Preview writing for me has often meant starting several days before the match to ensure that an ever changing workload does not prevent its completion. On this occasion, in hospital after my knee replacement earlier in the day (last Wednesday), I found myself buoyed by the fact that the operation had finally been done, and a brilliant Champions League performance the evening before.
Let’s start that preview, I thought, further kept awake on the orthopaedic ward overnight by a cacophony of sound – incorporating all manner of human and animal noises – from some manifestation of the Philbarnmonic Limpphony Orchestra. Seriously, it’s not hard to understand why so many hoped for, long relationships hit the rocks when the beautiful, athletic, honed visions of young Tarzans and Janes morph into the snoring, snorting, farting, human versions of the animals they once chased through trees and undergrowth, and are joined by a selection of the more mundane farm creatures with which we are more familiar. The noises of middle aged slumber are truly horrific. I can only hope that the after effects of ketamine erase them entirely from my mind – but was I even given any? Oh well, it seems to be working!
Eight days after trouncing PSV Eindhoven – who are hereinafter to be referred to as PSV Sevendhoven – we take them on again in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16, this time at the Emirates. By virtue of our league phase final position, we will play the second legs of this and all future rounds at home, an advantage which in this case should prove entirely unnecessary in view of the six goal lead we already have.
Hopefully, Wednesday evening’s encounter will be more a re-run of the 4-0 hammering we gave them at the Emirates in the 2023/24 Champions League tie, than the 1-1 draw I still remember from 2007 in the same competition. That was one of, if not the most frustrating football nights of my life. We were undone on that occasion by two Brazilians – Alex, who went on to play for Chelsea, and Heurelho Gomes, the 6’3” giant goalkeeper who went on to play for Tottenham and Watford.
Following a 0-1 reverse in Holland, Alex put through his own goal on 58 minutes at the Emirates to level the tie. Gomes then transformed into a human wall and made a series of incredible blocks to stop us going ahead. In truth, it was one of those nights when the ball just was not going to go in however many hours we played for. In retrospect it was all the more frustrating when this unbelievable shot stopper joined Tottenham and turned into a bit of a clown. Still, he’s not the only one that’s ever happened to. The final nail in the coffin of that Champions League campaign was then applied by Alex himself when he scored for his own team on 83 minutes. Over and out. You might have realised I still bear the scars and unease is my instant reaction to any tie against PSV.
A six goal lead really should see us comfortably through this time round. The question is – will Mikel Arteta take the opportunity to rest some first teamers and blood one or two of the academy players who have been appearing recently on our bench. My guess is no, he will not – certainly not from the start anyway. There are some more established reserves who could well get a start though. There seems to be little choice but to start a tired looking Ødegaard again, and while I would prefer to see Kabia given a chance on the right wing, I fear Arteta will opt for the more experienced but absolutely useless Sterling. Ethan Nwaneri looked tired at the weekend too so here’s an eleven to provoke a bit of discussion:
Raya;
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori;
Ødegaard, Jorginho, Lewis-Skelly;
Kabia, Merino, Martinelli;
Subs: Neto, Timber, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Tierney, Rice, Partey, Nwaneri, Trossard.
That should leave plenty of options from the bench if things are not going to plan.
PSV ended their three match losing run in the Eredivisie at the weekend with a 2-1 win over Heerenveen. Their goals were scored by Saibari – who hit the bar against us in Holland – and Guus Til. Manager Peter Bosz has no new injury concerns as he attempts to end PSV’s 15 game run in the Champions League without keeping a clean sheet. That was last achieved against Atletico Madrid in 2016. We may not get another seven this time but some of our not-so-sharp-shooters will relish another go at this defence.
It shouldn’t be forgotten that PSV have a long and solid history in European competition. Currently in their 51st consecutive season in Europe, they have previously won both the UEFA Cup in 1977/78 and the European Cup in 1987/88 when they beat Benfica in the final under the leadership of Guus Hiddink. Bobby Robson continued their success into the 1990s while their last “golden era” came under Philip Cocu when they won three out of four domestic championships between 2015 and 2018.
They’ve had some famous names playing for them too over time. In the 70s the names that jumped out most to me were the Van de Kerkhof brothers and Jan Poortvliet. More memorable are some names from the late 80s when their squad boasted, among others, Hans van Breukelen, Ronald Koeman and Ruud Gullit.
Whatever the problems and shortcomings of this season have been, we are on the verge of a Champions League Quarter Final with a possibility of Bukayo Saka returning after the International break. Personally, I would be surprised to see him and, in any event, expectations of him must be very carefully managed. For the meanwhile, we must continue with Mikel Merino who has worked hard to try to adapt and provide a focal point up front. His successes have come moving onto crosses and cutbacks, or timing runs to use his height on crosses and set pieces. There is no point in threading balls through the eye of a needle to him with his back to goal. He is not that player. We may have to go a little bit old school to get the best out of him while he does his best in difficult circumstances. Above all we have to move the ball more quickly to open up space and not creep forwards slowly compressing space into a self created low block.
Progression to the Quarter Finals will also bring the bonus of a major cash injection to the club, something to please our newly appointed Sporting Director, Andrea Berta, previously with Atletico Madrid. Having already earned £73.5m from the third place finish in the league phase, progression to the quarters will gain another estimated £10-£12 m. Wasting no time in getting the rumour mill churning, there are already suggestions from Sky Sports Switzerland that Berta and Arsenal are interested in 22 year old French striker Hugo Ekitike, who has already scored 18 goals and provided 6 assists for Eintracht Frankfurt since joining from PSG in the summer. Frankfurt would apparently demand €80m for the player which would fit rather nicely with our newly won bonuses.
