Lacazette and Aubameyang have scored plenty of goals for us this season once we have the players behind them to make chances.

With that in mind Henrikh Mkhitaryan must surely start too as he has shown the form that made him such a hot property before he joined United in recent games. I think Mkhitaryan and Ozil compliment each other’s games and we have a real chance of beating Spurs with both of them in the team. Of course I could be completely wrong and the line up isn’t overly important as long as we get the right result.

While I have little faith in our defence it is at least good to see Laurent Koscielny back in the team and his recent displays have shown how much we missed have him during his prolonged injury absence. He’s going to have to be at his very best to keep Kane quiet and he poses a threat at the other end from set pieces too. I think Sokratis Papastathopoulos is the best central defensive partner for him from those fit and available at the moment and maybe in time they can build a strong partnership.

Our target for this season is to qualify for next season’s Champions League and these four games are very important. Defeats to Spurs and United would certainly dent our top four hopes, but with eight games against mid-table teams to finish our league campaign it wouldn’t finish them. If we come through these four games in the last eight of the Europa League and still challenging for a top four place it will surely have gone very well. Let’s just hope we can get those games off to the perfect start tomorrow against a Spurs team who’s confidence can’t be high after back to back defeats.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Bournemouth Preview

While the first half in Sunday's 2-0 win over Southampton was fairly convincing Arsenal went into their shell in the second half and barely had a shot on goal. It didn't make too much difference to the result, but I would have liked a more authoritative performance at home to a team in the bottom three of the Premier League. However, the three points were enough to move them above United into the top four and a top four finish is their goal this season.

There’s still 11 league games to go, but they can move one step closer to that goal tonight with a home game against Bournemouth. While United have a tricky game away to Palace and Chelsea have to play at home to Spurs we have the opportunity to give ourselves a little breathing space ahead of two very tough games coming up. The trip to Wembley to play Spurs on Saturday is a massive game for us as is the home game with United a week later. Three points at home to Bournemouth tonight could give us a little bit of leeway in those games which we might just need considering we face Rennes twice either side of the United game too. 

The chances of us catching Spurs to finish third are extremely remote, but I can’t help playing out the scenario in my head where we win tonight and away to them on Saturday while they lose to Chelsea tonight and suddenly we’re a point behind them with nine games to play. I know it’s a far fetched scenario and Arsenal are most likely to disappointment me, but I can’t help get my hopes up nonetheless. If it does come to pass I think the credit should go my way, but there should be no blame if it all goes horribly wrong. After all where would us football fans be if it wasn’t for hope. 

Anyway back to the matter in hand and a game against a Bournemouth team who play good football and have proved difficult for us to beat in the past. They’re a different proposition away from home at the moment though and we’re up against a team who have lost their last eight away games and conceded 23 goals in the process. It surely has to be an opportunity for us to put a few goals on the board and continue to stay ahead of United and Chelsea.

Bournemouth are missing both Callum Wilson and David Brooks for this game and they have probably been their best players this season along with Ryan Fraser. While they will pose us some problems in defence they are there to be beaten and we need to make sure the three points are ours tonight. I mentioned how we have switched to a first half side in my preview of the Southampton game and so it proved to be, but I’d still like a few more 90 minute performances.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was on the bench on Sunday so we can safely assume he will play from the start with Alexandre Lacazette probably starting too as he banned from the Europa League games. Henrikh Mkhitaryan seems to be in favour with the manager at the moment which means we should see him play too unless he is rested for Saturday with Mesut Ozil or Aaron Ramsey coming in instead. In midfield I wouldn't be surprised if Matteo Guendouzi came in with either Granit Xhaka or Lucas Torreira missing out.

With our defensive options still limited because of injuries I expect to see a back for with Nacho Monreal possibly switching with Sead Kolasinac while Stephan Lichsteiner will play on the other side once he's fit to play and Carl Jenkinson probably filling in if he isn't. It looks like we might actually have three fit central defenders to choose from and if so my preferred two would be Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis Papastathapoulos with Shkodran Mustafi for back up for the inevitable injury coming our way.

