Why These Four Players Should Start Tonight Against Palace

 By Danong

Tonight, Arsenal host Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium in a Carabao Cup quarter-final clash.

Under Mikel Arteta, our only success in the cup competitions was the 2020 FA Cup triumph. In the last two seasons however we've been making significant progress in the league, fiercely competing for the title and running Man City very close to league glory. We haven't shown however the same determination in the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.

That needs to change so that Mikel Arteta doesn't have to be asked questions like, "You’ve only won one trophy. Is this a chance to win another?" like he was asked on Tuesday. He corrected the Sky Sports journalist pointing out the two Community Shields won too.

Tonight it is imperative that Arsenal beat Palace not only to return to winning ways but to also lay down the psychological base on which to win the PL game on the weekend against the same team.

Arsenal will have to do it without Oleksandr Zinchenko and Riccardo Calafiori who are now long term absentees.  More importantly Rice may also not be available after being subbed off due to injury in that 0-0 draw with Everton. Ahead of the Palace game tonight, Arteta said "He’s fine. We will make the decision on whether he’s available or not."

Even so, Arsenal should still have a strong team to beat a Palace side that the Gunners have beaten in the last four meetings.

I expect Arteta's line up to include Kiwior, Nwaneri, Jesus and Sterling:

- Goalkeeper: Raya

- Defense: Timber, Saliba, Kiwior and Myles Lewis-Skelly

- Midfield: Partey, Merino and Nwaneri

- Attack: Saka, Jesus and Sterling

Why this lineup?

Gabriel has just returned from injury and may need a rest and Kiwior deserves to play. Rice shouldn't be risked. Martin Ødegaard and Kai Havertz look like they need a rest (though it would be wise to introduce them in the second half). Merino deserves a chance to play. It may be wise to try Sterling on the left wing; he might just be the "savior" of that position given Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli's struggles there. Jesus should be given the chance to carry on the fine display against Monaco.

Arteta will get his players to come out fighting and force the game against Palace as we need to get back to winning ways and also score goals from open play so that the confidence can flow back. 

If we win tonight, here's where we are:

- Premier League: 3rd with 66 points to play for, 6 points off the top (with a game more than Liverpool)

- Champions League: 3rd, all but qualified, with Zagreb and Girona fixtures to play

- FA Cup: Third round vs United at the Emirates Stadium to come 

- Carabao Cup: Semi-Finals. By reaching the semi-finals we can surely go all the way and win it.

Yes, we’ve not been good enough recently, but it’s nowhere near over, is it?

Surprises predicted for Arteta's team selection vs Everton

By Danong 

Today, Arsenal and Everton are going up against each other at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners are looking to shake off that frustrating 1-1 draw from their last league match against Fulham at Craven Cottage, where they just couldn't snatch the win.

Arsenal faced some challenges leading up to their 3-0 win against Monaco in the Champions League midweek. 

They were missing most of their defenders due to injuries. Nearly all of their top picks, left-backs Oleksander Zinchenko and Riccardo Calafiori, found themselves sidelined due to injuries. 

The injuries of Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jurrien Timber, and Thomas Partey raised concerns about the right-back position. 

We thought that Mikel Arteta might have to bring in an academy player to fill that role. Luckily, Partey was able to play in the game.

That said, in that 3-0 win over Monaco, Arsenal really pulled together a well-balanced team that easily created chances through open play. If you've watched that game, do you think it’s too much to ask the Arsenal boss to keep the "Monaco lineup" for the game against Everton?

Arsenal thrashed the Ligue 1 side with the starting 11 of:

Raya

Partey, Saliba, Kiwior, Myles Lewis Skelly

Rice, Merino, Odegaard

Saka, Jesus, Martinelli

Myles Lewis Skelly just had an amazing performance midweek! With Calafiori and Zinchenko still out injured, I really don’t get why you’d drop him.

With regard to Calafiori "We’re just respecting the times that the medical department has set," Arteta said. "Then we monitor his evolution every single day. We understand he’s not fully ready yet, but he’s getting very close now."

