Morning all.
Leicester City v Arsenal. A six pointer. Ok, I jest but if we can muster up a win, we’ll be three points closer to the top six and a Europa League finish.
Arsenal have Rob Holding out for this one but that’s all. Leicester City however have a lot of players out through injury. Maddison, Morgan, Justin, Perez, Fofana and Praet.
Having been knocked out of Europa on Thursday evening, Brendan Rogers will be after a response from his players. I hope his players are still feeling the after effects of a defeat and 95 minutes of constant running. Our opponents are settled in third place. Probably too far behind Man City to challenge for the title but unless they have an absolute meltdown, European football for next season is pretty much secured.
Arsenal of course are in a very different position. We need a miracle to secure a top four spot, a slightly less miracle to secure a top six finish.
There’s no denying that Leicester City have a lot of quality and speed in their team. Everyone knows what Jamie Vardy is about but all I’ll say is don’t get too close to him in the box as there’s only one place he’ll go if any of our players do, and that’s to ground. Hopefully, Mikel Arteta has done his homework on the rest of the team and how they play at home.
But it’s up to Arsenal to come out of the blocks quickly. Take our game, whatever that is, to Leicester and put them on the back foot. Either that or do what they did to us at The Emirates. Boring as it was, yet effective as they were the ones boasting about the three points on the table, not Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta has already said Bukayo Saka is knackered and he needs a rest but a player of his importance to the team is hard to rest. I think it says more about the lack of depth in quality at Arsenal than anything else because not one player can do what our 19 year old does. Or if they can, Arsenal fans are yet to see it. Maybe rest him after today and with it, spare him from a bit of a kicking against Burnley. We need Saka for Olympiacos and the Toots. Does Arteta need Odegaard and ESR on the pitch at the same time? Not today in my opinion, not any day as far as I’m concerned. One or the other in the ‘number 10’ position, not shunt ESR to the left where he has a lesser impact on the game.
Arsenal have had a tough couple of weeks after jet setting around Europe to accommodate the Covid restrictions, the FA moving this fixture to noon is simply ridiculous. I guess they thought it would favour the home team which it does because Leicester’s Thursday fixture was at the King Power Stadium. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few changes today. Mari, Cedric, Lacazette, Pepe, Nketiah, Willian, Martinelli and Elneny should all be fresh legged and hopefully Partey will be 100% fit too.
See you in the comments.
Leno
Cédric Soares
David Luiz
Pablo Marí
Tierney
Elneny
Xhaka
Pepe
Smith Rowe
Willian
Lacazette (c)
Substitutes
M. Ryan
Bellerin
Holding
Ceballos
Partey
Odegaard
B. Saka
Martinelli
Aubameyang
Morning all. Match day!
Having seen the Leicester line up too, if I were a betting man I’d not be placing many shekels on the Arsenal.
In answer to yesterday’s blog, I’d say, despite all their injuries etc the City side looks considerably stronger than Mikel’s team of hopefuls. Sadly. I think he’s putting all his hopes in one Europa Leaguue basket for which the EPL places are to be sacrificed. Today is a case in point, either that or he doesn’t have much hope even with all his best players that we’d have a chance of winning.
Hope I’m wrong and the selected side produces a miracle win, but I can’t see it.
Doom, doom were all doomed!
I was going to say that I was worried about todays game…..but I’m not really fussed. Of course I hope we win but looking at the line up and some of the combinations I see a difficult game ahead.
I also recognise that we need to rotate, but we don’t have a strong enough squad to do it successfully.
All in all we need to sell some and buy some, and until then when we put out line ups like this we open ourselves to dodgy performances.
I just feel like we’re already in a holding pattern until summer.
Morning Rico and the House
I think its right to give him a rest
At the moment he is one tackle away from a bad injury
Morning Rick, all.
I totally understand the rotation. It’s not ideal, of course it’s not but if nothing else, it’ll highlight the weakness of our squad overall.
I reckon we’ll win… 😆
Willian aside, I can’t see much wrong with the line up.
3-1 to the good guys 🙂
Scott, can you send me a few, no, a lot of your ‘happy pills’ please.😎
Really is a silly oclock kick off , Are Mari and Luiz the partnesrhip fpr Vardy’s pace ? but do we have an alternative ? Soares is no slouch but he tends to switch off occasionally and that’s Vardy’s game.