To be honest with the players we have available tonight should be a run of the mill three points without too many mishaps, but it has rarely been like that so far this season. It would be nice to tie the game up early on so a few players can get a bit of rest ahead ofa  huge game on Saturday and a very busy schedule to follow it. I'll take three points whatever way they come though so we can move on to the next challenge.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Southampton: Premier League Preview

After an easy if unconvincing victory at home to BATE Borisov on Thursday night it’s back to Premier League action for Arsenal today when Southampton come a calling. Chelsea play in the Carabao Cup Final later today and United have a very tough game against Liverpool so today’s game might just give us a chance to move up to fourth place. We have a home against Bournemouth on Wednesday night too and two wins would put us in a strong position ahead of a very busy and tough run.

Two Premier League games away to Spurs and at home to United are really tough challenges and we have the two Europa League games against Rennes either side of the United game. As tough as those games will be they also offer us a real opportunity to cement a place in the top four before a run which doesn’t include any of the rest of the top six in our last eight games. Our ultimate aim this season is to qualify for the Champions League and we need to give ourselves every chance possible of achieving that goal.

Alexandre Lacazette had to sit out that win on Thursday night due to suspension and he’ll miss the two games against Rennes because of that suspension too. The chances are we will see him play all of the next four Premier League games as a result with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang possibly on the bench for a few of them. Aubameyang isn’t on a great goalscoring run at the moment and maybe he could do with a rest ahead of those very important games.

Elsewhere Unai Emery will probably have to replace Laurent Koscielny with Sokratis Papastathopoulos after Koscielny went off with a slight knock on Thursday night. It’s a straight swap and it shouldn’t affect the team too much although we will miss Koscielny’s ability to intercept at the near post and his improvement with each game since his return from his very long injury lay off has been a real plus recently. The manager might also be tempted to put Sead Kolasinac in on the left of the defence although Nacho Monreal does offer more defensively while Kolasinac offers more in attack.

The big question could be the inclusion or not of Mesut Ozil and I hope he gets the nod. A home game against a team in the bottom three can be a bit of a dog fight, but I think the manager will trust him more against Southampton than he might away to Spurs in particular. If he doesn’t opt for Ozil I imagine Aaron Ramsey would be the player to come in, but I thought Ozil’s link up play on Thursday night was very promising and we all know exactly how good he can be. If he doesn’t opt for either of them maybe he will give Denis Suarez a chance, but I’m still not convinced we’ll see too much of our January loan signing.

We could also see Lucas Torreira return in midfield and either Matteo Guendouzi or Granit Xhaka could make way. Personally I like the Torreira and Xhaka partnership which doesn’t mean I have any problem at all with Guendouzi and he is surely going to be a fantastic player in years to come. A combination of any two of those three would suit though once we don’t play all three as it takes an attacking player out of the team.

Southampton might be in the bottom three, but I would be very surprised if they stayed there too long. They’re surely too good to go down, but that has been said of better teams in the past who have ended up in the Championship. They are unbeaten in four away games even if they have only won three of their 13 away games this season. A draw would be enough to move them out of the relegation zone, but it would most certainly not be a good enough result for us.

While Thursday was relatively comfortable if unconvincing we could do with not only a win, but a good performance too today ahead of the upcoming challenges. A little bit of momentum in terms of performances and results could go a long way to helping us achieve our aims for this season and if we’re going to get there those performances will have to start very soon. At the end of the day I will of course be happy with three points, but it would be good to make others sit up and take notice of us for the first time in quite a while.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal’s Trip To Manchester City Previewed

Arsenal moved into fourth place in the league during the week when Chelsea were thumped 4-0 at Bournemouth after Arsenal had made a meal of beating Cardiff 2-1 the previous night. Their ultimate goal this season is a top four finish and the reward of Champions League football for next season, but it won’t be easy. Chelsea bounced back with a 5-0 win against Huddersfield yesterday and Arsenal need to match that scoreline to move above them again today.

Of course the season doesn’t end today and it’s where we finish in May that counts, but we can’t afford to lose too much ground either. As away games go they don’t come much tougher than a trip to the reigning champions who have won 11 of their 12 home games with the only blot on their copybook coming in a 3-2 defeat against Palace. If Arsenal can somehow match that performance from Palace that might be their best chance of getting something from the game today.

