Up Next... Arsenal at home - pre-match thread

[Dahnsouff]

So who are Arsenal likely to start with in midfield?

Xhaka is essentially in exile. 

Ceballos is injured.

So that means

Guendouzi and Torrera in the middle unless they unleash the OZIL I guess

Along with Pepe on the wing?

 

Them gunners reckon it will be

 

Lacazette
Auba - Özil - Pepe
Torreira - Guendouzi
Tierney - Luiz - Sokratis - Bellerin
Leno

[HighPeakFox]

59 minutes ago, jammie82uk said:

Yeah that’s what i said to him with us being the ever obliging Leicester City 

Why do people keep repeating this blatant untruth? 

[KFS]

18 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

So who are Arsenal likely to start with in midfield?

Xhaka is essentially in exile. 

Ceballos is injured.

So that means

Guendouzi and Torrera in the middle unless they unleash the OZIL I guess

Along with Pepe on the wing?

 

Them gunners reckon it will be

 

Lacazette
Auba - Özil - Pepe
Torreira - Guendouzi
Tierney - Luiz - Sokratis - Bellerin
Leno

That’s a decent team if firing. People need to realise that this is a huge test.

[Tommo220]

22 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Why do people keep repeating this blatant untruth? 

 

Most likely because it doesn't matter which football fan you talk to - everyone thinks their club is "ever obliging".  A couple of my mates support Birmingham City, Derby, Chelsea, and Bristol City and ALL of them think their teams are the most obliging. 

 

Just football fan mentality i suppose.

 

[StriderHiryu]

1 hour ago, Billy Big Balls said:

Makes Puel look like Guardiola 

Passing out from the back was one of the best things Puel did. If you compare Leicester to Arsenal and Man United we can actually do it, and have been doing it for some time. I know a lot of people complain about it when it leads to mistakes and / or we just punt it anyway, but there are plenty of times it works incredibly well, such as chances against Liverpool and Palace from beating the opponent's press by passing it out. 

 

Structurally Puel also set the team up well in terms of positioning off the ball. This is why we were a mid-table side, because we did the basics quite well.

 

What Rodgers has done is change the sideways slow football that ironically Man U and Arsenal are now producing for faster more vertical passing between the lines, and higher aggression and intensity in the final third to turnover the ball higher up the pitch. We also play in a way quite similar to Man City and Pep's Barcelona team in that we shift teams from side to side in the final third to isolate a player for a one or one or shooting opportunity. Best example of that was Perez's second goal versus Southampton. He won the ball back, it gets played horizontally all the way over to Chilwell, and then all the way back over again for Perez to score. All at pace and with quality.

 

Anyway Puel has been discussed to death, but this Leicester side is a joy to behold because it can almost do it all!
- Tight at the back

- Can play it out from the back / beat the press.

- Goalkeeper doesn't crap himself when receiving a back pass, but still very good in the air / shot stopper.

- Brilliant holding player / 6 to win the ball, stop counter attacks quickly.

- Technical attacking midfielders that can play, assist and score.

- World class front man

- Can press as a team

- Massive threat on the break

 

The only area you could say we could improve in is a better goal contribution from wide areas. E.g. imagine we had Mane / Salah / Sane / Mahrez / Sterling, etc? If we had players like that the team we would probably be title contenders. But our wingers can improve over time so no need to give up yet, e.g. look at Salah when he signed for Chelsea compared to the version we see today.

[volpeazzurro]

45 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

So who are Arsenal likely to start with in midfield?

Xhaka is essentially in exile. 

Ceballos is injured.

So that means

Guendouzi and Torrera in the middle unless they unleash the OZIL I guess

Along with Pepe on the wing?

 

Them gunners reckon it will be

 

Lacazette
Auba - Özil - Pepe
Torreira - Guendouzi
Tierney - Luiz - Sokratis - Bellerin
Leno

That's not a bad side in fairness is it. Whatever we think of or the rights and wrongs of his behaviour, Ozil is a very dangerous player in a game such as this. He's probably the difference between Lacazette or Aubameyang scoring. I don't think is going to be straight forward but we have very good reason to feel reasonably confident. 

[Gerard]

44 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Why do people keep repeating this blatant untruth? 

 

7 minutes ago, Tommo220 said:

 

Most likely because it doesn't matter which football fan you talk to - everyone thinks their club is "ever obliging".  A couple of my mates support Birmingham City, Derby, Chelsea, and Bristol City and ALL of them think their teams are the most obliging. 

 

Just football fan mentality i suppose.

 

 

If ever Leicester concede a goal in the last few minutes to draw or lose my Mum will say "typical Leicester" as if every other side always holds out in the last five minutes. 

[Dahnsouff]

Just now, volpeazzurro said:

That's not a bad side in fairness is it. Whatever we think of or the rights and wrongs of his behaviour, Ozil is a very dangerous player in a game such as this. He's probably the difference between Lacazette or Aubameyang scoring. I don't think is going to be straight forward but we have very good reason to feel reasonably confident. 

Agreed. People need to remember this. Arsenal have been dog crap of late, but their personnel is beyond questions largely. Individuals they have, a team they do not. 

BUT

If it clicked, even for one game, we could be in for a tough afternoon.

Still think we will win, but no chickens are currently being counted.

[Gerard]

10 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

The only area you could say we could improve in is a better goal contribution from wide areas. E.g. imagine we had Mane / Salah / Sane / Mahrez / Sterling, etc? If we had players like that the team we would probably be title contenders. But our wingers can improve over time so no need to give up yet, e.g. look at Salah when he signed for Chelsea compared to the version we see today.

 

No probably about it IMO.

 

Vardy and Schmeichel are as good as anything in the league.

 

We have a better back four than Man City and a better midfield three than Liverpool. 

 

If we had two players who posted goals and assists like Salah, Mane, Mahrez and Sterling we'd be contenders. I have little doubt about that. 

[HighPeakFox]

16 minutes ago, Gerard said:

If ever Leicester concede a goal in the last few minutes to draw or lose my Mum will say "typical Leicester" as if every other side always holds out in the last five minutes. 

So it's almost like a superstition, only spoken of before or when it happens, and conveniently ignored on the most frequent occurrence, which is when it doesn't happen. 

[egg_fried_rice]

 

Some quotes from Brendan's presser.

[egg_fried_rice]

Rodgers: “We go out to play our football, because that’s when you’re at your best. Sometimes the opponent can push back. But we have to push our opponent. Our intent is to impose our game, which is based on being aggressive”

[Guest Markyblue]

Certainly on their day they would be a very stiff test but so would norwich.

[Tommo220]

4 minutes ago, egg_fried_rice said:

Rodgers: “We go out to play our football, because that’s when you’re at your best. Sometimes the opponent can push back. But we have to push our opponent. Our intent is to impose our game, which is based on being aggressive”

Nice.... Hamza to start then!

[weller54]

Arse's attack is as good as anyone's in the league so I don't think we'll keep a clean sheet.. But we'll outscore them. 

3-2 win. 

[ScouseFox]

charlie nicholas said in his predictions article that "you can definitely get at this leicester defence". joint best defence in the country. fu cking worm. 

[Leeds Fox]

2 hours ago, KFS said:

That’s a decent team if firing. People need to realise that this is a huge test.

 

It really isn’t IMO. Aubamayang(sp) and Lacazette are dangerous but apart from that they aren’t anything special. Praet who can’t get in our first XI would walk into that midfield.

 

Torriera and Gendouzi don’t contain Maddison and Tielemans, especially when supporting their fullbacks dealing with our 4 wide men. 

 

 

 

[Trav Le Bleu]

 

These videos will look so much better when the new training centre is complete.

[Gerard]

41 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

 

These videos will look so much better when the new training centre is complete.

 

The background makes it look like a pub team's training. 

[Corky]

2 hours ago, ScouseFox said:

charlie nicholas said in his predictions article that "you can definitely get at this leicester defence". joint best defence in the country. fu cking worm. 

His predictions and reasoning actually make Paul Merson's look logical and he just a team is a bag of Revels every week.

[Guest SO1]

4 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

Agreed. People need to remember this. Arsenal have been dog crap of late, but their personnel is beyond questions largely. Individuals they have, a team they do not. 

BUT

If it clicked, even for one game, we could be in for a tough afternoon.

Still think we will win, but no chickens are currently being counted.

The only way that happens is if we don't show up in terms of intensity and performance.

I remember all the doom and gloomers on here before we went to SouthhamptonOzil 350,000 a week

[Jazzy_Jeff]

6 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

So who are Arsenal likely to start with in midfield?

Xhaka is essentially in exile. 

Ceballos is injured.

So that means

Guendouzi and Torrera in the middle unless they unleash the OZIL I guess

Along with Pepe on the wing?

 

Them gunners reckon it will be

 

Lacazette
Auba - Özil - Pepe
Torreira - Guendouzi
Tierney - Luiz - Sokratis - Bellerin
Leno

If that’s the team our wingers and fullbacks will pen their fullbacks in and can’t see much in the way of protection from auba and pepe. 
 

Stick wilf on Ozil who won’t track back when we have it 

 

their centre mids can run about but that’s it and less said about their centre backs the better.

 

we got this 

 

 

[Raw Dykes]

5 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

So it's almost like a superstition, only spoken of before or when it happens, and conveniently ignored on the most frequent occurrence, which is when it doesn't happen. 

Yes. I think it's called 'confirmation bias.'

[Deeg67]

Way too cocky...

 

Arsenal have a puncher's chance against any opponent.  With their attacking options they can always land haymakers, and while they're weak defensively you still have to execute to exploit it.  On paper we should win, but there's no room for a letdown - not against this opponent.

[Lesta blue]

8 hours ago, Tommo220 said:

Nice.... Hamza to start then!

 No chance. Wasn't even on the bench v Palace. Can't change a winning team

3-1 City.