Good morning Gooners! It has been a long, long wait for this one, but football is back and Arsenal should be raring to go after what happened last time out at Wembley. The pain from that game is still very much there, with Arsenal putting in a really poor performance on the day and deservedly getting nothing out of the cup final. The hope is that the Arsenal players and staff have used that pain to drive them forward in the rest of the season, starting with the game this evening down on the south coast, with a win taking us back to Wembley to hopefully right some wrongs.
It’s not going to an easy game though. No disrespect to our previous opponents, but We’ve had some relatively straightforward ties to get us this far however, having watched Southampton away at Fulham in the previous round, they are a serious outfit. Well organised, hardworking and with quality in the frontline, they deservedly knocked out Fulham at Craven Cottage and will fancy their chances against us today, especially with home backing. We’re in for a real contest.
A lot will depend on who is actually fit for Arsenal, as if the international withdrawals are actually genuine, we could be down to the bare bones!! That said, Arsenal need to be winning this game. Find a way. They just have to win.
Areas of encouragement
It didn’t feel like after the full time whistle went in the League Cup Final, but there is a lot of positives and encouragement to take from this Arsenal time. By and large, we have found a way to get over the line and win a serious amount of games this season, with that defeat to City being only our fourth of the season, which is really impressive if you think about the amount of games we’ve played. So that track record gives me encouragement that we can get over the line here.
Areas of concern
What sort of team we’re capable of putting out here is a real concern for me. I have a feeling some of those players who missed games for their countries may actually be injured and that’s really concerning. This is a big game that only a win is enough, so hopefully they were just all just precautionary and we can put out something like our strongest team.
What I’d love to see
I’d love to see a team that is hurting and come out and show that they are willing to fight to put it right. Plenty of fight, determination and quality.
What I’d hate to see
Slow, lacklustre play. I’d really hate to see us start like that. Tempo, tempo, tempo.
Lineup and Team News
This is a tough one, as Mikel Arteta (as usual!!) gave very little away in his pre-match press conference, so there could be one or two players injured or about ten!!! I’m leaning more towards the players are more likely to be fit, but a few may be rested ahead of the Sporting game on Tuesday.
First decision is who will play in goal. David Raya for me all day long, but what will Arteta do?! I think he’ll go for Raya, I really do. If he plays Kepa again, it opens us up to another problem like we had in the League Cup final. It’s been a while since Raya last played for Arsenal as well, so he should start here.
At right back, I think Ben White will play the first 60 mins or so and then Timber will take over and get some minutes. At centre back, Cristhian Mosquera and Riccardo Calafiori will get the nod, to give William Saliba and Gabriel a little bit longer to rest, with Myles Lewis-Skelly at left back. Lewis-Skelly had a really good international break and Arteta has proven that he likes to capitalise on positive momentum like this so I think he’ll start here. Possibly in midfield, but more likely at left back.
Into midfield, Christian Norgaard has earned another start in this competition and Martin Zubimendi needs as much rest as we can give him so that is a no-brainer for me. Further ahead is where is gets a bit more tricky. Martin Odegaard looks to be back and ready for selection again and with Eberechi Eze likely to miss out through injury, I think he’ll have to start this one, with Kai Havertz taking up the final place in midfield, alongside the returning Captain.
Up front, I think it will be Leandro Trossard on the left, Viktor Gyokeres up front and Gabriel Martinelli on the right. Gyokeres is another who had an excellent international break so we should be doing all we can to ride this wave and give him another chance up top, especially with Havertz likely required further back.
That will then lead to a very strong bench contained the majority of ‘injured’ international players, who will come on to share the minutes if that game state allows it.
Predicted lineup:
Raya
White
Mosquera
Calafiori
Lewis-Skelly
Norgaard
Odegaard (c)
Havertz
Martinelli
Gyokeres
Trossard
Substitutes:
Arrizabalaga
Timber
Saliba
Gabriel
Zubimendi
Rice
Saka
Dowman
Jesus
PREDICTION
We usually get over the line…we HAVE to get over the line. Time to return to winning ways – 2-0 to The Arsenal.