Arteta suggested that Gabriel might be ready to play against Everton, but it might not be a good idea to start him in central defence and shift Kiwior to left-back. 

Kiwior has really shown his skills as a centre-back and he is getting better and better the more he plays, so it doesn't make sense to move him to the left-back position just to fit Gabriel in. 

The Brazilian defender is back from injury, as Arteta suggested on Friday, but there's no need to risk him; he should sit out the Everton game.

Additionally, given his recent return from injury, I would advise against playing Timber against Everton. It might be better to give him a break this time and save him for the next match.

The same can be said of Havertz who has,  prior to the Monaco game, looked tired and not himself. 

It's better to give Jesus a start today as he did play well against Monaco and looked lively setting up Saka for his first goal. 

He got in some very promising positions but his finishing let him down. He is likely to get it right against Everton if we carry on creating the chances. 

Similar to the Monaco match, I believe Arsenal will be highly motivated for their match against Everton. The desire has to be to keep on winning in order to take advantage of a possible Liverpool slip. They will undoubtedly pose a formidable challenge to the Toffees, who should leave the capital with a big L.

 

Thomas Partey sends participation message for tonight's CL game vs Monaco

 By 1970's Gooner 

Just when we were wondering wether we will be watching at least an academy player taking the field tonight at The Emirates Thomas Partey has posted the above image.

It looks as though he will be starting tonight which massively  increases our chances of winning the game.

It could of course be an Arteta ploy to confuse the opponents !

Let's hope not.

Injury set back may derail Arsenal's Champions League automatic qualification to the last 16

 By Danong and 1970s Gooner 

Tonight, Arsenal's going up against Monaco, and a solid win could boost them all the way to second place from 10th in the Champions League standings.

After the 1-1 draw with Fulham, Gooners are definitely hoping and pushing the team to bounce back, but it’s not going to be an easy task.

The Gunners might have a tough time putting out their best lineup because of injuries. 

Seven possible defenders did not train yesterday afternoon. That's Partey, Calafiori, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Timber. Tomiyasu and White obviously absent too.

The coaching staff at Arsenal is facing a challenging situation. They've got a solid midfield and attacking options to pick from, but they'll need to be smart about how they organise their defence.

It appears that Jakub Kiwior and William Saliba will continue in central defense. At left-back we may have to rely on either Kieran Tierney or Myles Lewis Skelly to fill in. Tierney may get the nod.

So, who's playing right back? It would be unfortunate if both Timber and Partey are ruled out of that game. I just hope that one of them receives clearance to play.

Given Timber just got back from an ACL injury and is feeling some discomfort, it’s probably best not to take any chances with him. Hopefully, Thomas Partey can play and Timber will be ready for the Everton match.

Which Arsenal lineup will be able to handle Monaco, a team that has been performing well in Ligue 1? They're sitting in third place, just 5 points behind PSG at the top of the table.

Well, here's the predicted lineup:

Raya
Partey, Saliba, Kiwior, Tierney
Rice, Merino, Odegaard
Saka, Havertz, Martinelli

You'll notice that Merino and Martinelli (who didn't start on Sunday) returned to the predicted starting 11. 

Martinelli's speed is going to be tough to deal with on the left wing and with Merino at LCM, we’re hoping to breathe some life into that side, which really struggled against Fulham.

If Partey and Timber are not available to play at right back then we are in deep sh-t.

Arteta may have to either play an academy player or make an outlandish selection and play someone like Martinelli there....

It has been reported that Josh Nichols, who is a right back and Maldini Kakuri were with the under 19s today for a UEFA youth game which may rule them out of tonight's game. 

Ayden Heaven, Josh Robinson, Zane Monlouis and Elian Quesada Thorn did not participate so there is a chance that one of them could be starting tonight.

Let's hope it won't come to that.

Arteta, Unleash Arsenal's full Potential: Play Players in Their Best Positions and Trust These Full Backs

 By Danong and 1970s Gooner

Mikel Arteta has a big decision to make about squad selection or we might keep slipping in the title race.

Once again, Arsenal couldn't snatch a win against Fulham, ending up in a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage despite almost completely dominating the game.

