Morning all.
I reckon the manager of Basel must have had one glass too many on Saturday evening whilst watching West Ham play Arsenal. How anyone could suggest Arsenal were outplayed by the Hammers is nearly as crazy as Shearer saying Alexis isn’t a world class player. Sometimes it’s better to just keep quiet rather than say such daft things.
I’ve no idea who will start this match tonight, Arsene Wenger says he’s not sure yet either, although he has hinted that a few of the big guns might be watching on from the bench as he keeps an eye on what’s happening in Paris. I can’t see PSG slipping up against Ludogorets
The only real advantage of finishing first is we play the second leg at home so if it goes into extra time, it’s in front of our own fans but imo, playing the second leg away from home is better because of the away goal rule. The Wayne Bridge one stills irks.
Olivier Giroud is back available, Perez has made the trip to Switzerland too, as have most of the first team squad barring the walking wounded. Basel are missing Manuel Akanji but the one to keep an eye on is Seydou Doumbia who has scored nine goals in his last twelve matches.
- Arsenal have won all five of their previous competitive encounters with Swiss clubs.
- Basel have won their past three Champions League home games against English clubs.
- Basel have lost only two of their past eight Champions League home games, those defeats coming against Real Madrid and PSG.
- Arsenal have not been unbeaten in a Champions League group campaign since 2005-06.
- None of Arsenal’s past 40 away games in the Champions League has ended goalless. Their most recent 0-0 was at Slavia Prague in November 2007.
Going by the above, tonight’s match won’t be easy considering Basel’s record at home but when we played them at home, a 2-0 scoreline flattered the Swiss club. Theo Walcott performed the best he had in years as he nabbed both goals in the first half. Alexis and Ozil were in great form that night too and the three of them together caused the Basel defence all sorts of problems. Arsenal should have romped home by a much bigger score, but a mixture of being wasteful in front of goal and a good performance by goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik, kept it at 2-0.
For Basel it’s about a Europa place tonight and pride of course, for Arsenal, it’s a good time to rest a couple of players if Arsene wants to but considering he’s said he wants to win the game, it’s likely we’ll see a strong team turnout.
After all, he wouldn’t want to add Arsenal to the list of English clubs who have lost to Basel…
No, we’ll leave that for Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd….
New post up now.
It’s odd Ts as I don’t get diverted anywhere, I just wait for for the seconds to go by and then close the page.
Morning Adam, I enjoyed it too. Watched the second half this morning, darn good performance.. Gibbs is clearly trying to keep Monreal out..
Morning Rico and all. I thought we played some lovely front to back football last night. I really enjoyed it.
Rico, I get diverted to gambling site… 🙂
Work might think I have a gambling habit… my Developed Vetting (DV) is up for renewal after Christmas if I get rejected, you will need to work some overtime to pay for me signing on at the job centre. 😉 🙂
Obi- re winning the league, if you recall even before Conte was confirmed as Chelsea’s manager I mentioned he will be the one AW has to beat to win the league…
Jose I am glad is on his final big contract in the big 4 leagues; unless he goes to coach in Portugal or Qatar or even china… lol
Morning Marshall, Ts and all..
Bob, are you getting diverted to that awful site via the popup add?
The jealous ex-pros come pundits will hate but Basel has beaten Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool during their previous trips to England with their most recent encounter coming against the Reds, when they drew 1-1 at Anfield and beat them 1-0 at St-Jakob Park.
We have beaten Basel home and away in the last 3 months…;
Morning Rico, Marshall and all…
The UCL champions league ‘gods’ must have been smiling on us last night…
Arsenal beating the professional EPL club beaters; normally it is us setting the worst type of records.
Who needs Bacca while we have Perez? hahah
Morning all,
Guess starting a strong team paid off. The team and Wenger have done their job. Ozil and Sanchez are surely doing their contract negotiations on the pitch. Nice for Perez to score a hat-trick and Iwobi getting his first in Europe. Am sure that win is a morale booster heading in the next match. 9 goals in tow games…I like December!
Cocker, you are welcome to my cab…
I rent it… ?
Mystery Road…
Aussie film about an abbo cop…
Quite good…
Now I’m eating my share of pie, and am doing so happily 🙂 🙂
Great performance and a pleasure to watch.
Is the advert of a crying Spud fan ?……………….always works for me !.
Just shows what a funny old game it is ……………………….I`d have bet Kev`s taxi that PSG would have murdered Ludo`!
It`s in the lap of the gods…………..if we get through the next CL game it will be justified being top, if we lose, we will say we should have come 2nd !………we`ll know soon enough !……………………anyway, I still dont understand Wenger not subbing 3 players as soon as we went 4-0 up !………….plenty of time to recover before we play The Orcs, well for young fit athlete`s, no excuse about fatigue please Arsene if we dont beat The Orcs !
