Match Preview

Tough challenge at Elland Road..

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

The big news released yesterday by Arsenal was that Max Dowman has a pre-contract agreement with the club. Even at 15 years old I still think he’s better than Madueke but of course he’s still growing. Such a shame he’s been out injured as I’m sure he would have played on Tuesday otherwise.

Mikel Arteta on Max: 

It’s a proud moment to see him yesterday signing that deal in front of his family and his loved ones. Big credit to everybody that’s been involved in that journey with him, to bring him all the way to the first team and especially the manner that they’ve done it. Now we have an amazing talent that, day-by-day, I think we need to shape because there’s so much there.

Anyway, I’m sure I’m not the only Arsenal fan thrilled with this news.

The Champions League last-16 fixtures take place in March. The first leg away from home on 10-11th, before we host our opponents at Emirates Stadium on 17-18 March. One of Dortmund v Atalanta or Olympiakos v Bayer Leverkusen will be our next opponent.

So, a bit of a break from European football the players but that doesn’t mean the fixtures don’t keep coming because they do. Saying that, we only have five fixtures to negotiate next month including a League Cup semi-final against Chelsea on Tuesday night.

Today we face an in form Leeds Utd at Elland Road. Leeds have enjoyed a pretty good January far. The month started with a draw at Anfield, followed by a draw against Man Utd, a narrow defeat against Newcastle before beating Fulham. Last Monday, they drew at Everton.

Mike Arteta on if there are any fresh injury worries after Wednesday night: 

No, we didn’t have any surprises there, and hopefully everybody will train well today and be available for tomorrow.

On Timber and Saliba: 

They are OK. Obviously they have been playing a lot of minutes, they’ve been carrying a few niggles and it was a really good opportunity for us to offload them a little bit and refresh them.

In addition to the above two players being available, Havertz is too which is more positive news. I dreaded him suffering a setback after playing on Tuesday. If he doesn’t play tomorrow as Arteta plays it safe with him, maybe he’ll be ready to face his old club on Tuesday.

Arteta also talked about how he hopes the Premier League will change their stance on squad numbers, in particular, outfield players. The Champions League permits 20 outfield players in a squad whereas in the Premier League is 18. It makes so much sense to increase the numbers after all, every club has a squad greater than 18.

Anyway, back to today’s game and what we can expect from Leeds this afternoon:

Arsenal’s Adrian Clarke:

Since making the switch from 4-3-3 to 3-5-2 at half-time away to Manchester City in late November, Leeds have shown remarkable improvement. The back three, with defensive players used as wing-backs, provides a solid base, and their organisation since the reshuffle has been excellent.

Leeds are a tall, strong, and aggressive side who like to use their physicality to disrupt opponents’ flow. Farke’s men rank fourth for duels won, interceptions and tackles, and just five top-flight sides regain possession more often inside the final third.

Leeds have netted 12 times from corners or free-kicks, which is second only to us. This is due to Anton Stach consistently providing great deliveries. He is their Declan Rice figure, creating 20 chances from set plays in 2025/26; a tally which is second only to Bruno Fernandes.

Their star man is Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who has scored nine goals already. He is brilliant in the air, so we must work hard to stop crosses coming into the box, while any long balls aimed in the frontman’s direction will need to be defended properly as his ability to flick the ball on, or to knock it down for supporting runners, is a big asset.

Having read the above, it sounds like we’re about to get kicked to pieces, beaten by Calvert-Lewin on set-pieces, if not him, another player and a long ball which catch us out if we’re not smart. Might as well give up already. I jest of course but it shows we’ll need to be at our best this afternoon.

We have to put the dismal performances against Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Man Utd behind us and get back to playing well. Not giving the officials a decision to make is always important but it’s especially important today because Stuart Attwell is the referee. No regularly appointed official averages more cards per game than Attwell’s 4.8. It gets worse too because Jarred Gillett is operating VAR with Steve Meredith as his assistant.

Having had the luxury of resting many players for our midweek game, Mikel Arteta is likely to bring the big guns back this afternoon. I hope they bring a big performance with them. With City and Villa not playing until tomorrow, let’s put a bit of pressure on them.

Catch up in the comments.

 

 

rico

54 thoughts on “Tough challenge at Elland Road..”

