And Breathe, And Leicester
This Saturday at 3pm (UK time) sees us back at Ashburton Grove to welcome lowly Leicester in our first PL game since the blood and thunder outing at the home of deceit last weekend. A chance to draw breath in what certainly feels like a very eventful start to this campaign even if we are only 5 league games in! The various instances of injury, incompetence and injustice have already been well-covered both here and elsewhere and so I will resist the urge to rage, rage against the lying of the shite and just state that I am very happy with where we are right now. We have had to fight hard, and we have; we have a team now that we know will step up and never forget who we are. What’s not to love? However, can we do better? Yes of course, and one area we could do better so far this season would be finishing. Certainly, the XI thrown together midweek have shown us a righteous path to follow by sticking five past Bolton and as we approach a run of three very winnable league games after a tough start it would be great if we can find the net with more regularity. It would be even greater if the Gabi’s, Martinelli and Jesus were the men to lead the way. Both have looked a little cold in front of goal of late but we will need them running hot at times this season if the power and the glory is to be ours. The forthcoming Leicester, Southampton, and Bournemouth games are, with as ever my customary utmost respect for the opposition, teams that provide an opportunity to take out the trash plucky little blighters. On then to the first of those three – who to start against Leicester?
The Arsenal XI
Naming the starting XI has proven a little tricky of late. I believe Gabriel, Saliba, Partey, Rice, Havertz and Saka will all play. After that, well the questions start at the last line with who’s in goal? For me, if David Raya is even a small doubt, we go with Neto. From what I have seen of him in the PL, he is a competent and experienced keeper and I am perfectly happy to have him in goal for this game. However, according to Mikel “it is not about risk, it is about a player being fit or available. We will make a decision tomorrow”. In other words, we will find out an hour before kick-off. Waiting certainly make sense given the difference Raya has already made a few times this season but I am fine either way. The second question is around the full-backs, and in better news it seems Ben White and Jurrien Timber will be available as will Calafiori and also Myles Lewis-Skelly, fine again apparently after looking slightly the worse for wear on Wednesday. Purely a guess, but I believe Calafiori may be the one to rest this time with Benjamin and Timber starting. In midfield Jorginho played a full 90 against Bolton and Thomas was rested so I would assume he will start and Declan will play on the left. As we move into the attack I assume it will again be an interchangeable forward line of Gabi M., Leo, Kai and Bukayo. Again, given he played a full 90 minutes on Wednesday I do not think we will see Nwaneri starting again, however he, Sterling, and Jesus provide good options off the bench. Encouraging news in the presser on Merino and Tomi who are both fairly close to fitness again. Zin , KT and Ode remain out. The XI I believe MA will pick…………
Raya / Neto
White Saliba Gabriel Timber
Partey Rice
Saka Trossard Havertz Martinelli
I don’t believe it will, in reality, be a 4-2-4 but with Ode still out I think the front 4 are operating even more flexibly than usual. The proof will of course be on the team sheet tomorrow and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if have three or four wrong.
The Opposition
To be honest the only real opposition in this game is ourselves. If we turn up with the right attitude and play our football then the result is a foregone conclusion. To be even more honest, this preview presented me with a bit of a countdown conundrum. Do I, in keeping with the generous spirit of the bar, sprinkle this paragraph with some further coded phrases for second-rate such as whole-hearted, battling, never say die or can beat anyone on their day or do I tell the truth about this Leicester side? I rang Carol for help but she wisely doesn’t accept reverse charge calls from strangers in Japan and so I will plough on regardless. And Leicester were a fair team four or five seasons back as they just missed out on Champions League qualification for a couple of seasons before reverting to type and getting relegated at the end of the 22-23 season. They bounced straight back, the physics of parachutes aiding bouncing elude me but there certainly is a strong attraction in the alternate reality of professional football. The team that was relegated was generally thought too good to go down, though that conclusion conveniently overlooked the undoubted character deficiencies splashed generously into the mixer by their narcissistic master chef, Brendon Rogers. However, in hindsight, I may have been too harsh on that collection of faint hearts and phone it inners, because they were actually better than this current incarnation. They have two defeats and three draws so far this season, the last a dull 1-1 draw against Everton that I strove manfully to watch purely for research purposes, fortunate that really as there was precious little entertainment on offer. They do still have a few familiar names such as the elbowy cheat, Ndidi, Ayew and a couple of ex-spuds who I would welcome back if not for the fact that I dislike all of them. Ndidi has three assists this season and Vardy a couple of goals as does the one player I will welcome back, Stephy Mavididi. Once of this parish, his story is a familiar one these days – he never quite made the step up to our first team, had several loans but eventually moved on to the Juventus U23s back in 2018. After that, there was a few years at Montpelier, where he did well by all accounts and then he signed for Leicester last year. After a good season in the Championship, he has now scored in Leicester’s last two league games. It’s nice to see him making a career for himself and satisfying that we could help him along the way – he can of course repay by doing nothing tomorrow! For those of an analytical lean, I did notice that Leicester have scored and conceded in all their games so far this season and generally line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation though I am sure it will be much more of a 4-5-1 tomorrow. However, as I said at the beginning of this ridiculously long paragraph, they don’t matter, it’s up to us.