Trying to match what Palace did won’t be easy though because City surely can’t be as complacent at the back as they were in that game and we don’t have the players to take them apart on the break like Palace did. Maybe Denis Suarez will be that player now that we’ve got him on loan from Barcelona, but I’d be very surprised if he started today. I would be very surprised to see Mesut Ozil in the team too as he usually sits out tough away games for one reason or another.

We have so many injuries already that the losses of both Granit Xhaka and Ainsley Maitland-Niles will only make things worse and Unai Emery has a job on his hands to put together a strong defence. There will be players like Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal who are just back from injuries themselves and possibly Carl Jenkinson who has hardly kicked a ball for us in two years. Whatever team he puts out has to be disciplined in defence and that’s something we have not mastered away from home even once this season as we’re without a clean sheet on our league travels.

I’m not saying we can’t get a result of some sort today, but all the evidence would point to us losing and probably losing badly too. Let’s hope the manager can pull something out of the hat and surprise us all and astound the critics. I certainly don’t expect anything like that, but we can only live in hope.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Goodbye FA Cup My Old Friend

Well the good news is Arsenal won’t have any pesky FA Cup games to get in the way of our quest for a top four finish and the Europa League after losing at home to United in the fourth round of the FA Cup. The two teams who have won the trophy more than any other team met last night and Arsenal went down 3-1 with an all too familiar performance. There was more than a hint of bad luck at times, but the better team on the night progressed to the fifth round.

Unai Emery picked a strong team with only three changes from the 2-0 win at home to Chelsea last week. Petr Cech came in as the “cup” goalkeeper with Alex Iwobi replacing Matteo Guendouzi and Ainsley Maitland-Niles getting the nod to play at right back with Hector Bellerin out for up to nine months. It meant a change of formation from the one which worked so well against Chelsea last week.

Arsenal started off quite well, but not as well as they did against Chelsea. The signs were positive early on, but they took a turn for the worse when Sokratis Papastathopoulos went down with what looked like an ankle injury after only 20 minutes. He had to go off with Shkodran Mustafi replacing him and not only did we lose the pace in the centre of our defence, but we also lost our momentum.

United gradually came back into the game and they took the lead just after the half hour mark when ex Arsenal man Alexis Sanchez finished from a tight angle after our defence made a mess of trying to play him offside. It was a bitter pill for Arsenal fans to swallow and it wasn’t made any easier by his replacement being unable to play due to injury. What we couldn’t afford to do was gift United another goal right away, but in true Arsenal style that’s exactly what we did.

The ball was lost too easily as we tried to push forward and when United attacked there were gaping holes in our defence. Romelu Lukaku squared the ball to Jesse Lingard who couldn’t really miss and we were two down to a counter attacking team after conceding two goals within two minutes of each other. The signs were ominous and I struggled to see how Arsenal were going to get back into the game without leaving themselves so open at the back that United would take advantage of them yet again.

We did manage to regain our momentum though and we got back into the game shortly before the break when Pierre-Emireck Aubameyang tapped home from close range after great work from Aaron Ramsey. We piled on the pressure as half time approached and it was United who were glad to hear the whistle. I hoped we could approach the second half in a similar vein to which we started and finished the first half.

I got my wish with Arsenal again taking the initiative and going in search of an equaliser. It was Ramsey who came closest with a header which was well saved before fate intervened to rob us of yet another player. This time it was Laurent Koscielny who suffered a facial cut when Lukaku accidentally stood on him and the injury was too much for him to continue after eight minutes of treatment on the pitch.

We were only an hour in and we had lost both of our central defenders to injury which also robbed the manager of the ability to affect the team from the bench. With the departure of Koscielny we also seemed to lose our momentum and impetus again. Mesut Ozil came on for Alex Iwobi at that stage while Guendouzi replaced the injured Koscielny with Granit Xhaka dropping back into defence and Guendouzi coming into the midfield.

While we had the upper hand our attacks kept breaking down on the edge of their box as we cried out for a wide player to punish a defence that was just as bad as ours. With just under 10 minutes to go United put the game to bed after Paul Pogba ran right through us after a clumsy pass saw them overturn possession in midfield. Cech could only push his shot in the direction of Anthony Martial who finished with relative ease and ended the game as a contest despite their being eight minutes of normal time and 10 minutes of added time to go.

