Morning all.
I checked out our fixture schedule for January and it’s hectic..
1st – Brentford (A)
4th – Brighton (A)
7th/8th – Newcastle (H) League Cup (TBC)
12th – Man Utd (H) FA Cup
15th – Totts (H)
18th – Aston Villa (H)
22nd – Dinamo Zagreb (H)
25th – Wolves (A)
28th – Girona (A)
That’s a game every three days, bonkers really but I guess that’s why football clubs have a squad of 25. Will Mikel Arteta continue with rotating his players when a place in the League Cup final is on offer? Will he risk getting knocked out of the FA Cup in the first round? I’m pretty sure he won’t, just as there’s little chance of him risking a place in the Champions League knockout stage. I think it’s fair to suggest we can expect to see rotation but perhaps not big numbers in any one game.
Anyway, before we worry about January, we have two December fixtures left to play. Crystal Palace today and then Ipswich at The Emirates on the 27th.
Unlike Wednesday’s fixture against Crystal Palace, today’s league fixture is at Selhurst Park. Apart from changes in personnel, certainly for Arsenal, I think the game will play out in a similar fashion to the midweek cup fixture. Hopefully the end result will be the same though with all three points going to the away side.
Mikel Arteta confirmed yesterday that Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori are fit to play and Oleksandr Zinchenko could be in the squad. There’s no return yet for Ben White or Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Crystal Palace will be without Eberechi Eze, who injured his hip in midweek while Matheus Franca and Adam Wharton are ruled out too. Poor old Daniel Munoz, who was banned for the cup game, is banned for this one too having accumulated five yellow cards in the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta:
Obviously, we played recently and analysed them, so we don’t have to do that too much, I’m sure that both teams will adjust a few things and probably change some personnel as well. Apart from that, the difficulty of the game remains the same – we know what it’s like to go to Selhurst Park and we have prepared for that.
Palace’s last home game was against Manchester City which ended 2-2. Palace went ahead twice but salvaged a draw halfway through the second half. As expected, City enjoyed lots of possession as I think Mikel Arteta’s team will today but we just have to better them at both ends of the pitch. City and Palace I mean.
If Riccardo Calafiori is 100%, I’d imagine he’ll start at left back meaning Jurrien Timber will slot into right back. Our two big strong centrals should be back together again giving us a really strong back five. Even if Myles Lewis-Skelly starts, we’re still very strong at the back. Options in midfield are strong too with Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, Mikel Merino and Jorginho all available. Thankfully, there should be no reason to see Thomas Partey at right back.
The conundrum for Mikel Arteta is who as well as Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, plays in attack. Does he take a chance on Gabriel Jesus after his midweek burst of form, or does he go back to Kai Havertz? I’m pretty sure Gabriel Martinelli will start ahead of Leandro Trossard.
Whoever plays, just get the three points and move on..
Catch up in the comments…
It’s the old chestnut of ” take every game as they come “. You can’t plan too far ahead with too many variables re injuries , suspensions that can come at any time. You just have to try to do enough to win them all and see where you are when February comes and start all over again with a mix of 4 league matches with 2 Champions league, 1 Carabao cup and 1 F.A cup should we qualify.
It doesn’t get any easier if you want to win the lot.
I agree to a degree but surely knowing January is really tough, rotation comes into play now. One change here and there could make a difference to our injury list.
Good morning by the way. 😂
Good morning Rico, I read your headline and immediately thought you had the low down on a couple of our squad members heading for the door. 😉
My very busy social life prevents me watching this evening’s game live, a pre Christmas meal with the immediate family as most will be heading off to Germany tomorrow.
I expect to start watching the recording around 8.30. I’ll avoid the public bar as that’s the only room in the pub with a television.
I’m not sure who our left back will be, the three in the mix, Lewis-Skerry, Calafiori and Zinchenko are all possible but whoever starts will almost certainly not finish the game.
I’m hoping for, rather than, expecting three points.
Morning Cicero, I aim to confuse. 😂
I did see we’re supposedly in talks to sign a winger though… lol
Aston Villa beating Man City 1-0 and it could be more. City having plenty of aimless possession,not looking remotely like scoring.
It will have to be game by game.
There is no point in regretting injuries, suspensions, a badly disallowed goal or a poorly appointed penalty. Reality is what it is.
What matters is today’s game. Playing three days later with the same team doesn’t sound very good to me. Gives me the idea of ”revenge”. In whatever sense it may be.
Sounds a bit like us last weekend….
After today’s game we have a rare 6 days off.
It’s got to be one game at a time but we can’t afford to drop more points.
Agreed, hopefully we can get a run together and put pressure on Liverpool and Chelsea..
Afternoon Rico and all.
I think Arteta’s selection will come down to what tropthies he will prioritize over the others.