No BJ it’s all sort of droopy round here! It’s actually doing my head. As soon as HH is summoned up pops the addy. My woodpecker of an index finger is on that X like hungry beaked ex dinosaur! It never gets to rise, majestically or even slowly and certainly. It doesn’t like rapid finger power on it! Try it and see, you may derive pleasure from its almost immediate subsidence!
Enjoy!
First in the group! Who’d have thought it??
If I am eating PIe ,I will have mash and liquor.
Pie and mash for me please..
Top result and excellent performance from the boys..
Up and forward ..
Anybody else getting the advert for erectile disfunction?
Bayern Munich it is then!
So we won the Group.
Those who wish to eat humble pie, line up on the left 🙂 🙂 🙂
Lucas Perez dicuss.
Johnny on the spot for the first two.
Oh gawd, I spoke too soon !
PSG level, that’s more like it.
Night Rico…
Nite rico, the football Gods are playing with all our heads tonite !
Is it 3 subs ?……………….I`d take off Alexis, Ozil and Koz if so !
4-0………………….what time do we use all subs to rest players ?
Let’s hope so Obi….
Night guys, bloody headache….
Rico and KK , and usually I am not that optimistic because I think AW tactics and selection are 75% wrong most of the time. Like tonight why not play Giroud and Perez and rest Sanchez. But City can only beat mid-table and relegation teams, Liverpool is overrated and shaky defensively, and Chelsea is a two man team and a product of scheduling. I really feel good about Arsenal. Then again I did last year too until AW botched it. But this year is different fellas.
Pleased for Perez, and it’ll only help us as his confidence grows…
Poxy BT free stream keeps going back and re-showing from minutes ago !…..then goes back again !…….we could be losing 3-2 for all I know ! hahaha
PGG cockie is that a tea brand 😉
Even a draw in Paris is enough….
Are Arsenal that lucky?
Even if we win the group we’ll get a terrible draw…
Martin Hayes again 2-0 and ……………….PGG losing !!! wtf !!
Good old Purple!
Lady luck is on our side.Terrible mistake by the keeper but hopefully will boost Perz.
Ramsey again not imposing himself.
Psg 1-0 down. We are 2-0 up… 🙂
Sloppy pass from Xhaka…………..lucky it`s offside !
Martin Hayes the scorer !
1-0 to the Arsenal !
Perez reminds me of Martin Hayes!
Really odd eh. This was a chance to rotate a little….
I just hope we are playing in our new CL PUMA padded quilt kit with a 15 tog rating for extra protection !
Not even any youths on the bench incase PSG are thumping the Bulgies and we want to rest players for Stoke………most of the bench are 1st choicers !………………………….Wengers tempting fate ! 🙁
Sanchez starts again… why?
Bridge came across really well Lc, showed not all footballers are not gits…. lol
Team news 🙁
Hope it dont go pear shaped !
Ospina, Gabriel, Holding, Koscielny, Gibbs; Xhaka, Ramsey; Iwobi, Ozil, Lucas; Sanchez
Subs: Cech, Monreal, Mustafi, Elneny, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, Giroud
Aparrantly free to watch !
http://sport.bt.com/football/champions-league/basel-v-arsenal-live-stream-champions-league-football-online-or-watch-on-tv-with-bt-sport-S11364118236518
Thanks Rico
The only reason I was watching …”I`m a celebrity get me out of here!”….was in the hope that Wayne Bridge would get eaten by a Crocodile after getting Rabies of the Rectum from being rogered by a wild frothing at the mouth Dingo or Sir Les Patterson after reading that in blighty his missus Frankie was seeking comfort from John Terry !
Keane gave him what got on more than one occasion too…
Bob John, I seem to remember him coming a cropper when he tried it on with Martin Keown one time , big mistake !
Evening guys…
Obi, I can’t see us going all the way to the title, I really can’t. The chances of Alexis staying fit for a whole season when being expected to play every match, is slim to none and then we’ll struggle imo…
Like Kk though, I’d love to be proved wrong…
Hi all
Just picked up the thread. Its wrong to say that Sir Alan of Shearer got away with elbowing people. He also got away with kicking them in the head (Neil Lennon!). He truly is the OJ Simpson of football.
I wish if I can share your optimism obi..however from the last 10 years and what showing at the moment I find it hard to believe we can go all the way..I will be ecstatic to be proven wrong though.
We are relying heavily on Sanchez at the moment and God forbid anything happens to him or he has his off patch…we are screwed.
I wont count much on ozil to take us to the promised land ..he is a fine player we all know that..but he lacks that fighting spirit and never die attitude to lift up the team especially when the tough gets going. .
On other hand Sanago is a no go ..
