Ahhhhggghhhhhhhh… WHY CHELSEA, WHY?
I wanted them to win. Smash West Brom. Keep hope OUT of this weekend. Make the Liverpool game an exercise in nothing.
Tuchel losing his first league game 5-2 has opened this afternoon up. It went from largely uninteresting, to… hmmmm… this could be sexy?
For Arsenal AND Liverpool.
If we win today, we go to within 6 points of top 4. SIX POINTS OFF TOP 4 WITH 8 GAMES TO GO.
That would be tantalising. There are still a lot of teams in the mixer. Too many to topple in my opinion, but still, the Premier League season, as it stands, is not over by a longshot. Our last few games are not the worst… we also play Chelsea, who we can beat.
My worry, as usual, is we’re world-class at punching ourselves in the face. Think about the self-inflicted wounds we’ve inflicted this season. We’ve been smacking ourselves about all year, no one is better at fucking things up than us.
The Liverpool game today, at home, is not looking great on many levels.
The Xhaka haters are about to see what happens when he’s not in the side.
David Luiz, who I’ve been desperate to see out of the starting 11 isn’t going to be included because of injury.
Saka AND ESR have very late fitness tests.
We’re not exactly cooking on first-team gas here…
What do we have going for us?
Well, we’re at home. Jurgen Klopp had a lot more players away last week than us. He’s had one training session to prepare.
I’m hoping that we might have carried through a bit of belief from the backend of the West Ham game. We are playing, mostly, like a top 4 team of late. We have the players to do damage today, there’s confidence that we can come back from going down in big games, and at some point… something has to click for us.
We’re waiting for a bang-bang moment.
Liverpool is a great team, they’ll be top 2 next season… but at the moment, there is a weakness in their system.
What am I looking for from today? A fucking performance.
We gave Manchester City too much respect. We let them score early, then we spent the game trying to keep it respectable.
That can’t happen today. We cannot let Liverpool control proceedings from the off. We have to stop conceding after 6 minutes in the big ones. There needs to be a show of force out there.
Which Arsenal will show up?
As Matt from podcast always says, you’ll know after 5 minutes.
Will it be the team that bossed the Spurs game? Or will it be the team that showed up thinking about what they were having for dinner at West Ham.
These are moments Arteta needs to own. He has to get his team firing. At a minimum, we need to come away from this game thinking there’s been progress
We’ve beaten Liverpool with Arteta. This squad can do anything on its day. Let’s see if we can do it under the pressure of a ‘maybe’ run for top 4.
HUGE GAME. See you on the other side. x
Top four since Christmas
Evening
Top four
Anyone
Would love to see us knick fourth but just can’t see it. Not unless we win every game between now and the end of the season.
Chelsea suffered a double whammy of international brake hangover and playing a bogey team right after.
Wes Brom gave them fits in the reverse fixture too but scored some top quality goals today.
I hope Arteta sets up to attack pool because they’ve been as suspect under pressure as we have.
Abramovich to bring in a new manager tomorrow? I so hate fuckin’ Chelsea.
2-1 to the boys. I’m gonna go and buy some Guinness, 120 year old ritual that always works.
#COYG
Hoping for the best, expecting the worst…..
Yeah, it’s the hope that kills you.
Let’s go!!!!!! Top 10
groovey
What’s left without it :))
We’re due a big performance.
Watching Leicester keep Man City relatively under control, play calmly from the back under pressure and threaten on the break and wonder why Arsenal seem to freeze when we play the bigger teams.
We need to get over that syndrome because we do have the players to do it.
A win today will be mental. COYG!!!
Ben, we comfortably beat Leicester 3-1. Beat Chelsea. Beat Spurs.
Only team we’ve frozen up against since Christmas is City.