Some other players signed by Berta include Rodri, Antoine Griezmann, goalkeeper Jan Oblak, David Villa, Luis Suarez, Julian Alvarez and Matheus Cunha. We ought to be able to find a few goals under his directorship then.
Finally, a tie against Dutch opponents reminds me of a Dutch girl I once got to know. She always wore inflatable shoes. I phoned her up to arrange a date but unfortunately she’d popped her clogs.
I haven’t even looked at betting odds for this game but we must be long odds on to win the tie. All our likely goal scorers are quoted at 5/1, 11/2 if you really can’t resist.
Kick off at the Emirates is at 20.00 UK time. TV coverage on TNT Sports.
Enjoy the game, Holics !
A typically amusing and informative preview Trev .
I’ve come across a number of people who aren’t going tomorrow because it’s a foregone conclusion ( it definitely is ) or who are unhappy at the prices being charged given the lack of jeopardy which is again understandable but difficult to avoid unless the club give everyone a discount . That suggests fans would be happier if we’d lost 1-0 as we did to Porto last season but of course they wouldn’t although the ground would be full if they had when it will be half empty tomorrow . Confused?
I shall be reporting on the game but making sure I catch the 22.20 from St Pancras . It’s hard to guess the team. I’d play a front three of Sterling , BO and Martinelli and I’d rest Rice , Saliba and Timber to start with .
I reckon it will be 1-1 . When we beat them 4-0 at their place in 2002 we drew the home game 0-0 .
Dreaming of inflatable Dutch girls, Trev? They must have been giving you the recreational ketamine.
I am sure you are right that we won’t see another seven-goal fest from our team. The xG stat from the first leg suggested that we should have only scored two, and I can’t believe Bosz will let Ødegaard have the freedom of midfield he was granted in the first game.
Again, I think you are right that Arteta will start a strong XI to snuff out any hope of a comeback and then rotate out. Jorginho to start to make sure PSV doesn’t get a toehold seems a good call. It will be interesting to see how strong a team Bosz fields.
Twenty minutes seems the right next step for Benny Blanco, but I doubt he is ready to start.
I, too, would love to see some of the youngsters get some minutes. More than ten of them were training with the first team. Would they really offer less than Sterling, who is so out of sorts? I’ve read that Arteta thought he could do a Jesus with Sterling and resurrect his career. Time to bury that idea, surely.
I’m not sure your front three passes the smell test, TTG.
Glad to see that you are on the road to recovery Trev which you seem to be, judging by your good humor on display. Cheers, and COYG
Good stuff, Trev. I hope you are getting used to your new knee. Sadly you probably haven’t had time to make the cut for tomorrow’s team. I expect a few changes but I’m not sure your predicted team selection will reflect them. I don’t think White will start as we seem to be easing him in and I expect Timber and Calafiori to start at FB unless either is used to rest one of our CBs or the Italian starts up front (!). I too would like to see MLS start in his usual youth team position in midfield – we’ve seen flashes of what he can do in there so it would be nice to see him play a full game there. I’d love to rest Ødegaard but with Nwaneri knackered I don’t know who else could play that role so I too think he’ll start but hope MA8 will surprise us. I’ve never seen Kabia play but he’s been around the squad for a while so is rated and if not now, when? PSV will be out to win. Let’s just not lose.
Thanks Trev for another fine preview – well up to your normal high standard.
This match is a dead rubber which can often mean a lack lustre performance. Let’s hope that’s not the case as we need to keep a winning mentality for the rest of the season.
This is the opportunity to play some of the squad fillers – it’s a delicate selection quandary for the boss to make. As Bath states above both Ødegaard & Nwaneri looked quite knackered and could do with a rest but would Arteta rest both with no obvious player to replicate what they do. He is normally quite conservative with his team selection – let’s hope he gets it right and we have a comfortable win.
For anyone who might have missed it earlier, the update to the GHF Predictathon leaderboard for Match Week 28 has been posted, along with the latest form guide. You know where to find it…
Thanks Trev, an enjoyable read as ever and good to know
the painkillers are working well.
I am hoping it might be one of those rare meaningless games
that end up 4-3 as no one bothers too much with defending but
I expect the 0-0, 1-0,1-1 predictions are probably right. MA doesn’t
seem one for slapdash.
Your XI is fine with me but I guess Kiwior and Sterling will start and
Martinelli may be eased back more slowly. Seems the right time to start
Ben to me as well. I have given up guessing which left back plays where.
Cheers Trev, excellent and fun preview as usual, still laughing at the popped clogs joke. 🙂
They always say the next game is the most important, but I beg to differ for once, Sunday is more important.
Either way, it could be an extremely entertaining or extremely boring match, but there should be very little pressure. Just don’t get injured.
Prediction? 3-3.
Fun preview, Trev!
Before the first match in this tie, I was expecting that tonight’s game would be being played against the background of an away game draw or a fiercely contested 1-0 to the Arsenal. So the prospect of being able to rotate at will for tonight’s game is an unexpected surprise. However, when it comes right down to it, because of multiple injuries, the opportunities to rotate are relatively few. The inclusion of Tierney and Jorginho makes every sense to me and no one can be worse than Sterling on the right wing. I understand that TTG is taking his boots along – so he gets my vote for that berth – but Kabia may give him a run for his money.
Very pleased that we and not the Mickeys are going through to the next round. Make it an entertaining evening without injury, Arsenal.
Thanks Trev,
Hope you’re ready for a proper knees-up sometime soon although tonight may be a little premature.
Hope to see somebody new tonight but 2-0 any old way works for me.
UTA.
Interesting piece on our new Sporting Director, Andrea Berta
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6175996/2025/03/11/who-is-andrea-berta-arsenal/