  1. Aussie Geoff says:

    Afternoon Rico and all. I must admit I am not feeling too confident in winning tonight, we will need to be fully turned on with Leeds slowly improving and a card happy ref and VAR I can see them looking out for our players holding the Leeds players jumpers so they can award them a penalty.

  2. Cicero says:

    Yep it’s gonna be a tough old game this afternoon. The home crowd will be up for it as will the cloggers in the Leeds midfielder and defence.

    Not sure what the best tactic will be, a fast start and an early goal, or a possession based style to wear down both players and crowd.

    Either way we need to cut out the silly defensive errors that have plagued us recently.

    Fine pre-match Rico, thank you.

  4. Limey says:

    Morning all,
    I’d expect lots of changes from Wednesday,maybe 10/11 I’d start Gyokeres again,his physical style should suit. To be honest I never want see Jesus start in the league,he should come on as sub,he’s been more effective in Europe. I’m sure we will see Havertz at some stage.
    We’re in the unusual position where most of our players should be more rested than Leeds.
    Today is a bit like trying to defend a Declan Rice corner,everyone knows what’s coming,doesn’t make it any easier to deal with.
    COYG

  5. allezkev says:

    Dirty Leeds, that was the mantra back in the day, seems that they’ve reverted to type.

    Morning Gooners, morning Rico, great news regarding Dowman.

  6. allezkev says:

    I can’t say that I’ve seen a lot of Leeds games on TV, not since we beat them earlier in the season.
    Gyokeres had a good match that day so hopefully he can use the positive memories from that game to have another good match?

    If Leeds are as physical as everyone is suggesting then I wouldn’t play Odegaard as he’d get muscled out of it quite easily. So it’s between Merino and Eze? I’d also use Havertz off of the bench because this sounds like a rumble in the jungle.

  7. rico says:

    Totally agree re Jesus, although I’ve a feeling we might see him start today then bring Havertz and Gokyeres on second half. Hope I’m wrong though..

  10. potter says:

    They have always been a problem under Revie they kicked anything that moved and targeted any player they saw as dangerous . I remember George Eastham being put out of football for about 8 weeks after Bremner knocked him over and Bobby Collins stamped on his ankle as their supporters threw stones and darts at Bob Wilson.
    It was always a game where you didn’t stand in the middle of the North Bank , the sides were safer.

  12. Carmelsson says:

    Good afternoon Rico and all

    A very huge call from Arteta today……Havertz begins behind Gyokeres and Odegaard is on the bench.

    Team…Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabi, Hincapie; Zubimendi, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Trossard, Gyokeres.

    Off to read the post.

  34. andrewh1313 says:

    Hadn’t realised, my son went up to match. Great atmosphere in Arsenal end as expected. Time we spanked someone! So glad our strikers added goals to avoid the ‘…….but only set piece goals’ reporting😆

  40. Carmelsson says:

    Good evening Rico and all you 7-ups who are sitting on a cushion.

    Cicero…..Four goals, clean sheet, three points, just another day at the office. 🔔🔔🔔🔔…….I look forward to your end of match comment as much as I look forward to Kev’s match report.

    I simply love it.

    Gyokeres loves Leeds. 3 goals in 2 games against them. Can we play them every three days?

    I still can’t understand why Madueke was not awarded the goal because the trajectory was taking the ball in the net. It was going in anyway. If I am not mistaken if the shot is going in on target and still gets deflected into the net it is still awarded to the shooter. Maybe MAdueke should change his name to Lampard. Then he would be awarded more goals. He was red hot today.

    Big Gabi was captain today. Finally. I have been wanting to see that for eons. Imo he is the real leader. And I always love a defender, especially a CB, as captain.

  45. Carmelsson says:

    Leeds manager Daniel Farke says Arsenal showed why they are the best team in Europe following the 4-0 demolition of his side today at Elland Road: “First of all, congratulations to Arsenal. It was a deserved win so today I have to say that we have to accept that the better team won this game.
    “Of course, we were also realistic before, we faced today the best side currently in Europe, there are reasons why this team is sitting top of the table in the Premier League and why this team is the best team currently in Europe – eight wins out of eight Champions League games.
    “Of course, you need a perfect day in order to give yourself a chance and also a bit of luck that this side perhaps is not there with their best day and not super effective.
    “But today sadly we didn’t have our very best day and they were on it from the first to the last second and for that they deserved to win this game. We have to accept their quality today, we have to say congratulations, they were better and for that there is not too much to over-interpret into this game.”

