Morning all.
Must be great being Pep Guardiola at Man City. Injuries, no problem, just go and buy more players. Imagine if it was any other club with 115 charges hanging over them, many I believe are to do with finances, they’d have been dealt with by now and no doubt received a deduction of points. Yet City, well, they can throw more money around like it’s going out of fashion. Ironic really though as it was just months ago when Guardiola said:
”As a manager I cannot train 24 players and every time I select I have to have four, five, six stay in Manchester at home because they cannot play. This is not going to happen. I said to the club, I don’t want that.”
Am I imagining it or has it really been a while since Arsenal played an away game in the clubs second kit? Well, apparently the boys will be wearing it tonight at The City Ground as we take on Sean Dyche’s Nottingham Forest. Forest are currently flirting with the relegation places albeit with a seven point gap between themselves and eighteenth place West Ham.
The good news is that we have no additional injuries following the 3-2 defeat of Chelsea in midweek.
Could any of our injured return?
It might be, so I need to meet now with the medical staff. We have a training session now to see if somebody is available for the weekend.
On who they might be:
I can’t tell you.
Oh he’s such a tease isn’t he…
Whilst we don’t have any additional injuries, there must be a few tired legs within the squad so we might see one or two changes from the side which started against Chelsea, especially as we go to Milan on Tuesday to play Inter.
Forest’s last win in front of their home fans came just over a month ago when they defeated Totts 3-0. Not sure if Forest were brilliant or their opponents were dreadful. It’s hard to believe that this time last year, Forest were in the top four and looking good. Nuno Espirito Santos was performing miracles really yet just three games into the season and with a reported hostile relationship with the board, not apparently helped by the addition of Edu, He was sacked. Ange Postecoglou replaced him but he didn’t last long either. Eight games to be precise with not a victory to be seen. Next for Forest was Sean Dyche who after a good start, has seen his side lose to Fulham, Man City, Everton and Aston Villa so they will want to break that run. Even better for them would be breaking it against the current league leaders in front of their own fans.
As always, here is Adrian Clarke’s lowdown on this evening’s opposition:
Dyche will line his side up in a 4-2-3-1 that is built to be compact without the ball. They will defend deep and look to break at speed. Having had 34% of possession at home to Manchester City, it is virtually guaranteed they will let us dictate the game with a heavy share of the ball. Showing good movement and imagination will be important to break them down, but if Forest do sit tight, we might win plenty of corners. Conceding 11 set-piece goals this season, Forest are shaky at defending them.
They are strong down the wings. Ola Aina and Neco Williams are a terrific pair of attacking full-backs, and along with Omari Hutchison and Callum Hudson-Odoi in front of them, that group deliver plenty of quality balls into the box. Ranking third for the highest number of successful open play crosses, we must defend wide areas with real focus and determination.
Elliot Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White are the key individuals. Anderson’s ball-winning qualities are tremendous, and he has an eye for an incisive pass too. Star man Gibbs-White is clever at finding space in the pockets, and his late runs into the box also need to be tracked. His timing is superb when it comes to meeting balls which are flashed across the danger zone.
Goalscoring has certainly been an issue for Nottingham Forest this season. Scoring just 21 times, they have struggled to convert enough opportunities in the absence of Wood. Only Wolves have a lower success rate with shots on goal.
I don’t think it takes a genius to work out what message Dyche will send to his players. Be strong, physical and defensively compact. Try to not let us settle or find any kind of rhythm in our game and when they can, break hard and fast. As Clarke said, they have a number of players who can do that. But Clarke points out the home teams frailties which are basically defending set pieces and scoring goals.
Should be an easy 95 minutes for Arsenal then? No, of course it won’t be. The Arsenal players need to turn up, take control of the game and be clinical in front of goal. If Forest’s game against City is anything to go by, we are likely to have the majority of possession but it’s what we do with that possession which will count.
Catch up in the comments.
Good morning Rico.
I hate to say it but this evening’s game is a must win. But then aren’t they all.
Personally I have no difficulty in naming my starting eleven, Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Rice, Odegaard, Zubimendi, Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli.
Subject to the state of the game, some of the above could be substituted early to give them a bit of a rest.
Should we be awarded a penalty, don’t let Madueke take it.
Michael Oliver is the man in the middle, he must not be given the opportunity to flash his red card.
Good morning Cicero.
I’d be tempted to start the same eleven as midweek to and then make changes for the Inter game.
Gyokeres imo should take our spot kicks if he’s on the pitch and totally agree re Oliver. If Utd win at lunchtime, I’m sure he’ll do all he can to stop us from winning later..
Afternoon Rico and all,
Some interesting matches this weekend, and fingers crossed united do us a favor by beating city.
I agree with you Rico that Gyokeres looks very confident when he takes spot kick, none of this start – start run on the spot crap, just take quick and kick the ball as hard as you can, and don’t give their keeper a chance to think.
When did Saka last miss a penalty or have one saved? Geoff.