The ref is looking after Grealish as they always do.
Villa is full of health!
Sad to hear about George Eastham passing away,played for Arsenal and other clubs,part of the England squad in 1966. RIP
Another loss to Man c with Villa 2 – City 1
R I P George Eastham, the man who changed the game as far as clubs being able to retain players even after their contracts had expired. He also fought against maximum wage rules. I loved watching him play he could drift past tackles that would have broken a leg had it connected.
Good post Rico
That’s one hell of a program of fixtures but everyone else is in the same boat, Newcastle, Man Utd, Tottenham, Villa all have a congested January, as for rotation you can rotate during a match, if the circumstances allow, with 5 subs.
Afternoon Geoff.
Thanks Kev. Good point, we’re all in the same boat, certainly those left in League Cup and Europe although Chelsea and perhaps Newcastle, have deeper squads than us. Plus they have a striker or two 😜😜
Don’t worry about strikers Rico, we have Jesus; Gott mit uns
Haha Kev.
Broken a leg ? I remember when Bremner and Collins did just that to him at Highbury . Dirty Leeds .
R.I.P . George
Raya, Timber, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Partey, Odegaard, Havertz, Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.
MLS again, he must be impressing Arteta. No Saliba? ☹️
Or is he the one missing from the 11? 🤣
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Partey, Odegaard, Havertz, Saka, Martinelli, Jesus.
Subs: Neto, Tierney, Kiwior, Calafiori, Jorginho, Rice, Merino, Nwaneri, Trossard.
and Saliba…
Strange how at home we started with two defence minded midfielders yet away, we’re starting with one. 🧐
1-0 up. Jesus strikes again
Palace are getting through us a bit too easily imo.
Crazy booking for Timber to get.
Two and an assist for J! But lovely cross from the right from right-footed Martinelli. Why oh why when things aren’t working, do left footed Saka and right footed Martinelli try switching to mix things up? It been suggested here before and seems so obvious but not to Arteta except when enforced.
Two up before half time and still doesn’t seem safe, way our centre backs are playing. And if we go 10 men because all our right backs take ages on throw ins it would be criminal
Agreed, Martinelli looks more at ease on the right and certainly more dangerous.
Our defence and keeper are all over the place. Lewis-Skelly looked more composed than the others.
Andrew, they could quite easily be a 2024/25 version of Freddie and Bobby P if they were given the freedom. Different of course but as effective imo.
Easy for me to be critical I know but I think Raya is weaker when a shot is played across his body from the left. Wednesday and tonight they’ve scored from there.
It’s Christmas time so it’s appropriate that we celebrate Jesus.
5 goals in two games is no mean feat
It’s like having a new player 😂
A new signing you mean
Tried amending soon as I’d sent but you can’t!
He couldn’t come into form at a better time imo.
how do we set up if Saka is out long term ? Maybe play Martinelli. on the right and because he is more likely to centre the ball play Havertz in the centre and Jesus left so that they can both attack the crosses. Also I would play Rice and Partey behind them with either Merino or Odegaard . Today there was too much space for Palace through the middle early on but after Saka went off we took control .
Myles Lewis Skelly, come on down, you’ll do for me, he’s so mature for an 18 year old, did some great work progressing the ball, I’d love to see him just in midfield? Saka started his senior career as a left-back so who knows where Myles will end up?
Can’t underestimate how well Palace played, they really gave us a game, but the quality of our finishing just took the game away from them and allowed us to control the flow.
A year ago, Harvaetz was questioned about not scoring. Around this time he started scoring; Will the same thing happen as with Jesus?
In any case, Arsenal play better and are more compact in an “inverted triangle” in midfield than in a conventional triangle arrangement.
Three points, Saka will be out for a few weeks…
Five one away from home is an excellent result at any time, going into Christmas is even better.
The only concern is for Saka, that looked like a hamstring injury to me and it must be serious because he didn’t appear on the pitch after the final whistle.
Would Mateta fit into our line-up? He gave Saliba a tough time and not many strikers manage to do that.
Quite like the idea of a unit like Mateta in our squad. Sarr is pretty useful too.
MLS looks an absolute natural, mature head on his shoulders that’s for sure.
Partey and Rice for me too, every time if it were possible. They make our midfield much more compact and hard to break through. I wa# surprised to see only one defence minded midfielder start today because the midweek game showed how good Palace can be..
Missed match due to starting time, but it sounds like Arteta finally made a few changes and everythink clicked, I thought we would win but not that score line as Palace have given us a hard time in the past.
Actually, Mateta is probably outside Arteta’s preferred age range, he’ll be 28 this coming June.
We are still chasing Vlahovic and are in talks with Gyokeres as well as retaining an interest in Sesko. Busy, busy, busy.
Chasing and signing are probably miles apart Cicero. 😜
New post up.