Its Freddie Ljungberg's first real big test as Head Coach as Pep Guardiola and Manchester City visit the Emirates Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
Having finally delivered his first three points last time out in the league, Freddie and his side will be looking for a real upset tomorrow afternoon. There is no doubt that Man City's defence is there to be got at but so is ours. The quality in their midfield and attack outweighs the quality of their defence, and so does ours. Its not quite mirror mirror but its not far off. The difference is that City deliver. Yes they are susceptible to conceding a goal or two but they still win football games, where as Arsenal haven't been so lucky.
With injuries still very much the order of the day for Arsenal, it could be another day of sacrificing the ball and playing on the counter. Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos are both absent from midfield, whilst both first choice full backs have also been ruled out. Hector Bellerin may only miss this one game with a muscular complaint where as Kieran Tierney is looking at around three months out with a dislocated shoulder. Rob Holding is also unavailable through injury but he is expected back inside the next month. The good news is that Nicolas Pepe has been announced as fit to play today. He should slot straight back into the starting XI from the right.
Mesut Ozil, Lucas Torreira and Sead Kolasinac are all expected to return to the fold are being rested completely on Thursday night. Youngsters Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson and Bukayo Saka will all be looking for another opportunity to impress but to start this one, is unlikely. If Arsenal are to get anything from this game, they need the extensive list of senior pros to stand up and be counted. So far this season, the likes of Sokratis, Luiz and Ozil just haven't been good enough or consistent enough. It's about time someone takes the lead.
The luxury of endless of endless attacking talent at City is thwarted only slightly with the injury lay off to Sergio Augero, who always scores against Arsenal. Good news, check. The bad news though is that, they still have the league's best player in Kevin de Bruyne, two creative wizards in D Silva and B Silva, and pace to burn in Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez. In defence, Oleksandr Zinchenko is available again but may not even make the bench as both Angelino and Benjamin Mendy have both featured at left back of late. Centre back is where the real issues have been for City though, as a long term injury to Aymeric Laporte has left them in tatters. Failure to replace Vincent Kompany in the summer really has come back to bite them. The impressive Ederson in goal does provide a safe last line that can be relied on. Arsenal's forwards will need to up the ante for shooting for definite.
Expected lineup:
GK: Bernd Leno
RB: Ainsley Maitland-Niles
CB: Calum Chambers
CB: Sokratis
LB: Sead Kolasinac
CM: Matteo Guendouzi
CM: Lucas Torreira
CAM: Mesut Ozil
RW: Nicolas Pepe
ST: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
LW: Gabriel Martinelli
Prediction: 2-2 with Aubameyang continuing his personal run of good form.
@craigbennett10
Having finally delivered his first three points last time out in the league, Freddie and his side will be looking for a real upset tomorrow afternoon. There is no doubt that Man City's defence is there to be got at but so is ours. The quality in their midfield and attack outweighs the quality of their defence, and so does ours. Its not quite mirror mirror but its not far off. The difference is that City deliver. Yes they are susceptible to conceding a goal or two but they still win football games, where as Arsenal haven't been so lucky.
With injuries still very much the order of the day for Arsenal, it could be another day of sacrificing the ball and playing on the counter. Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos are both absent from midfield, whilst both first choice full backs have also been ruled out. Hector Bellerin may only miss this one game with a muscular complaint where as Kieran Tierney is looking at around three months out with a dislocated shoulder. Rob Holding is also unavailable through injury but he is expected back inside the next month. The good news is that Nicolas Pepe has been announced as fit to play today. He should slot straight back into the starting XI from the right.
Mesut Ozil, Lucas Torreira and Sead Kolasinac are all expected to return to the fold are being rested completely on Thursday night. Youngsters Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson and Bukayo Saka will all be looking for another opportunity to impress but to start this one, is unlikely. If Arsenal are to get anything from this game, they need the extensive list of senior pros to stand up and be counted. So far this season, the likes of Sokratis, Luiz and Ozil just haven't been good enough or consistent enough. It's about time someone takes the lead.
The luxury of endless of endless attacking talent at City is thwarted only slightly with the injury lay off to Sergio Augero, who always scores against Arsenal. Good news, check. The bad news though is that, they still have the league's best player in Kevin de Bruyne, two creative wizards in D Silva and B Silva, and pace to burn in Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez. In defence, Oleksandr Zinchenko is available again but may not even make the bench as both Angelino and Benjamin Mendy have both featured at left back of late. Centre back is where the real issues have been for City though, as a long term injury to Aymeric Laporte has left them in tatters. Failure to replace Vincent Kompany in the summer really has come back to bite them. The impressive Ederson in goal does provide a safe last line that can be relied on. Arsenal's forwards will need to up the ante for shooting for definite.
Expected lineup:
GK: Bernd Leno
RB: Ainsley Maitland-Niles
CB: Calum Chambers
CB: Sokratis
LB: Sead Kolasinac
CM: Matteo Guendouzi
CM: Lucas Torreira
CAM: Mesut Ozil
RW: Nicolas Pepe
ST: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
LW: Gabriel Martinelli
Prediction: 2-2 with Aubameyang continuing his personal run of good form.
@craigbennett10
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