Despite this, it's important to acknowledge that Mikel Arteta disrupted a well-planned setup when it wasn't necessary, solely to fill the left back position.

An injury had sidelined left back Riccardo Calafiori. Oleksander Zinchenko, who filled in for him last week, also missed the match because of injury.

Mikel Arteta had two left-back choices in Kieran Tierney and Myles Lewis Skelly for that game, but he decided to go with Jurrien Timber instead.

Timber has shown he can fill in at left back, but this time it was a bit annoying to take him away from right back, where he’s been really shining.

Game after game, we've talked about how the Dutchman has really brought new life to Arsenal's right side; he, Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard have just been unstoppable combining very well and confusing defenders with their movement.

In addition to Timber leaving his position, Thomas Partey had to transition from his #6 role to a right-back position.

Arsenal played decently, but they could have been much more ruthless if their best players played in their best positions.

These changes made it tough for Arsenal as most offensive actions were primarily directed from the right which was the area that Fulham concentrated on in trying to shut down Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard.

Timber's skills could have countered Fulham's strategy, but he stayed on the left, where he wasn't that impactful. In that game, the LHS made no significant contributions.

We desperately need Mikel Arteta to rethink his team selection when Arsenal takes on Monaco and certainly before the crucial match against Everton on Saturday.

Partey is needed in midfield to control the game's pace and Timber on the right hand side in order to increase the efficiency of Odegaard and Saka required to score goals.

If Calafiori (and even Zinny) isn't ready to jump back into the starting 11, it might be time for Arteta to give either Kieran Tierney or Myles Lewis Skelly a shot at LB.

If you're not going to play Myles Lewis Skelly or Tierney when Ben White, Calafiori, and Tomiyasu are injured, when are you going to play them?

Tierney can definitely lean on his experience and bring something to the LB position, which might catch the eye of some teams as the winter transfer window approaches. 

He might even be a better left sided centre back than Kiwior. Tierney has played there many times in a three at the back Scotland national team.

A win against Monaco with the right selections will go a long way to replenish the players moral.

The real reasons Arsenal failed to beat Fulham

By 1970s Gooner

I would take what Mikel Arteta said in his post match conference with a pinch of salt. Yes it was a very marginal decision that robed us of all three points at the death (I vowed never to celebrate an Arsenal goal as important as that would have been until I see the replay and the lines drawn by VAR). 

But we should never have reached that point really. Nor should we accept the explanation that we had total domination but they happened to score a goal... We know why they scored that goal and we will come to that later. 

Yes they played a low defensive line and the fact is we struggled to break that. But nearly all mid table and lower down teams play a low block and are well organised. We should really have developed a plan of how to go about beating them. 

You can say corner kicks is that plan B but surely you can't rely on set pieces to get you a goal. It was very evident against Fulham and in the last game against Man Utd that we didn't create much from open play. It wasn't as though we had a bagful of chances, like we had against Villa at home last season, but failed to convert them and then duly paid for it.

Arsenal's Xg against Fulham was a high 2.0 BUT without set pieces the Xg was...0.3!! 

Against Man Utd the without set pieces Xg was 0.48. 

This shows the degree of reliance on one way of getting a goal which however cannot be replicated consistently for the rest of the season especially when opponents eventually work out how to stop it happening.

One of the main reasons we failed to convert our dominance into goals is that a number of players have been off form recently. 

Havertz has been below par in the last few games. He didn't have that spark in his step and looked sluggish. Under normal circumstances he would have converted that chance from inside the box in the second half but didn't hit it properly and dragged it wide. 

We have been calling for him to be rested but Mikel probably realises that we don't have a viable alternative for this position as Gabriel Jesus seems to be not at the level required. That is why it is quite imperative we get a number 9 that can provide competition and more importantly the goals.

Martin Odegaard also did not look at his best. He wasn't as sharp in his passing and didn't run the game as per usual. Arteta took him off at 78 min and brought on Nawneri. I hope he wasn't injured as he had a strong tackle on him a few minutes before. Nothing was mentioned in the presser afterwards so lets hope he came through alright but taking off your best creative player when you need a goal looks strange to me.