Arsenal barely managed an attack of note in those final 18 minutes as they ended the game with a whimper rather than banging on the door to try to break open a porous defence. Ozil did very little after promising at first when he came on while we played absolutely everything down the left, but couldn’t get a good ball into the box. I have no doubt the injuries played a large part in limiting the manager’s hopes of changing the game from the bench if needed.

It’s hard to be too critical of a team who lost their two central defenders to injury after losing their right back in the previous game. We were still too open in front of our defence and maybe the midfield we played against Chelsea would have coped with United’s counter attacking a lot better. It’s hard to see how a team with a central defence of Mustafi and Xhaka can be expected to be able to defend I suppose. Also we are really struggling to break down teams who sit deep and let us attack them while they wait to hit us on the break.

With the transfer window nearing closure we are in dire need of additions to our squad and the injuries are piling up too. We’re without Bellerin, Rob Holding and Danny Welbeck for the rest of the season at least while it looks like Koscielny might be out for a while with a broken jaw too. We’ve been told the cupboard is bare and we’ll have to hope for a loan move or two if we’re going to bring anyone in. It’s hardly an ideal situation and it looks as if the manager will have to work with the squad he has minus the injured players.

We play at home to Cardiff in midweek and we quite simply have to take the three points to try to keep pace with Chelsea and United and especially as we travel to City next weekend. I can’t see us getting anything from that game which makes the Cardiff game even more important. At least we won’t have the pesky FA Cup to worry about any more and we know we have a maximum of 24 games to play if we make it as far as the Europa League final.

While I would like to have seen us progress and it’s never nice to lose at home to any team, never mind United and even more so with Sanchez scoring, but the FA Cup should not be where are priorities lay this season. We are losing more money with each season out of the Champions League and we have to concentrate on the competitions that can see us qualify for it. Luckily for Arsenal they’re the only two competitions we still have an interest in and hopefully one of those interests will come to fruition.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal Move Back Into Top Four Contention

The defeat at West Ham last week left me feeling Arsenal had blown their chances of a top four finish this season despite having 16 games still up play. It was the manner of the defeat which gave me that sinking feeling and I couldn’t see how a team who could perform so poorly could seriously hope to push Chelsea and United. They needed to beat Chelsea on Saturday evening to show there was some life still in our challenge and they needed to do it in some style too.

We got exactly what we hoped for in that game with Arsenal coming out of the traps with all guns blazing and Chelsea struggling to cope. A few chances came and went before Alexandre Lacazette put us ahead and then Laurent Koscielny doubled the lead before half time. It was a very strong and disciplined performance, but of course Chelsea had their moments and some chances too like almost any opponent will have.

Overall we were far superior to them and in that first half in particular we showed the desire which had been so obviously missing against West Ham. Our home results have actually held up very well with the only defeat coming in our opening home game against City and we have deservedly won at home to both Spurs and Chelsea now. It’s very hard to reconcile those home results with our inability to win in our last five away games though and we won’t challenge for a top four place unless that away form changes.

There are too many similarities between this season and last season and none more so than in our away form. We started well away from home last season before an awful run saw us fall completely away in the chase for a top four finish. We fell back on the Europa League and hoping to quality for the Champions League by winning it, but we came up short and had to settle for a second season in a row in European football’s second tier competition.

We need to change our away form right away or this season will end up like last season and hopefully that win against Chelsea can restore some confidence on our travels even if it was a home game. We didn’t push on after the win and performance against Spurs or the impressive home draw with Liverpool, but we quite simply have to do it now. It’s not going to be easy in our next away game against City, but a win against Cardiff in our next home game is an absolute must.

The formation we used against Chelsea worked well, but the loss of Hector Bellerin to a long term injury is a real blow. We lost Rob Holding a couple of months ago just when he looked to have become the most important central defender at the club. Bellerin and Holding were the youthful pair in our defence and we will certainly lose some momentum and attacking flair on the right side with Bellerin’s absence.