Elneny and Xhaka as the engine room with Willian and that engine is firing on three before we start .ESR/ Pepe wide of Lacazette , as Hobart says It’s the squad that is not strong enough to allow such rotation.
I wouldn’t think that the Leicester players or Rodgers will be too concerned by this Arsenal starting XI, Pepe and Willian have all the potential to leave us playing with 9 men.
Soares is a good pick, Mari an interesting pick and maybe we’ll sit deep and let Leicester come onto us, keep it tight then bring on Saka, Aubameyang and Partey for the last 20 minutes.
Of course by the 70th minute we could be 3 goals down, Leicester aren’t to be sniffed at and they’re more focused on the EPL and FACup anyway.
I can’t say that I’m optimistic about a positive result but I would take a draw I feel you offered it to me now…
Wavy, you won’t need them.
The result will supply you joy hahahaha
Morning rico, all. I’d give Willian 30 more minutes and if there is no big improvement, replace him with Martinelli and banish him to the Reiss House. In fact, swap them bringing Nelson back.
Dreadful.
Morning Andrew.
This is going to be a long afternoon….
Couldn’t believe what I saw there. Wide open, invite to come and score. Hopeless Mari, then thought Leno leaving so much space past him, so easy to score, but he shouldn’t have been exposed. Then what the hell was Leno doing gifting Vardy?
Oh pen? No.
When will one of these Leicester players get booked for the fouls on Pepe?
At last!
Brilliant
Better team since pathetic start.
Yes, Luiz!
What a header from Luiz…
Rico.. what a header!!!
Snap 😄
Got away with so many fouls, as usual. We will do one foul soon and get booked.
Incredible Sue. That he scored I mean. 😆
That’s better from Willian, much better
Pen?
Yes I saw Willian run forward, and with the ball!
Deserved, good response.
Excellent penalty
Great pen.
We’ve got better as the half went on I think. Pepe is causing problems and dare I say it but Willian is doing pretty well.
Hope ESR is ok..
We are outplaying them.
Deserved lead and we’ve only really done one thing wrong-backing away from the ball carrier is suicide.
Get up in their face and shut them down!!!
Willian has been fantastic so far.
Onwards and upwards guys!!
I’m okay at the moment thanks Scott. But express delivery is still an option!
Getting away with it so far…….
Wavy, you’ll be right mate!!
Leicester will have to change tactics now and they’ll give us more chances to score.
Stating the obvious, but stop them and we win.
Can you hear me, Mikel 🙂
Starting to relax after Leno nearly cost us a goal, with no Saka to attack the are now going after Pepe, best game I have seen Willian play for us so far let’s hope we can keep going.
Did anyone see what happened to ESR
Are we starting to see something of Willian’s quality at last? His pass to Tierney for his goal on Thursday and some good moments today.
Pepe seems to have found his role, take his fullback on and ‘win’ the free kick. Now that the fullback has been booked expect to see the rotational fouling to start, keep an yes on Solancu.
Good afternoon Housers
We are not bad…..better still….we are playing better than them. The stats say it all …..We had two shots on target and scored 2. We have 67% possession. WE have had around 30 attacks and Leicester just 3 attacks (which resulted in 3 shots on target and they scored only one becasue our defender simply backed off.) Luiz scored a great header and Willian got an assist.
What more could we want? Three points and we score 5 more. fingers and everythng (even hairs) crossed.
Calf muscle I think Geoff.
Keep an eye on…..
Wicked, 3-1
Yes, Pepe!
Just needs a Willian free kick now to wrap it up.
Another Willian assist.. 😂
1 – 3, Pepe tap in
Pepe has PeePeed another one in.
another 4 to go….at least one from Willian to gloss it up
Not Luis injured now, he’s been terrific. Never want to hear a bad word again rico 😀
😂 Andrew, that might be pushing it.
Apart from ESR now, I can’t remember a better time for injuries. Just our 3rd ranked goalie I think?
Strongest bench we’ve had in 5 years.
Is Runasson injured?
Willian running forward has got another player booked. Why did he stop doing it after his first couple of games? Like a new signing😀
You hadn’t missed him rico?😂 Knee keeping him out.
Time to give Martinelli a run out?
And Saka did not get to play today. Excellent. I am happy that we did not need him to save us. It will give him a rest mentally and physically…..it will give the players a boost…it will keep him grounded.