Trossard, again proved that when he starts games he cannot produce what he usually does when he comes on as a sub. 

Martinelli also has been below his best for much of the season. This creates two problems. One is that we lack meaningful penetration from that flank which makes the team unbalanced. 

Secondly, and as result, the opponent's coach sets up his team to give more emphasis in stopping Saka and Odegaard on the other flank. Fulham, as we  saw on Sunday, had dropped more than one midfield player on that side deeper as well as their left back which minimised the spaces for Odegaard and Saka to operate in.

Arsenal's defence also looked unbalanced in the central positions. And by that I mean that Kiwior is not up to the level of what a defender playing for Arsenal should be. He never fails to repeat himself in making a mistake that leads to a goal.

His positioning for the goal that Jimenez scored could not have been worse. The long ball from Fulham's defence was picked up by Jimenez with ease because Kiwior followed him with a distance of a few meters back rather than sticking close. Jimenez laid the ball back to his right back and raced past Kiwior on the inside channel to receive the return ball. Kiwior who was running on the outside was thus left behind....

Kind of but not exactly the same with the second goal we conceded against Liverpool at the Emirates. There he found himself in no man's land and left the space for Salah to race on and score.

The second goal conceded against Bournemouth...you can guess who made that weak back pass to Raya which resulted in giving away a penalty that was converted.

Last season in the CL against Bayern we were cruising with a superb goal by Saka and we were running the game when his indecisiveness lets Sane go past him who lays the ball to Gnarby who duly scores. We ended up drawing 2-2.

In last season's defeat at Fulham, again he was not positioned correctly to be able to mark the on coming scorer on the left hand side, de Cordova Reid, who made it 2-1.

Well, if you combine all the above and let them loose during a game then we shouldn't really be surprised by the outcome.

 

Advantage Arsenal. Gunners Line Up to Beat Stubborn Fulham and Narrow the Gap at the top. Rotation on the cards?

By Danong and 1970s Gooner 

Arsenal and Fulham are going head-to-head today at Craven Cottage. Looking at results between them last season not being able to beat them, whether at home or away, was definitely a big blow to our title hopes.

Surely it's crucial Arsenal gets it right this time around. It should be so not as a payback for last season but because winning this game really helps Arsenal's title hopes.

Since Liverpool didn't play on Saturday because their match against Everton got postponed due to bad weather, Arsenal will have a chance to narrow the gap at the top of the table by just 4 points.

This puts some pressure on the Merseyside club. And some commentators have pointed out this slight advantage to the chasing pack.

On the other hand if the game had been played it would have been under some favourable circumstances.

The weather which, as severe as it was, would surely have constricted Liverpool in playing their normal passing game and given the lesser opponent a strong platform to get something from the fixture.

Now Fulham isn’t a team to mess around with. Even though Chris Sutton in his BBC column thinks Arsenal will win this battle, he still thinks this game is going to be a tough one for our Gunners.

The ex-Chelsea man, while predicting a 2-1 Arsenal win, admitted, “they did not miss Gabriel at the back against United, but this might be a tougher test for them, especially because some of Fulham’s key players are Gunners old boys”

Gabriel and Calafiori may return to the Arsenal lineup after missing the match against Manchester United. They did not take part in the open training session but it has been reported that they participated in individual training, which is encouraging news.

If they are not available then Arteta will likely go with Kiwior and Zinchenco again which is risky. Zinchenko although he has improved, he still is vulnerable to a pacy winger taking him on.

One alternative would be to move Partey to RB and Timber at LB. We have also favoured Tierney be used at LB but it looks like Arteta may be reluctant to do that.

In midfield the trio of Rice, Partey, and Odegaard  may continue (if Partey is selected to play there) to lay the foundation of an Arsenal dominance.

Trossard may return at LW for Martinelli who didn't justify his start there versus United.

Lastly in the attack Arteta may surprise a lot of people by resting Havertz and playing Jesus there. It wouldn't be a surprise really as Havertz looked jaded against Man utd. On the other hand he may choose to rest him for the midweek CL game instead.