Thankfully the return of Koscielny has at least helped to strengthen the centre of our defence again, but it has taken him time to come up with a performance like the one he gave on Saturday. We need more of the same from Koscielny if we’re going to improve defensively and the signs are he could be developing a good partnership with Sokratis Papastathopoulos. The problem could be replacing Bellerin with Stephan Lichsteiner the most likely candidate, but maybe Ainsley Maitland-Niles might be the best one.

Before that mideeek game against Cardiff next week we have the small matter of an FA Cup fourth round game at home to United on Friday night. They’re on a great run since they disposed of Jose Mourinho, but their defence is their weak point and a performance like the one against Chelsea will give us every chance of progressing. I can’t imagine Unai Emery will even consider playing anything other than his strongest team against United with a win surely adding to the confidence boost of the win against Chelsea.

As bad as we have been away from home recently we’re only three points off the top four with enough time to catch Chelsea and finish ahead of United too. It’s amazing what a good win and performance can do for the confidence and a week ago I could never have imagined we had a chance of finishing in the top four. Hopefully it has done just as much for the confidence of the players too and we can look forward to a strong finish to the season. I can dream can’t I.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal’s Premier League Trip To West Ham Previewed

Arsenal had a fairly run of the mill 3-0 win away to Blackpool in the third round of the FA Cup last week after beating Fulham 4-1 in the Premier League only a few days earlier. Those games brought an end to a very busy festive schedule which wasn’t great to say the least, but it could have been worse too. The low point was the 5-1 defeat away to Liverpool after scoring first in the game and it showed up just how poor we are defensively even if it wasn’t really a surprise.

We haven’t won in our last four away games and we have now conceded 21 goals away from home in our 10 games this season with only three other teams conceding more away goals. It was our away form which saw us miss out on a top four finish last season with only City taking more points at home and it seems our away form could be heading that way again this season. Our away results were initially quite good this season, but it seems other teams have realised they just need to attack us and the chances will flow. It doesn’t help when we try to sit on a lead because it’s something we are incapable of doing and the only way we’re going to improve our away results is by continuing to attack.

It might only be a trip across London to play West Ham today, but I think it’s a really big game for us. If we’re going to continue to keep a real interest in a top four finish we have to keep pace with Chelsea and try to stay ahead of a rejuvenated United too. We don’t play any of the rest of the top six in our last eight games and we need to get to those games with a top four place still in our sights. It does mean we have to travel to both City and Spurs as well as playing at home to Chelsea and United in our next nine games and it’s going to be difficult to keep our challenge up.

As it stands Chelsea are three points ahead of us and we will draw level if we can beat West Ham before they play Newcastle in the late game today. On the face of it Chelsea should stroll through that game, but they only drew 0-0 at home to struggling Southampton in their last home game and Newcastle don’t actually tend to concede too many goals away from home this season. The chances of Chelsea slipping up will surely increase just a little if we can put some pressure on them by beating West Ham.

United have won all four of their games since they parted ways with Jose Mourinho only a few weeks ago even if those games weren’t against the best teams in the league. They travel to Spurs tomorrow and while I would never wish for Spurs to win any game they could do us a favour by at least taking a point off them. We all know Spurs aren’t real contenders for the title and they will bottle it at some stage, but it is looking increasingly difficult for us to catch them. They are six points behind Liverpool at the moment and we’re a further seven points behind them which probably means we have as much chance of catching them as they have of catching Liverpool.

We had hoped to be able to strengthen the team in the January transfer window, but it seems there is precious little money in the kitty at the moment and we will have to be happy with whatever loanees we might be able to tempt our way. Our need to strengthen the centre of our defence and add some attacking width is clear for all to see and our top four chances could depend on who we can add before the month is over. I’m still not sure how the sixth wealthiest club in the world hasn’t got two pennies to rub together, but I have no doubt it has an awful lot to do with us being the only Premier League club who’s owner doesn’t invest a single cent in the club.

Back to today’s game though and our need for three points against a West Ham team who have lost more home games than they have won and have only kept one clean sheet at home. We haven’t kept a clean sheet away from home either so the chances of both teams scoring today must be pretty high. If it’s a shoot out we do have the joint highest scorer in the league in our ranks and hopefully Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang can be the man to make the difference.

