Arsenal are in Leicester to play the wily Foxes who are licking their European exit-wounds. The elimination will still hurt and the manager and players will want to bounce back straightaway, so Arsenal are warned. The Gunners, on the other hand, have been victorious in Europe after a great comeback in the second half and will play today with a happy head but weary legs. No doubt Leicester will be exhausted too but they simply have to try and win today. Arsenal also need the three points of course, and if we play this cleverly they are up for grabs, despite the odds being against us.
Let’s sit back in this one and play on the counter/rebound. Let the Foxes make the play as they cannot afford to sit back in this one. If we do this with discipline and the right mix of players then I think we can win the game. Some players will need a rest to avoid injuries and I am particularly thinking here of Auba and Saka, but also Bellerin and Odegaard. So I would replace these four and would also give Holding a start instead of Luiz.
My preferred lineup would be:
By all means, Arteta can bring on the likes of Odegaard, Willian, Saka or Auba in the final 20-30 minutes to win the game for us, but let’s not start with them.
Come On You Rip Roaring Gunners!
By TotalArsenal.
Bergkampesque 
Team news: Leno; Cedric, David Luiz, Mari, Tierney; Xhaka, Elneny; Pepe, Smith Rowe, Willian; Lacazette
Six changes from Thursday
TA, your call on those to be rested was spot on. It would have been easier if we had 5 changes (as we do in Europe) instead of 3. Hopefully, we bring on Thomas, Auba and Saka but late on. They deserve a rest.
The hosts will want to prove they can bounce back, plus they can go 2nd with a win; and this is the danger for us. We have to show we can cope with their pressure, while still creating our own situations, to cause them problems.
The line up is a Conservative one and I hope the selected players don’t let the manager down.
Thanks for the post Total and yes, I can understand the changes as our players didn’t get back to the U.K. until Friday, so basically one day to recover and then off to Leicester, I wonder if they went last night or early this morning – TV has really stitched us up on this one.
I’d imagine that the Leicester players will be very happy to see that line up, but I think that Arteta has done the right thing protecting Saka and Partey whilst bringing in the more robust Soares.
I’m not not sure about starting both Willian and Pepe because on a bad day it’s like playing with 9 men so yeah I’m a bit surprised that Martinelli hasn’t been given a start and why was Nelson not considered before playing him in the U23’s, this could go very wrong if we’re not careful.
Cheers guys, and I share your concern. We will sit back and then play on the counter, and I expect ESR to play close to XhakA and Elneny. I look forward to seeing how the three other attackers will fare.
Going by the reverse fixture, they won’t dominate us and that’s what gives one some assurance we can keep them at bay. Hard workers required.
Pepe needs to be confident in his take-ons.
Well that was a good half to watch by Arsenal. The wingers and full backs steal the show.
Big half coming up. Hope Emile is OK.
Arteta will find it hard choosing his subs today. Everyone (save for some hairy moments by Mari), seems to be on top of his game today.
We have Partey, Auba and Saka looking to come on and you can then appreciate the choice of a starting 11. I think Pepe needs to put more pressure on young Thomas, their left back. He could cop a second yellow.
Well well well Willian is having a blinder and Pepe,Laca doing great but besides the goal the whole team is on fire surprisingly fluid play and movement with good pressing.
Yeah the boys are looking well drilled.
Total would you like me to do a post, I have some ideas, up to you amigo?
Wow that was a good game apart from the goal which was sloppy. I can’t understand this tactic of Xhaka dropping to the left of center backs to allow Tierney to push further up. Today Xhaka was caught and led to the goal. We knew liecester will sit back and allow vardy to run in to space vacated by our full back, how clever was it to allow Xhaka to cover with his lack of pace.
Thankfully we scored from a corner which was least expected. We also did something unexpected I saw late in the game for a corner Luiz stayed back to cover for vardys run.
We still do far too many kamikaze style backpasses for everyone’s safety. Me and my son were telling at the TV at every backpass :).
You are v welcome, Kev. Is it one based on today’s game?
Madhu, there were multiple players at fault for the goal, against us and XhakA was not to blame in my opinion.
I also did not notice many bad back passes. 🤔
Yes and yes, I’ll send it off this evening, injuries are a factor in it as well.
Great, looking forward to it ⚽⚽🏴
Fine display by the lads today and to think we rested a couple of our better players. Hats off to Laca today; my man of the match for my selfish reasons: his work rate, coolness in possession, spot on lay-offs, leadership and that precise penalty. I don’t think he lost any ball in possession today, which is a trait I have missed with our striker choices.
Xhaka cannot be held solely responsible for the goal against us; Willian need not have misplaced the pass to Xhaka, in the first place, if he needed to even pass back with two players about. Mari may have trusted Luis to take charge of what’s behind him and gone up to engage Tielemans instead of backing off. Elneny, maybe should have burst a gut to cover for Mari to encourage him to get closer to Tielemans. Finally, in another segment of the game, Leno should be making the save; I feel he was caught cold, anticipating a near post shot.
We won the game. I won’t be too picky about who was at fault for the goal; like I say, hardly a goal without someone caught in error.
Happy that Saka got his rest. And we didn’t look like we needed him because Pepe and Willian stood up. Phew!
In your inbox Total, put your feet up, have a cuppa. 😉
Emile Smith Rowe,
Reason: Groin/Hip/Pelvic Injury
Further Detail: Feb 28: “I’m concerned, for Emile to come out and say, ‘I cannot continue playing’… It should be something related to his hip. I don’t know how bad he is.”
Potential Return: No Return Date
Condition: Currently Being Assessed
Status: 25%
I got this off of Physio.com and it’s a worry if it’s his hip/groin because that can take months if it’s acute.
Thanks Kevski
New Post New Post 🙂