Ipswich v Arsenal – two very different agendas.

Morning all.

The women’s match against Lyon was a good one but frustratingly, Arsenal go into the second leg, which is next Sunday, a goal down. However, we created enough chances to know that this semi-final is far from over. I thought the referee was a bit lenient with Lyon’s play acting and it’s disappointing a team with so many talented players in it, feels the need to go to ground so easily.

If Renée Slegers players could have been more ruthless in front of goal eh….

Talking to the media after the game, Renée Slegers said:

We are not happy with the result because, like I said, we did really well finally getting the the equaliser and that was the least we wanted and after that goal we felt like we could potentially score another one. I think as the game turned out, especially in the second half, a draw or a win was what we what we went for. I think Arsenal has done it before against Lyon away and has won with big numbers, so it’s gonna be a pitch, 11 be 11, good grass and we have all the opportunities to to win that game next week.

I like the “good grass” comment, no doubt mentioned because the pitch for the Real Madrid away tie was shocking.

Anyway, next weekends tie should be another cracker, as should today’s other semi-final between Chelsea and Barcelona.

Mikel Arteta sat before the media yesterday for his press conference, during which Thomas Partey’s name cropped up.

Has there has been any progress on Partey’s contract:

Yes, there’s progress with all the players. I’ll leave that to Andrea and the club to decide and to talk about.

Is the intention is to keep him:

The intention is very clear. I’ll leave that to Andrea and the club to take a step forward.

I’d love to see him stay for another season, especially now that his body seems as strong as it’s been for a few years.

Arsenal face Ipswich at 2pm today. Sky Sports are showing this one, so we’ll be able to see just how good Liam Delap is against a strong defence.

I’d imagine we’ll see more rotation today after Wednesday night’s gentle workout in Madrid, especially as we have another fixture on Wednesday night against Crystal Palace. The players then have nearly a week to prepare for the PSG match.

Ipswich are 14 points off being safe with just 6 matches to go so they are fighting for Premier League survival. Sadly for them, I think a return to the Championship is all but sealed. Still, think of the money they will earn should they be promoted again next season.

Honestly, I hope Mikel Arteta’s players put the final nail in Ipswich’s Premier League coffin because we need all three points. Thankfully, Newcastle were thumped 4-1 by Aston Villa yesterday so they remain six points behind us.

Injuries:

Jorginho, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Gabriel are out while Riccardo Calafiori is close to a return, it will not be today.

Ipswich have a number of players missing for this one too. Kalvin Phillips and Jaden Philogene are doubts, Omari Hutchinson is ruled out and first-choice goalkeeper Arijanet Muric, Sam Szmodics, Chiedozie Ogbene and Wes Burns are all expected to miss the rest of the season.

Arsenal’s Adrian Clarke:

It will be interesting to see if Kieran McKenna redeploys the 5-4-1 formation he used at Emirates Stadium. His players sat deep and stayed compact to frustrate us in that contest. Even though we won 1-0, they made it an awkward encounter. He has only switched up systems a handful of times this season, and at Portman Road the Ipswich Town boss almost always uses his favoured 4-2-3-1. So, that is how I expect them to line up, dropping into a 4-5-1 when we have possession.

It is never easy to second guess McKenna’s team selection though. He rotates heavily on a regular basis, so Mikel Arteta we will not know for sure what their approach is going to be until an hour before kick-off. What we do know is that the Tractor Boys are at their most dangerous on the break. Whether it is Liam Delap or George Hurst up front, they have a centre forward that holds the ball up well, and both men are excellent at carrying it up field at pace. Former Gunner Omari Hutchison is also a terrific dribbler.

Ipswich have had three more shots than us from fast breaks this season, scoring six goals. Only six top-flight teams – including Mikel Arteta’s men – have scored more times from counters. The Suffolk side may be on the brink of relegation, but their goal threat is always strong. Scoring in nine of their last 10 Premier League matches, we cannot take their attacking qualities lightly.

Ipswich’s struggles have come at the back, and when we met them in December, we caused them major problems when dribbling with the ball at speed, or when playing in runners from deep. Hopefully we can hurt them in a similar manner again.  Keeping just two clean sheets in 32 games there is a fragility in defence, and a psychological issue around holding onto leads. Often fast starters, McKenna’s men have opened the scoring 15 times, but they have converted just four of those leads into victories. Towards the end of matches they have had a habit of losing their shape, and leaking late goals.

We’ve drawn too many matches this season, we all know that but if we’re to finish runners up again we probably need to win at least three of our remaining six fixtures and this really should be one of them. I know Mikel Arteta said all the right things during his press conference about how tough today’s opponents will be etc etc but this is a team who’ve won just four matches all season. A team who are without as many players as us.

Catch up in the comments.