I would have given Auba a rest as well and put Martinelli on instead.
Overall I am happy with the performance. Solid from everyone. Except for their goal we were the better team.
7 mins injury time???
Excellent result and after we conceded, excellent performance.
Great win Willian and Pepe both excellent today
I could barely remember how to spell his name Andrew. 😆
The goal which Pepe scored was similar to the Ozil – Auba combination we scored against Leicester when we played them around two seasons ago I think. Except thiw was on the other side. Ozil lifted the ball over the keeper (and Willian did the same) while Auba tapped it in (Pepe the same). Even the buildup was similar.
Is this ourbest performance sinc webeat the chavs?
We should be thankful for Willian opening his heart that he did not want to leave Chelsea…..had he kept it bottled in it would have kept festering inside him…..now that he has released the tension he is free from the shackles his Chelsea days gave him.
I feel he will give us greater impetus till the end of the season.
Well, I didn’t see that result coming!
Excellent performance from the second eleven. Perhaps this team should be given a run out more often.
And, Vardy didn’t score. The jinx is broken😊
I reckon so Rick. Taking into account the opposition and what the squad have been through in the last two weeks.
Didn’t see that coming but refreshing to watch.
3-1 as tipped by yours truly 🙂
Wavy, no need for the pills then???
What a performance.
Vardy must be upset with the referees for not giving him any frees for falling over in the wind
No Scott. You can cancel the order😊
You say 3-1 every time Scott. 😂
Shhhh Rico-I’m looking like a genius atm hahahahaha
Wavy, it was never in doubt 🙂
Devil, you may well be right on the Willian situation.
Let’s hope he offers this type of performance regularly now-all wouldl be forgotten, I reckon.
The headline of this article was spot on!
I thought Pepe was man of the match, he roasted the Leicester full back every time in the first half, the only answer was to foul him. The ref just let it go, eventually giving the guy(cheat) a yellow card.
Luiz was superb, his goal was a beauty. To be fair Mari defended well after that early shocker.
Xhaka also really good. I hope the Smith Rowe injury isn’t serious.
Ha ha Scott.
After ten years Limey, I finally got a prediction correct. Lol
Logic said Arteta had to rest a number of players today after the last ten days of football. It’s just nice that the result went the right way with certain players really stepping up.
Never in doubt, I was always confident and I was right all along about Willian and Pepe… 🤞
Allez Kev. When we conceded I was sort of….here we go again. But was frustrated really as everything was looking great with regards our play, tactical shape and movement. Then Luiz popped up to score and from then on we got the upper hand.
Willian was better than usual but still a long way to go. He upped his game he can be 300% better. He ticked off with Pepe who had one of his best games so far.
I had the freo (in the 2nd half), that had we wanted to, we would have scored more
Devil, I’d be pretty happy if Willian played like he did today for the rest of the season.
He can be better Rico. Trust me on that. Yes he is over 30 but he can increase his output. Yes we would all be happy if he plays like today for the rest of the season but he can be better
A better day than yesterday
following the 3-1 win a4-0 win in the WSl
I think the comlete team moved up a gear
Soares showed how good he can be as a right back
and we have Bellerin replacement.
Should be complete team
The Leicester goal aside, I thought we were pretty much in control for most of the game. It was pleasing to see that at 1 – 3 up we did not fall back to defend on the edge of our own penalty area. Nor did we go all gung ho looking for a fourth goal. In fact with a mix of ball possession, a little judicial time wasting and some swift counter-attacking we comfortably saw out the final minutes of the game.
Street wise? Game management? I like it! 😉
Me too Cicero. But how will the first team perform next time out???
Just wondering.
Today I loved the fact that both Auba and Saka were rested. Next game it will be against Burnley and I would like it if Arteta played the same team again, minus ESR, who needs to be rested. Let’s hope that the groin injury he got is just a slight one and not too serious. He needs to rest…..so I dont think he should play against Burnley. However I would play the same team with Odegaard or Ceballos in his place. I would still play Elneny alongside Xhaka. PArtey I would not begin the game with….would give him the last 30 mins of the game. Because against Olympiakos Arteta needs to play his best 11.
So against Burnley I would go with …… Leno, Soares, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney; Xhaka, Elneny,; Willian, Odegaard,Pepe; Lacazette.