The manager does have some or all of Nacho Monreal, Shkodran Mustafi, Hector Bellerin, Laurent Koscielny and Mesut Ozil available for selection again at least and he will have more options than he has had recently and a few decisions to make too. He has to get his team right and it’s something he has struggled to do in recent weeks, but some of those returning players might make it a little easier for him. He has struggled to get any balance in the team recently and the midfield mix has been wrong far too often. 

The return of Bellerin would give us more attacking options on the right and I imagine we will play three central defenders if both him and Sead Kolasinac play. With our lack of genuine width in the team the two of them will be very important when it comes to getting behind the West Ham defence and cutting the ball back for others to score. That was our best route to goal for the early part of the season and it would be great to fully reopen that route.

I can’t say I’m overly confident of us getting the win today given how we have performed away from home recently, but it’s certainly well within our abilities. If we take the lead and sit back giving the initiative to West Ham it will only go one way so we have to stay on the front foot from the first to the last minute. There’s still plenty to play for this season, but anything other than a win today will make a top four finish an awful harder for us to achieve.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal’s Trip To Liverpool Previewed

With a top four finish this season our main target Arsenal sit in fifth place two points behind fourth placed Chelsea at the halfway stage. On the face of it we’re in a good position to push on and qualify for next season’s Champions League, but our form is very worrying at the moment. We go to league leaders Liverpool today looking to turn that form around and somehow do what no other team has managed so far this season.

We need a win to try to keep pace with those above us and keep ahead of a rejuvenated United who look a real threat now that they have disposed of Jose Mourinho. Liverpool have only conceded seven goals in their 19 games and only two of those goals have been at home. Of course a draw would be a very good result and far from a disaster, but I would be very surprised if both Chelsea and United didn’t win their games.

We started the season with two defeats, but then we couldn’t stop winning games even if the performances weren’t always the best. Since our winning streak needed we have only lost one league game, but we have drawn five out of 10 and those draws are killing us. We probably didn’t deserve to win most of those drawn games though and our current results are mirroring our performances while earlier ones didn’t.

How does the manager get more out of the players he has is the question and it’s hard to see where the answer lies. With Rob Holding our for the season and Hector Bellerin currently injured our defence has a very aged look to it. That isn’t helped by niggling injuries to Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac while it’s difficult to believe Laurent Koscielny has recovered enough to be in the team and he could be a reoccurrence of his injury waiting to happen.

In midfield the situations with both Mesut Ozil and Aaron are very different, but it seems the manager doesn’t trust either of them. You can put Ozil’s almost continued absence down to injuries, but surely the smart money is on lack of faith in him from the manager. The Ramsey situation seems a lot clearer with the player free to sign a pre contract agreement with any continental club from Tuesday and it seems he will be gone at the end of the season. As a result he’s being left out of the team just like Ozil, but it seems our performances are suffering with both of them as good as unavailable.

Added to that we simply have no natural width in the team and we’re becoming too easy to predict and to stop. The solution could be bringing one or two of the younger players like Zech Medley and Bukayo Saka into the defence and out wide, but the manager seems more than reluctant to do so. He needs to find a solution quickly though because our season is on the edge of unraveling and we’ve all seen how the majority of these players have reacted to that scenario in the past.

It’s almost as if we’re watching Arsene Wenger’s tactics at the moment with the team sitting back when we go ahead, but unable to defend a lead. Our strength has to be in attack with the leading goal scorer in the league in Pierre-Emireck Aubameyang, but we just are not playing to our strengths. It’s been a long time since Arsenal had the best striker in the league, even if he does miss his fair share of chances, but we need to push forward and take advantage of having him in our team.

If he has the personnel today I think Unai Emery will play three central defenders and three central midfielders and it’s a system I fail to understand. For a team currently lacking creativity and width it looks like we will forego both of them in the hope of protecting our defence and it’s a tactic which just doesn’t work for me. I would like to see Ramsey given a chance to be the playmaker and it’s a role he’s capable of playing, but I doubt if we will see him there.

I suppose the problem for the manager is he raised expectations with that fantastic unbeaten run and it’s now impossible to lower those expectations. The fans believed a top four finish was obtainable and despite faltering the display against Spurs reinforced that belief, but performances like that have been few and far between in reality. There is still the Europa League and the possibility of Champions League qualification by winning it which cannot be discounted.