The line up if Calafiori and Gabriel are available:

Raya
Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori
Partey, Rice, Odegaard
Saka, Havertz, Trossard

If they are not the Kiwior and Zinchenco are likely to start.

What would you change on that lineup?

From Corner FC to Title Contenders: Arsenal's Win Over Man United and Liverpool's Slip Turns the Tide in the Title Race

By Danong

On Wednesday night, Manchester United aimed to disrupt Arsenal's pursuit of the title. 

They set up intelligently to block our passing in the final third and managed to keep the ball away much better than one would have anticipated.

Following a closely contested first half, the Gunners turned up the tempo and the determination and secured the victory with expertly executed goals from converted corners by Jurrien Timber and William Saliba. The Red Devils departed North London empty handed with a 2-0 loss.

After a tricky November, where they were winless (2 draws and 2 losses) Arsenal, with that victory over the Red Devils, have hinted that their desire to go on a prolonged winning run is now proving very achievable, this being their third victory on the trot.

Liverpool are now just 7 points clear after dropping 2 points in their 3-3 draw with Newcastle Wednesday night.

Arsenal has been surprisingly successful this season, despite Arteta and the boys now being known as Corner FC (or Stoke City) by jealous opponents.

But really without some controversial red cards this season, they would have:

- Picked up 3 points against Brighton, instead of drawing 1-1.

- Picked up 3 points against Man City, instead of drawing 2-2.

- They could have managed to win against Bournemouth instead of losing 2-0.

If you add up these points lost we would now be on equal points with Liverpool and everyone's favourite for the title.

Additionally if there were no injuries or suspensions, we would have also picked:

- 3 points against Liverpool instead of a 2-2 draw (Calafiori, Saliba, and Odegaard missed the game)

- 3 points against Newcastle instead of a 1-0 loss (Calafiori and Odegaard missed the game)

- 3 points against Chelsea instead of a 1-1 draw (Calafiori missed the game, Odegaard lacked match fitness, and Rice played with an injury)

Again if things had gone Arsenal's way, no other team would have remained unbeaten except for our boys in red and white.

Still we carry on our march to the title regardless.

Up next for our Gunners, in the league, are clashes against

Fulham away (8th December)
Everton home (14th December)
Crystal Palace away (21st December)
Ipswich home (27th December)

And at the moment Arsenal are very capable of winning all of them.

These Arsenal Line-Ups vs Man United Expected to Keep Gunners' Winning Streak Going strong

 By Danong and 1970s Gooner 

Arsenal will host Manchester United tonight at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners enter this match on a three-game winning streak, having defeated Nottingham Forest (3-0), Sporting CP (1-5) and West Ham (2-5).

The Red Devils enter this game on a 5-game unbeaten streak, with four victories and one draw.

It's unnecessary to worry about United's form as a Gooner. The Red Devils have not won at the Emirates since 2017 and the head-to-head record in the last 5 games for this fixture favours Arsenal.

Arsenal: 4 wins
Man Utd: 1 win
Draws: 0

Arsenal, who are aiming to win the league, will be hoping to keep their decent record against Manchester United going. Notably, only a win is enough for Arsenal's title hopes; a draw is equivalent to a loss.

In the title race, Liverpool leads the Gunners by 9 points; coach Mikel Arteta and the boys need to close that gap. Yes, the Reds must drop points to lose control of the title race, but Arsenal must also continue to win in order to capitalise on any Liverpool slips.

Before we go into the starting lineup, can we talk about the injury updates? 

Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White as we know will miss the game. We anticipate Gabriel Magalhaes, who was unable to complete the West Ham match, to be fit and the same goes for Calafiori.

But will Mikel Merino (knee injury) and Thomas Partey (muscle injury) play in that game? When asked if the two midfielders were available, Arteta hinted they may be saying they all wanted to play.

On injury updates, the Arsenal boss said, “We are going to have a meeting this afternoon. “We had to monitor and keep a few away from some activities. I know they all want to play."

I believe that Partey is more likely to play than Merino. It appears that Partey's problem is likely to clear up and he will be available to play.

