Morning guys.
Davide Ancelotti, son of the Italian Carlo, brings his Lille team to The Emirates tonight for round two of the Champions League fixtures. 16 clubs won their opening fixture including Arsenal, but not Lille as they were beaten 3-2 at home by Real Betis.
For anyone interested in Ancelotti jnr’s journey to Lille – he spent time with AC Milan’s academy but his only taste of professional football came on loan at fourth-tier Borgomanero in 2008/09. Hanging up his boots aged 22, he opted to carve out a coaching career. Under his father, he began as a fitness coach at Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid before joining Bayern Munich as his dad’s assistant in 2016, a role he would reprise at Napoli, Everton, Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team. He stepped out on his own during a season at Botafogo in 2025, before taking the Lille job. Yep, Arsenal.com provided that information.
Talk about it’s not what you know but who eh..
Anyway, domestically, Lille have started this season quite well, they’ve lost just one fixture in six which came against Nice and drew 2-2 with PSG. Monaco are the current French League leaders. Without sounding harsh, the Ligue 1 is hardly a league with the kind of strength and depth in the Premier League.
Still, it’s always best to respect the opposition whatever league they play in.
I’ve no idea what to expect from Lille but Arsenal’s Adrian Clarke does, writing in the official matchday programme:
Since joining Lille, Ancelotti has deployed a 4-2-3-1 in every game. He is not interested in lengthy spells of possession and encourages his side to counter-attack quickly, while off the ball Lille are happy to revert from 4-2-3-1 to 4-5-1 to congest those central lanes. They very rarely press with intensity, registering the fewest press sequences in Ligue 1 so far this term. Most comfortable sitting deep and defending their own box, no French top-flight outfit has made more clearances in 2026/27.
Turkey international Berke Ozer is an excellent goalkeeper, but he has been busy this season. Facing 80 shots in just five league matches, statistically Lille have conceded 5.14 fewer times than their xG against tally suggests, while the Betis game saw the Spanish outfit attempt 20 shots away from home. They are also tall and strong in the air. Centre-back Alexsandro scored with a towering header from an outswinging corner against Betis, while we all know how much of a threat Giroud carries. But defending set plays can be an issue, as they conceded twice from five set-piece shots in that MD1 loss, while there are only a handful of Ligue 1 clubs who have faced more shots from dead-ball situations.
We know how good any team Mikel Arteta fields these days can be and it would be ideal if we could get through tonight’s match without too much fuss and certainly no more injuries.
Talking of which, Mikel Arteta touched on the post match injuries to Piero Hincapie and Martin Zubimendi during his press conference yesterday:
We had a training session planned for the players who didn’t have enough minutes, to get everybody recovering on Sunday and get everyone in the same rhythm. In two very unfortunate actions, we lost two players. Not great. We need to assess them. Today they have further scans to see where they are. They will have that timeframe of how long they will be out for.
I guess we’ll see neither this side of the next international break which is just over three weeks and eight fixtures away. One of the eight fixtures is the League Cup tie against Fleetwood Town which should give Mikel Arteta an opportunity to bring in a few of the younger players.
Tonight sees Gabriel go up against his old club and Giroud potentially going up against one of his old clubs too. The Frenchman has just turned 40 and I never thought I’d say this but couldn’t we do with a young Giroud in our team now? He wasn’t the quickest forward in the game but then the way we play, speed doesn’t always seem to be of the essence.
Enjoy the game guys, let’s hope for another improved performance from Noni Madueke if he starts, defensive solidity with much crisper and decisive passing than we saw in the first half against Leeds Utd. A couple of goals for Viktor Gyokeres would be good too as surely he’s got to start this one.
Catch up later.
Morning Rico, I’d like to see Saka sit this one out and rest his troublesome achilles which apparently is so painful that his boots are adjusted to lessen the pain, he really shouldn’t be playing but he probably plays because he wants to and as with Rice and White they go through the barrier for the sake of the team.
A few more days on the training pitch should see the team play in a far more connected manner, but I do wonder if Arteta may rest a couple of players prior to Forest. A good game for Dowman, Merino, Eze, Gyokeres, Mosquera if fit, to start?
Morning Rico
Thanks for sharing the background around Lille and the lesser known Ancelotti.
I’m not a fan of the new elongated format, especially with two extra games taking us deep into January. Naturally it’s driven by money and the lucrative rewards available just for being involved.
It’s all about being in the top eight for a guaranteed Round of 16 spot, and it would take something of biblical catastrophic proportions for us not to make it.
Squad management is massive after the latest injuries, but this is a game to rest some key players, surely?
A game I’m sure we’ll win, then some rest before we do battle with Forest.
Morning Rico and all,
sounds like we might look for a few corners tonight as they have trouble defending set pieces,
Morning Cicero, who doesn’t against Arsenal? Lol
Good morning Rico,
They like to counter attack do they? Then we need to be extra tight in midfield to cut off the attackers before they can do any damage.
Back later.