The Score
As you will see from the deliberately pointed cannon in the image above I am, just for tomorrow, in favour of foxhunting and I can’t see any reason we shouldn’t score early and stick at least three or four past this Leicester side and hopefully deliver another clean sheet, though it must be said Vardy has had a very annoying habit of scoring against us and even Ayew has a couple, I think from memory. I will be happy with a nice 4-0 win, no further injuries, no red cards. I have deliberately not checked who the ref is as I have simply had enough of them for one season and will just hope for some vague degree of competence.
It remains only to wish us all an enjoyable watch wherever we may be, and a safe journey to those lucky enough to be attending.
A 12 man team with two goalies. What’s not to luke, so long as PGMOL don’t notice?
Thanks for your informative and entertaining preview, the sage of Osaka.
luke = like but only my hairdresser knows for sure
Matt,
Very enjoyable preview of a game that poses a few selection posers.
I agree entirely about David Raya. It would be mad to play Raya given the PSG game on Tuesday . Neto is a sound choice but is cup-tied in the Carabao Cup and my advice to Arteta would be to sign a free agent keeper to protect both Raya and Porter . I think Wayne Hennessy or Darren Randolph are still free .
I think Arteta might shield Ben White and have Timber and Calafiori at full back .
I agree about the midfield but I wouldn’t be surprised if Nwaneri started although I suspect Trossard is more likely. I also think we may see Sterling make his full League debut .
Whatever I look forward to lunch with the Countrymen pre-match and I hope a 3-0 victory thereafter
That was riding into Dodge with all guns blazing, OM, and rather enjoyable it was, too. If you lined your selection up 4-2-2-2, you might be close to the mark.
Both Porter and Rojas trained with the first-team on Friday, which might suggest that the odds are against Raya being fit to play. I would expect Nwaneri and MLS to start on the bench. Perming two from White, Timber and Calafiori is a first-world problem.
An entertaining, diplomatically dismissive description of the challenge our heroes face this afternoon. Clearly your professional experience of masking the killer blow with faint praise stands you in good stead here.
I have had the opportunity to see this iteration of Lesta evolve; first at Ashton Gate last season when they were top of the Championship but were played off the park by Brizzil City then earlier this season at the Cottage where they were clearly second best and undeservedly scraped a narrow defeat against Fulham. On both occasions they relied heavily on the long ball over the defence to Steptoe who remains very mobile despite his advancing years. At Brizzil their only decent player was the ex-Spud Winks who stood out with technique and vision I did not associate with him but at the Cottage he was invisible probably because their long balls bypassed the midfield throughout the game. The addition of the execrable Ayew and another Spud does not add to their charm or appeal.
Job to do, Arsenal. Go win.
After a mid-week weather forecast for Saturday of heavy rain and wind it was a pleasure today to awaken to brilliant blue skies and sunshine in East Herts. Having enjoyed the five goal thriller against Bolton in mid-week under cloudy skies, the prospect of a high scoring outing against the Not-so-Fantastic Mr Foxes in the sunlit, sumptuous surroundings of Emirates Airlines hospitality box has a fairly high quota of appeal associated with it. TTG and C100, I shall raise a few glasses of whatever is sparkling and free up there and wave them grandly in your general direction.