If Partey is fit, I'd start him; he'll be in Arsenal's strongest lineup for this game. 

Other than Partey, Gabriel Martinelli, who hasn't been playing much lately, deserves to start against United; his pace could be a bother for fullback Diogo Dalot, exposing United's left wing.

So Arsenal's predicted lineup for the Manchester United clash:

Raya
Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori
Partey, Rice, Odegaard
Saka, Havertz, Martinelli

However if Gabriel is not fit then Kiwior will come in his place as he did well when he came on at West Ham.

If Calafiori is out then this poses a more tricky problem. Arteta will have three viable options.

Play Partey at right back and move Timber  at left back. This will have the knock on effect of having to bring in Jorginho in midfield. Can he play twice in four days? Can Nwaneri be given his first start instead?

However there are two other obvious replacements at left back if Calafiori is not available. 

Zinchenko and the forgotten man Tierney. Choosing one of these two instead of Partey will allow for the minimum disruption in the back line and in midfield.

We believe that Tierney should start. He is a better defender and he is likely to sit back in order to allow Timber to go forward and create havoc on the right hand side along with Odegaard and Saka.

So the line up if both Gabriel and Calafiori are out should be:

Raya
Timber Saliba Kiwior Tierney
Partey Odegaard Rice
Saka Havertz Martinelli

If you have other ideas we will be pleased for you to suggest them. 

Arsenal Line-Up and Score Prediction for Cup Final-Like Clash with Nottingham Forest

 By Danong

Arsenal will take on Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League's return this weekend. 

The Gunners have not secured a victory in their last 4 Premier League matches, placing them 9 points behind league leaders Liverpool and 5 points behind the defending champions, Manchester City.

If coach Mikel Arteta and the team aim to maintain their title aspirations, they cannot further widen the gap between them and the other two Premier League title favorites. 

On paper, a clash with Forest would seem like just another 3 points secured, but given the current form of the Nottingham-based PL side, that may not be the case.

Forest are experiencing a notable resurgence; a glance at the Premier League table reveals that their statistics are strikingly similar to those of Arsenal. 

Arsenal has played 11 games, securing 5 wins, 4 draws, and 2 losses, with a goal difference of +6. Like them, Nottingham Forest has played 11 matches, with 5 victories, 4 draws, 2 defeats, and a goal difference of +5.

Forest has been impressive; they are undoubtedly a challenging team to face, having conceded only 10 goals. Only Liverpool in the league has allowed fewer goals (6). 

The North Londoners must be at their best to secure a victory this Saturday afternoon. For that to happen, Arteta needs to assemble a formidable winning lineup, and I can't think of a better starting 11 than this:

On goal, David Raya starts. With Ben White out and Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu back, I anticipate Jurrien Timber at RB, William Saliba and Gabriel at central defense, with Calafiori returning to LB.

With his recent performance, Thomas Partey has become an indispensable asset in Arsenal's engine room. 

Martin Odegaard, the skipper, who injects creativity into Arteta's engine room, like Partey, must just start. 

There's to be a battle for LCM between Declan Rice and Mikel Merino. I'd start with Merino. Rice was nursing an injury versus Chelsea and even if he's recovered, extra rest could do him good. 

Remember the impact Merino made when he entered the game against Chelsea in the 1-1 stalemate prior to the interval, he can't be overlooked.

Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, and Bukayo Saka lead the team in the forward line.

Arsenal line-up versus Forest:

Raya
Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori
Partey, Merino, Odegaard
Saka, Havertz, Martinelli

With this line-up, I expect Arsenal to win. I expect this to be the turn-around of Arsenal's league campaign, as Paul Merson suggests in his Sportskeeda column, "This is a cup final for Arsenal, a must-win game. 

Mikel Arteta and company have some lovely fixtures coming up and will be hopeful of putting on a solid run. I back them to win their next six or seven games and it starts with this one."

That said, Merson predicts that Arsenal will secure a 3-1 win on Saturday. I think a 2-0 win is more probable.

What are your thoughts on that? Share your predictions below and let us know what adjustments you would suggest for the starting lineup.