Morning all.
Well who’d have thought that on his return to Brighton, Graham Potter and his Chelsea team would get spanked 4-1. If that was a shock, how about Leeds beating Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield? Totts went 2-0 down before a second half revival saw them come back to win 3-2. Top four chasers Newcastle Utd, thumped Aston Villa 4-0.
No northern referee at The Emirates Stadium today, nope, it’s Simon Cooper, born and bred in Swindon. He’s a newbie for Arsenal too so it’ll be interesting to see what he’s like. Just fair I hope, and consistent. Andre Marriner and Darren Cann are in charge of VAR.
The game is a big one and Mikel Arteta needs a big performance, the players themselves need a big performance too. We need a good win to put the last two lacklustre performances behind us.
The players have had 60 hours to rest their weary bodies which is more than a tennis player gets after a five set battle in a big tournament. Or a cricketer who has batted for two days before fielding the next. Ok, there’s not the physical side of football for them to contend with but two games a week should be manageable for top athletes in peak physical condition. Am I being harsh? Probably, because footballers don’t get the days off many other sportspeople get.
He’s back.. Photo from Arsenal.com
In two weeks time, players will get a rest, some longer than others as their respective countries get knocked out of the World Cup. I doubt Ghana, Switzerland, England, Japan or Portugal will go to the end and Norway didn’t even qualify, nor did Scotland, Ukraine or Egypt. Forgive me if I’ve missed a country which an Arsenal player will be representing.
The three Premier League fixtures are important ones in my opinion because the only way Arsenal can improve on last season’s domestic campaign is to finish 4th or above. Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Wolves matter most in my opinion. Starting with Forest today.
Arsenal have been good at home this season, very good. We’ve started fast and the fans have been buzzing. More of that today and I’m convinced we’ll win again as we have every game at The Emirates so far this campaign. Forest won’t make it easy for us, of course they won’t and who can forget what happened last season when the two clubs met, but that was then, this is now and only now matters.
100% commitment for 95 minutes and then the Arsenal players can put their feet up, get back into their cotton wool suits and have a breather. Tongue in cheek of course.
He’s back too.. Photo from Arsenal.com
Forest manager Steve Cooper had a busy summer. 22 players signed and 18 out. Incredible really. But with so many changes, it was always likely that his squad would need time to get to know each other, their new managers style of football and the Premier League. After a dismal couple of months, they beat Liverpool last weekend which was a bit of a shock to say the least, especially as it was just their second win of this campaign. No disrespect meant but Liverpool weren’t particularly good.
Injuries:
Lewis O’Brien and Jack Colback are a doubt, but Moussa Niakhate, Omar Richards and Harry Toffolo ruled out.
For Arsenal, I’d imagine Mo Elneny will be on the bench at best, hopefully with a chance of getting a few minutes before Thursday. Oleksandr Zinchenko and ESR are ruled out.
If the last few fixtures are anything to go by, Forest are likely to sit back, defend deep and hit us on the break. Or at least try to. Surely we’ll be wise to that by now..
See you in the comments.
Not much faith in England then?Strange.
None whatsoever Potter.
Good morning Rico.
Forecast for The Emirates, 16c, light wind and 57% chance of rain. Match forecast, three nil to the good guys, baring accidents that is. 😕
Is there anyway to watch the game?
That was positive Pete not Potter, Rico.
Morning Cicero
Not that I know of, I’m sure a stream will be around somewhere though.
Apparently both Gabriel and Marquinos are out due to injury and sickness respectively.
Bizarre as both were training yesterday.
Live commentary on Radio 5 from 2.00pm. Not the same but better than nothing……….we hope!
Afternoon Rico and all.
Hoping to stay awake as match doesn’t start until 1 am in oz, a win today and we keep the pressure on the rest of the pack
Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Partey, Odegaard, Xhaka, Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
Subs. 3Tierney
14Nketiah
16Holding
17Cédric Soares
21Fábio Vieira
23Sambi Lokonga
24Nelson
27Marquinhos
31Hein
That starting eleven is, arguably, our best. Certainly in the enforced absence of Zinchenko.
nearly time for the big test. He’s picked his best team ,now it’s down to them.
Great goal. By Martinelli set by Saka, all the players stood as one and held up a n Arsenal shirt with Mari name and number on the back
Saka needed to come off he had trouble running and limping when he kicked the ball with his left foot. I’m guessing he will miss one week
There player very lucky to only receive a yellow could easily have been a red,
Their players kicking ours players in the ankle a lot
Disappointing Arsenal but no protection from some cynical fouls.
I hope Mikel gets into them at half time.
Chuffed to bits for Nelson….
Looks like he did Adam..
Afternoon Rico and the House
At long last my boy is showing just what he can do
Yes 2 goals in 2 minutes Xhaka great run for our second goal and good team effort for the 3rd
Pleased for him Rick , the talent has always been there , half an hour for the match ball
Looks like he did😀
Lovely long shot by Party now 4 nil
Afternoon rico, all. What a strike by Partey. Made by Nelson who I’m so pleased for. Reiss looked so good in a pre-season tournament, was it four years ago? But it never happened for him.
Afternoon Rick, Andrew.
All it takes sometimes is an injury to open the door for another…
Ease up Arsenal, I predicted 3 – 0 not a cricket score. 😉
🤣
5 nil hopefully more to come
Jesus Man of the Match, so far. The way he draws defenders and lays off the ball is an art. Special Players.
5 – 0 now. 85 minutes I think three points are in the bag. 👍
Second half. Different team.
Good for our goal difference…
Seems a long while ago this year when we lost to Forest, much more to the team now!
We deserved that win, helped our goal difference, an excellent team performance. Good night all
Good night, Geoff.
Top of the league again, time to open a bottle of celebratory red, I’ll let it breath for a minute or two.
Night Geoff.
🙂 An afternoon well spent!
Great win good listen on Radio ‘5’ live should’ve known the clue was in the station’s name. Good on ‘em!
Looking forward to watching MOTD later. Our game may even be on first!
Hope Saka recovers quickly. Despite a game leg he still managed to make the first goal. Still Reiss Nelson more than played his part with two goals and an assist! It was worth the wait, I think😊
Me too Wavy, listening is better than nothing.
Looking forward to the highlights.
Rico and Wavy, I find it interesting that most UK residents complain about not seeing/ watching EPL games. When I am in the USA you get about 5 games on the weekends/ Mondays on NBC and about 3 Bundesliga games on Fox. In the Caribbean ESPN carries most of the EPL games. When in Africa, it’s ridiculous, DSTV had EPL, LA Liga, Belgium, Dutch, South Africa DSTV League and others. It’s mind boggling to me that EPL is difficult/ expensive to get in the UK; it as though not being able to watch NFL in the USA, people will go bunkers.
Obi, I believe there’s a fear that fans will stop going to matches if the games were on TV in the UK but I don’t think they would. Watching on television is nothing like being part of it on the day.
New post up now