  47. Carmelsson says:

    Arteta on the victory:
    Very, very happy obviously. A very impressive performance, a very impressive result and in the context that we’ve done it. When you have the difficulty of the game and the opponent that we’re facing, with their recent form and the style of play that they have at the moment and the energy that the stadium brings, then the fact that after three results that didn’t go our way in the league, we really wanted to show how much we wanted it, and I think we’ve certainly done that today.

    on Saka’s injury:
    In the warm-up, he had a little niggle, he wasn’t comfortable starting the game, so immediately we made a decision to make that change and bring Noni in. And he was ready, because you cannot do that in two minutes. The way he prepared, the way he’s waiting for opportunity, I think it paid off today because he really impacted the team.

    on Madueke and Martinelli stepping up:
    That’s only possible if those players are with the right mindset. We talked before the game that it’s going to be a long game, we’re going to have to navigate through different moments. We’re going to need everybody fulfilling their role that they have on the day, and I think the players executed that incredibly well.

    Madueke on his late selection and impact at Leeds
    on returning to winning ways in the Premier League:
    The mentality is good, and to play with that level of enjoyment about where we are, and then with the conviction to believe in what we do and how good we are, and that we can beat any opponent, and we certainly have done that. But then you have to show the quality as well in this league to do it, and it came out in great ways from different players as well.

    on why he used Havertz in midfield:
    Because of the type of game that I expected, and how aggressive and direct they’ve been recently. I believe that the game was going to allow us more space and the temperature will come down in the second or third part of the game, and that’s what we could have changed again with different qualities in the team.

    on Odegaard’s performance:
    So happy with the way he reacted, but in general the team, and obviously certain individuals. It’s normal – the opinions, the noise is part of that. What we can control is what we can do, how much we want it, and trying to get the best out of yourself and the team in every moment. The rest is not possible, and we’ll have to be judged on that, because there’s nothing else that we can do apart from giving our best.

    on dealing with outside noise:
    It’s very impressive. We talk about that noise, but it was a great noise as well, the fact that we were the first team in the Champions League to win eight in a row. That’s a lot of noise, but a very positive one, but we want to always talk more about the other noise. The other noise is part of that, the expectation is to win every game. We compete against incredible opponents and we know that’s the case, but that has to fuel your energy and desire to win more than anything else, in my opinion.

    on Odegaard contributing from the bench:
    It’s not [about players’ positions being] safe, it’s that the role can change because the game has different needs and we play every three days. The fact that you can contribute and help the team to win from a different angle, I think it’s a great thing to understand. It’s not so easy for certain players, but Martin and the rest have certainly done that today.

    on the defensive stability:
    It’s something that we want. You always have an opponent in front of you that is going to test that and you have to execute the actions and be very, very consistent. You don’t want to concede anything and I’m really impressed because it’s a really tough team to restrict them to that. Between all of us, we’ve done it.

    on Leeds’ quality, and if they’ll stay up:
    I think so. What they’ve done, I think, is very smart. It’s really tough, they are really well organised, they have threats, they have quality. They have a lot of variation in relation to game contexts to play in different ways, and they have an amazing stadium with a beautiful atmosphere of football that brings the level of the rest of the team to a really difficult level to match.

    on the ‘hostile’ atmosphere at Elland Road:
    No, the word I would use is that it was a beautiful football atmosphere. When you talk about the tradition and history of this league, this kind of stadium, this kind of atmosphere and people, that’s what makes it unique. It’s a joy to play football in these kinds of grounds, these atmospheres.

  50. Cicero says:

    I’m not sure about this but I believe 0 – 4 equals the highest score we have achieved away to Leeds since we got the same score in April 2000

  52. Carmelsson says:

    Six goal contributions for Gyokeres in his last six games tells its own story. Four of those have come away from home at tough places like Chelsea, Inter and Leeds. That matters, it shows he is stepping up when the level rises.

    Four goals in seven games now, 11 in total this season. More importantly, Viktor Gyökeres has his first Premier League open play goal since September. That is a big moment, sometimes all a striker needs is one goal to reset everything.

    Do not underestimate what this can do for him. We all saw the impact his goal at Chelsea had on his confidence and overall game. Arsenal need him sharp, confident and trusting his instincts, momentum is starting to build.

Leave your comment.

Discover more from Highbury House

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading