morning.
After a difficult performance on Saturday, and not for the first time this season, is it too much to expect a more routine performance when they face Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League this evening? At least it will make it a little easier to keep 11 players on the pitch for 90 minutes!
As for team news, it was reported that neither Bukayo Saka nor Jurrien Timber participated in training yesterday. But if the caution for this game allows them to play Liverpool on Sunday, that’s fine. With all due respect to the opposition tonight, it’s the kind of game we can cope with without them.
I think Raheem Sterling, who was sacrificed after his red card on Saturday, will be given another opportunity on the right in Saka’s absence. There were a few flashes from him at Bournemouth, but no one really performed in that short period when we had a full complement on the pitch. If he gets going it would be great to see him deliver something this evening.
As I wrote yesterday, this is a game I would like to see Ethan Nwaneri start and Mikel Arteta was asked about it in his pre-match press conference. It was a typical Arteta reply that said a lot without giving too much away.
I think it’s about identifying the moment and understanding where he is, where the team is and where the optimal moment is to put the player into that context. He’s already done a lot in a very short amount of time, so let’s take it step by step to ensure that these steps are consistent and allow the team to grow in the way and form that we want.
I would like to ask whether a 2-0 defeat at home and being reduced to 10 men was the optimal moment for him. Or during the draw against Leicester? Or even in the final stages of the North London derby? What that tells me is that the manager believes in his abilities even in difficult situations, so why not give him a chance to shine from the beginning when the situation is less complicated?
There are other potential changes as well. It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see Oleksandr Zinchenko start against his compatriots. Obviously not for that reason alone, but Riccardo Calafiori has played a lot since he arrived and the weekend with Liverpool is an opportunity to rest him ahead of the game and give Zinchenko some minutes for the first time since August. It could be. There could be room for Gabriel Martinelli or even Gabriel Jesus to come into the side. The former will be hoping to make up for his failure against Bournemouth, while the latter really needs something to get him going again and end a goal drought that lasted until January. .
Ideally, this is a game we can use to put Bournemouth ahead of us and show that we can respond quickly. Of course you take nothing for granted, do you? What can we do? We’ve already seen some strange things happen this season, but hopefully this will be a game where we can showcase both our quality and our control. Well, I think we can only do so much against tonight’s opponent.
As before, you can follow these steps later: live blogAnd we’ll prepare everything after the game. Arceblog News later.
In the meantime, here’s the new Arsecast Extra below. Tim and Jamie Arsenal Women Arsecast Sunday’s 2-0 win over West Ham. while On Patreon I spoke to Phil Costa about The 30’s dismal weekend of Premier League results.
We’ll leave it there for now and meet later for a game. Welcome, commies!