I think you’ve pretty much nailed the team, Matt. If Raya is going to miss a game, this is probably not a bad one to miss. My window cleaner is a Spuds fan (and strangely, a very decent fellow – who knew?). He was in the bowl when Big Gabby grabbed our winner there. Gracious regarding our superiority over both their current squad and manager his observation was that Arsenal have become a very defence-oriented outfit and that when teams do that, they often find the transition in emphasis back to scoring without the handbrake on a very difficult thing to achieve.
Very much the time for a demonstration of goal scoring excellence today to show him and any other doubters that the Arsenal are THE team to be reckoned with these days no matter what the competition.
Enjoy the game, Holics.
BtM, there do appear to be a limited number of decent enough lads and lasses who profess to be Sp***s fans. They seem to share the experience of suffering through a misguided and misbegotten youth such as I expect to be the case with your window cleaner fella. In case you were still wondering that is. 😉
Enjoy the view fromnyour premium seats by the way, including any clean glass you may need to peer through to see the game. 🙂
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/sep/28/jens-lehmann-fined-for-damaging-neighbours-garage-with-chainsaw
Well, he was called Mad Jens by some……
Thanks OM – a most enjoyable preview. If our front three can put on their scoring boots then a comfortable win beckons. Steptoe & Ayew up front for them precludes any sympathy for the thrashing I hope we impart. May all this the ‘holics attending this afternoon enjoy a veritable goal fest.
COYRRR
Thanks OM
Jon Sammels played for Leicester which is about the only good thing I have to say about them.
3-0 will do nicely thanks with Steptoe carried off with broken elbows.
UTA
Thanks Matt – very enjoyable.
I thought you were a few hours ahead of us in Japan but it appears you are actually years behind. Carol hasn’t been on Countdown for about a decade !
4-0 sounds very nice – some forwards back on the scoresheet 👍🏻🤞🏻
Thanks Matt – very enjoyable.
I thought you were a few hours ahead of us in Japan but it appears you are actually years behind. Carol hasn’t been on Countdown for about a decade !
Selecting a team is indeed tricky with players out and on the verge of returning but yours can’t be far off the truth.
4-0 sounds very nice – some forwards back on the scoresheet 👍🏻🤞🏻
Oops ! The mysteries of cyberspace …..
No problem Trev, I get paid per drink right?
Team news is in and Raya starts. Benny Blanco again sits it out as Timber and Calafiori watch the flanks. No surprises in midfield or up front.
CoYGS!!
Dropped points for 115ty, good start to the weekend,
Gundogan stood in front of a free kick to delay the restart – and obviously got a yellow card – oh, hang on …. No, he didn’t ! Well I never ….. 🤷♂️
Deserved that 2nd goal and a great time to get it.
Nice to see Pat Rice and Bob Wilson at the game
That was a relief at the end!!
On to PSG
That was heavier going for a while than it should have been, although their goals were from a deflection and the sort of strike that takes out a corner flag nine times out of ten. But sleeves rolled up and three points secured.
Phew! We made life difficult for ourselves with that dozy start to the SH. Complacency? If so, hope it’s a lesson learned. Great determination to get the three points though and ultimately a well deserved clear victory. Carry on, you Gunners.
Never in doubt!
The North Bank sucked those goals in in added on time.
bath@21: If Havertz’s shoulder doesn’t deflect the ball for their first goal, Raya makes a comfortable save, and Leicester don’t get any wind in their sales. True, the defending for their second goal was sloppy, but Justin won’t hit another shot like that all season. And props to their keeper, Hermansen, for some excellent shot-stopping. Plus, with C100’s deep breathing…
RIP Archer, possibly the Goonerverse’s most famous dog. A much beloved companion to Arseblog and Mrs Blogs. A handsome and good-natured German Shepherd whose life has been chronicled intermittently on Twitter and Arseblog. He will be missed not only by Arseblog and his family but also by the wider Arsenal community who have come to know him. Thoughts with Blogs and Mrs Blogs. Here’s the big fella:
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