TS if Becca is 35/36 then I want whatever he’s on…lol. I will definitely take him thou even at 20m.
That’s of course if AW thinks that he can win the title this year. I been saying it all season that I strongly believe we can, when you look at the holes all of the current top 4 teams have there is no reason not to, especially if you add Becca with Welbeck coming back , Giroud scoring and Perez settling. Midfield is solid, even thou Santi is missed and back 5 is just as good as any EPL team.
kev- have you seen Aneke is back in uk with MK Dons?
Morning Kev, I recon Akpom will go out on loan for the second half of the season which might be why AW would go for a loan for Bacca, that’s if that’s true of course… Really hope he’s given a chance though before letting him go. He looks like he could be a good striker one day..
Morning Rico, good post…
Like you, I think that most of here are more focused on taking 6 points from Stoke and Everton, Man City is going to be very interesting, a classic 6 pointer…
Mr Adam also gets admiring glances after a visit to George Trumper to have his curly perm touched up…
Yes Ginge, it’s anazinv what back-combing can do for your barnet…
I got the idea from Lee… ?
Morning All, I don’t know anything about this Bacca/Baccu/Boogie geezer, but I’d really like to see Akpom given a chance before we spend zillions on another wonderboy, especially if he’s nearly 40 years old…
Lol Scott, Kev apparently has the same hairdo… 🙂
Scott- I have been working as usual…
I wish I could have one of Jose’s accounts in the Virgin Islands.. or he could make me one of his imaginary employees 😉
I was away in the middle east for a couple of days during the international break; and then got a last minute ticket to see the boys at Old Trafford…; I caught a nasty cough I guess waiting so long at train station to get back home…
Any news on Jose’s tax avoidance investigation?
Jose Mourinho’s tax evasion allegations Q&A: ‘Football Leaks’ claim lawyers invented expenses to lower his tax bill… so will he face prosecution?
Ginge, if we ever sign a player with that hairdo, I’ll give the game away.
Is it discriminatory for the bin-dippers to mention our name in in Firminos’ contract. Firmino not only has an £82 million release clause in his contract, but only “if the interested club is not Arsenal”.
Clubs must really have an aversion to us…
Morning Wavy, I couldn’t really care what happens tonight really, as long as we don’t lose and that’s only because of the confidence level and momentum… Regardless of who we draw next round, it’ll be very tough…
Shearer was and still is an a**e!
Have, not Harvey!!
These IPads have a mind of their own, the bastards!
G’ay Ginge.
How have you been and more importantly, WHERE Harvey you been 🙂
Wavy- good point re’ finishing 2nd; shame only 2 teams have gone beyond the last 16 after finishing 2nd in their group in the last 4 years; only 28% of teams who finished 2nd in their respective groups since 2003 i.e the current UCL format have progressed past the last 16
Morning Rico and all. The CL draw is fairly unimportant in the run of things but, if a team finishes first in its group it usually means that side is the best in their group, if a team finishes second it means they’re not. A team finishing second usually means that they have lost or drawn to a better side in the group. Whether that means Real or Bayern are on the same level as us, we must be their equals and by order of precedence those teams finishing first are better. If we finish second, as seems most likely we will, inevitably we will be pitched against a side who are considered better than us, making us the underdogs. However, what will be, will be! It doesn’t really matter who we get in the knock out round, we will, almost certainly be knocked out! We always are!
I ain’t losing no sleep over what happens tonight or who we are drawn against. We ain’t going to win this competition anyway!
Cold and foggy here.
Hi Adam- you know if an ex-England player qualifies to be on m.o.t.d and can go on holiday with his family to one of the places all footballers frequent plus have their shirtless torso in the sun or the daily mail they can say whatever they want… 🙂
Shearer was too clean to ever elbow anyone as well…; it was always accidental and his eyes were always following the flight of the ball.; according to his pals on tv at least… 🙂
Morning Scott. howdy?
Shearer proudly wears his top premier goalscorer badge on his chest. I just wonder how many of those were penalties , to me he always seemed to be taking them.
Who’s Shearer 🙂
Morning all.
Morning Adam. I like that…
Morning Rico and all.
Has anybody thought to ask Shearer if he was world class during his career of elbowing opponents in the head?
Thanks Ts, I thought you were being serious about his age…
Bacca could take Sanogo’s place in the squad.. 😉
Succinct post…Good morning again all..
Rico, from previous page, He will definitely get work permit as he has represented his Colombia more than enough times; I am however uncertain of the number of non-EU places we have free… I believe 2-ish.
Re- his age I was just jesting…; I think 3 or 4 years ago when I was looking into Biliga when we were being linked to him, comments one Belgium blog (according to google translation at least) inferred Carlos was older than his age; the reason why no top European team wanted him and so he signed for Club Brugge.