Today Xhaka was very very good. He is very underrated imo. And had a good hold over midfield. Practically he ran the it in a simple but effective manner. He is fast turning into the fulcrum of the side.
The difference which we have seen recently, lies in the fact that finally the players seem to be coming more disciplined. We all know that in AW years the players were given the liberty to play how they seem fit. Which in itself is a good mentality. However for that to be successful you need players of high calibre. With the players we have that is impossible. So Arteta had to find the right balance between discipline and freedom. And that is why for example Soares is a better defender than Bellerin. And why Pepe for example seems better when Soares or Tierney are behind him…..simply because Soares does not bomb forward and runs into spaces which are Pepe’s. Soares realizes that he has to sacrifice certain aspect to compliment Pepe. As Rick pointed out, Soares is a good Bellerin replacement. However we should be looking at another young RB, in a similar shape to KT03, who can share the RB spot gradually with Soares until he takes over completely.
Why do I get the feeling though, that Bellerin will come straight back in?
Maybe Devil but by 300% is rather optimistic in my opinion.
It’s difficult with Cedric Andrew. He’s the better right back at the moment I think but he’s also the cover for Tierney. Thought Cedric was great today
I’m convinced that Cedric is a better defender than Bellerin and is probably equal with him when going forward, he’s also more aware of the need to quickly get back to his defensive position when possession is lost. Bellerin can cover equally as well as Cedric for Tierney, so I see no reason while the Portuguese shouldn’t be e regular starter at right back.
Has Bellerin ever played at left back?
He did so in a game only a few weeks ago ,Rico.
Test
Rico when he was on loan at watford he played a number of games at left back
DG what I like about Soares is that he defends the touchline better.
If you watch Bellerin he tends to defend the edge of the Pen area leaving the wing wide open
In the last 2 games I think Teirney was also doing the same but I put that down
to him not being completely fit.
I gather the Magpies have made Joe Willock a big fav.
He flattened Taore with a shoulder to shoulder charge and they loved it
I’m hearing that Emile Smith Rowe has an issue with his hip/groin area and in acute cases that can mean months out, so that’s a bit of a worry.
Really Cicero, not for a full game surely?
Rick, a long time ago then. I’m not a fan of right footed players at left back, it’s not natural in my opinion.
I think Arteta said it was muscular Kev but if it is his hip, that could pretty much finish his season…
Glen Roeder has died. Bloomin heck, he was only 65….
Good Morning Rico.
Glenn Roeder was loved by many. Was just reading comments on various articles about him. RiP Glenn Roeder.
But I do find it a bit galling that certain things are said after one dies. Why shouldn’t they be told when one is still alive? Glenn is not around to hear them now. One of the comments that was said about him was that he was admired for his character more than he gave himself credit for. And that irked me a bit…..maybe if people showed him appreciation for what he did maybe he would have had a happier life and faced his problems in a better way.
Devil, morning mate.
It’s human nature to speak well of the dead, of course, and you’re right, if it’s the truth, it should be offered up before the end.
Very sad.
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1403913/Arsenal-Mikel-Arteta-Barcelona-Joan-Laporta-la-liga-premier-league-news
Here we go again.
Arteta this time.
Soon it will be Saka, ESR, Pepe etc etc
Devil, Arteta was always going to be noticed imo.
I’ve said for a few years I thought he’d end up a world class manager and nothing I’ve seen has altered my opinion.
I’m glad we’ve got him, and there’s no doubt he loves the club so let’s hope media talks remains just that.
Scott…..I simply hope his path follows that of Ferguson and gives us something we have never seen before.
Morning Devil, Scott and all.
I want Arteta to succeed at Arsenal but there’s a long way to go for him yet imo. If, and imo it’s still a big if, he can get his teams playing as they did yesterday over a sustained period of time, then yes, let’s praise him well.
New post up now
https://highbury-house.com/2021/03/01/arsenal-turn-game-around-in-style/
Devil, I truly believe he loves our club and wants what’s best for it.
If the board continue to back him, and I don’t mean throwing money at him, I mean doing what they’ve already done and trusting in him, he will succeed, and I have no doubt at all he will bring us some brilliant times.
Morning Europans, it’s a dull, miserable day out here in Essex.
Ah, you’ve all gone… 🙂