Our away form had held up well at the start of the season, but seven points dropped away to Palace, Southampton and Brighton when we were winning two of those games has an awfully familiar ring to it. It was our away results which saw us finish sixth last season with only City taking more points at home and it seems those away results are heading the same way at the moment. We travel to a team unbeaten at home today, who have only conceded two home goals while we haven’t kept a single clean sheet on our travels in the league.

It all makes for a very depressing scenario, but still we have had glimpses of what this team can do at times this season and we have to hope for a similar display today. If he can get his tactics right to frustrate Liverpool and somehow make the chances for Aubameyang then we can get something from the game. I’d be delighted with a draw, but the prospect of Arsenal being the team to insure “the Invincibles” record remains for another season is one I would love to see happen. It’s an unlikely scenario, but hope springs eternal and that’s what being a fan is all about.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Burnley Preview

Arsenal had almost forgotten what defeat was like before last weekend, but successive defeats to Southampton and Spurs have certainly reminded them of how bitter it can taste. Our 22 game unbeaten run came to an end at Southampton in the Premier League last weekend and Spurs added to our misery at home in the Carabao Cup quarter final on Wednesday night. Defeats are a part of football, but there is no doubt we played a huge part in our own downfall in both games.

They need to put those defeats behind them against Burnley and get back to winning ways by any means they can. It’s certainly well within their capabilities even with the team getting more tired with each passing game. The lack of depth in the squad in certain positions is becoming very obvious and it’s something that might have to be addressed in the January transfer window.

There’s little we can do about it at the moment though and the early kick off against Burnley gives the players little time to recover from the defeat against Spurs on Wednesday night. Unai Emery played more or less the strongest team he had available in that game and that could come back to haunt him over the busy festive season. After Burnley we face trips to Brighton and Liverpool before we play at home to Fulham and those four games take place in just 10 days.

Laurent Koscielny wasn’t risked from the start against Spurs and it was understandable given that he has just returned from a long term injury. Nacho Monreal played in that game and he’s just back from injury too while Stephan Lichsteiner wasn’t risked having picked up a knock in the defeat at Southampton. The chances are the three of them will have to start against Burnley with Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac both doubtful and they have a combined age of 99 years. 

At least Sokratis Papastathopoulos is available to play in the centre of the defence and we can only hope the manager doesn’t decide to deploy Granit Xhaka there too. Not only is it not his natural position, but we miss his influence in midfield too much when he plays in defence. Xhaka and Lucas Torreira have formed a very good partnership in the centre of our midfield and it’s something that has to be allowed to grow.

On top of our defensive woes it appears Mesut Ozil is “persona non grata” with the manager and his days at the club could well be numbered. If that is the case it’s not going to be easy to move on a player on his wages who signed a lengthy contract extension less than a year ago. I hope he can sort things out with the manager, but it doesn’t look that way at the moment. Ozil is an incredibly talented player who can help us win against any team and we will suffer without his creative talents if he continues to be left out of the team. As the games come quick and fast I suppose it will become more obvious if the manager doesn’t want him or not.

I thought Henrikh Mkhitaryan played quite well against Spurs with the exception of the great chance he missed to put us ahead shortly before they scored and he could find himself playing a more important role if Ozil doesn’t play. The Aaron Ramsey situation is less complicated than Ozil’s and he will play at times, but it appears we will lose him too. It appears two of our most talented midfielders will be plying their trade elsewhere next season or even next month and it could leave a gaping hole in our squad.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang seems to have been given the nod as first choice striker and he has scored the goals to deserve that role, but he has missed his fair share in the last few games. I wouldn’t be surprised if the manager decided to rotate him against Burnley with Alexandre Lacazette the obvious candidate to replace him. Aubameyang has had a great impact off the bench when he hasn’t started this season and that could be the case again against Burnley.

We couldn’t really ask for a better opponent as we try to get three previous points in our pursuit of a top four finish. Burnley have only taken one point in their last five away games and they failed to score in four of those games. They have tightened up in defence in the last few weeks, but only two teams have conceded more goals away from home. They’re in the relegation zone at the moment and we’re not going to convince anyone we can keep our challenge for a top four finish going if we can’t beat them.

If we’re going to keep that challenge going we are going to have to start playing well in the first half of games at some stage. The last two games have shown we can’t always depend on our second halves of games to get us out of trouble and we need to do better from the start. It’s quite incredible that we haven’t led any of our 17 Premier League games so far at half time and I think today has to offer an ideal opportunity to end that statistic.

We have tough trips to Brighton and Liverpool coming in quick succession, but we can only concentrate on the job in hand against Burnley. I think we will win, but if we don’t it could make the rest of the festive schedule very difficult for us.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v Spurs: Carabao Cup Preview

Arsenal’s run of 22 games unbeaten came to an end away to struggling Southampton on Sunday with their hosts winning at home for the first time in the league this season. It wasn’t exactly the greatest way to end the run, but no defeat is ever welcome. There were of course the excuses of an injury crisis in our defence and some poor refereeing, but the performance on the day wasn’t good enough and that was the main reason for the defeat for me.

With a hectic Christmas programme of Premier League games almost upon us we have the inconvenience of a Carabao Cup quarter final at home to arch rivals Spurs tonight. So far Unai Emery has played youngsters and fringe players with a scattering of his first choice players to reach the last eight of the competition, but he has a big decision to make for tonight’s game. If he goes with a strong team it could have consequences for the festive games, but nobody ever wants to lose to that lot.

We don’t know how Spurs will approach the game either, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they went with a fairly strong team for a few reasons. Firstly they will want revenge for the 4-2 defeat to us a couple of weeks ago and they also don’t play until Sunday while we play against Burnley on Saturday. The biggest reason for them could be the prospect of a trip to a cup final and the chance to actually win some silverware which is something quite alien to them.

I expect the manager to rest Laurent Koscielny and possibly Nacho Monreal too as they have only just returned from injury while he might be tempted to leave Stephan Lichsteiner on the bench even though he has recovered from the knock that forced him off on Sunday. Carl Jenkinson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are likely to play while Sokratis Papastathopoulos is available to play too after missing Sundays game through suspension. Both Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac are doubtful with knocks and I would be very surprised if he risked either of them even if they do recover in time to play. It leaves our defence threadbare at best and it will be hard to play three central defenders with the options available despite it being the preferred formation at the moment and the winning one against Spurs a few weeks ago.

With defensive options so limited we can probably expect to see a strongish team in midfield and attack with both Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey likely to play in my opinion. There are issues with both of them at the moment and their chances have been limited, but there is no denying their class and potential to turn the game in our favour. 

I expect to see both Matteo Guendouzi and Mohamed Elneny in the team too with Alexandre Lacazette more than likely leading the line. While Guendouzi and Elneny might not offer us the strength of Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka in midfield they are more than capable of giving us the foothold we need in midfield. I wouldn’t be surprised to see both Torreira and Xhaka on the bench though just in case we need them.

As for Lacazette he has been on the bench for the last few league games with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading the line, but he has done well when he has come on. Aubameyang has missed his fair share of chances recently, but he is still the joint leading scorer in the league and I think we will continue to deploy him as our main striker. I would be very surprised if he was in the squad tonight and a few days rest before the hectic festive schedule might do him some good.

There are a few options for the last place in the team which would probably have gone to Emile Smith Rowe if he wasn’t injured. If we opt for three central defenders then Zach Medley might come into the equation while Joe Willock could play in midfield or Eddie Nketiah could play up front with or without Lacazette. I wouldn’t be surprised again if it was Willock who got the nod, but it really depends on how strong the manager decides to make the team. There is always the chance he will opt for Bukayo Saka after he impressed in the Europa League last week, but I would be surprised if we saw him from the start tonight.

It’s a hard game to preview with so many options for both managers and all I can really say is I hope those that do play tonight give it their all. Going out at this stage wouldn’t be a real blow, but it’s never nice to lose to Spurs and that could be the deciding factor in how both managers approach the game. We have bigger fish to fry in terms of the other three competitions we are in and finishing in the top four or winning the Europa League are the only ways back into the Champions League for next season so they have to take priority for me.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.