I feel good about today. Don’t know why exactly, however I feel like we’ll come out firing. I also feel like the remainder of the season can serve as a major springboard to next year. Close it strong, have a good summer where we aren’t signing “Big Names that are looking for a final payday”, and maybe sneak into Europe somehow. The West Ham comeback gives me some belief. We didn’t roll over and die…there’s some fight in this team. It is a flawed team, however you can see the proverbial “green shoots” starting to grow. “Green Shoots…xG…Top 4 since… Read more »
Lol, someone on Twitter said
Tuchel unbeaten run reminded me of Emery’s.. can’t stop laughing since then 😂
They’ve looked physically shot at various times this season have Liverpool. They’ll be under pressure from the Klopptimist to press high and early. If we beat that and commit no silly errors nor acts of indiscipline, then we’ll be in it. Their back four have suffered from constant changes due to injury. Laca has to start for me – and no Hector please otherwise Mane could run riot. Expect Partey to have a crucial role in the outcome of the game. I think he’ll boss it and we’ll win narrowly.
Been painting a house all day – how did Maitland get on this afternoon?
Pedro,
I agree we have beaten some big teams this season, which we weren’t before. But we still give teams like Man City too much respect, and we have done even in some of the matches you point to that we won. I just feel it’s a mental thing we need to overcome to move to the next level.
Hopefully we don’t do that against Liverpool today
Expect Salah to be diving all over the place tonight.
Incredibly difficult to predict today’s game, particularly after an International break. If I had to put money on it, I would go for a score draw, maybe 2-2. Our starting line up may make things clearer – does it have to be Willian/Lacazette/ PEA? Will Pepe get a surprise start? Will ESR and Saka recover enough? Holding/ Gabriel CB partnership, Cedric ahead of Bellerin?
Aguerro just subbed foff. Quiet game. No way Arsenal should be anywhere near him. He’s definitely not what we need right now
Kroenke, AMN solid but far from outstanding!
Lol, nice to see the great poch lost against Lille, psg into second.
He’s no Emery Pedro. 🙂
Nice post Pedro, thanks
‘There are still a lot of teams in the mixer. Too many to topple in my opinion’, bang on. That’s why I think Liverpool will be more buoyed by the Chelsea result, they’re that much closer
Still, really looking forward to the game and I think we’ll thrash them
Then again, always do
Interesting to go Chambers at RB, up against Mané. Ceballos with Partey and Pepe unleashed!
Saka and ESR not in squad.
No Saka/ESR. Holding, Chambers replaces Luiz and Bellerin.
Ceballos partner Partey.
Pepe on the right, Auba left, Ode in middle with Laca up top.
Arsenal: Leno, Chambers, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney, Partey, Ceballos, Pepe, Odegaard, Aubameyang, Lacazette
Subs: Ryan, Bellerin, Cedric, Mari, Elneny, Nelson, Willian, Martinelli, Nketiah
Playing Auba on the wing is still suicide. He doesn’t do much of anything there. Other than that I am worried about chambers facing Mane. The rest is the best we could put out there considering everything.
OT: What a pass by debruyne for city’s goal. Prime Xavi, Iniesta, Pirlo would be proud of the timing of that pass.
Come on Arsenal!
Hope this isn’t the game that Liverpool decide to remember they are a world class side.
Man not happy with team
Not happy bout Dani in team… Man don’t do it for the club for me.
That pass from KdB alone is worth millions . Filthy . I expect Odegaard to make something like that ,
Very attacking lineup Iwould say . Kabak and Phillips are there for the taking . Just dont self destruct Arsenal.
We need to rest players today and mid week. The only important fixture is against Sheff Utd next weekend. A big win there and we might even be top since Easter.
Wish we controlled the game like Leicester 🙂
RSPC
Maybe Elneny is knackered, so Dani starts, unless of course you’ve seen them in training 🙄
Well Pedro.. you can’t bemoan the table position and then also berate people who don’t rate Xhaka. who leads all outfield players in the PL with errors leading to goals. How many points has he cost us versus what he has gained? I’m gonna say he has cost us at least the 6 pts we are down.. He also has played the most minutes of any of our players besides Leno… so has had the most influence over our table position. So, no… todays match won’t let us see anything new in what we are missing. sorry. Might be the… Read more »
Comment @ 19:16
Oh jeepers, the bedwetters have arrived
Seeing Gnabry playing in the CL for Bayern Munich, drives me a bit nuts
But my frustration can’t be anywhere as bad as Chelsea fans when they have to watch De Bruyne playing for City
What a player
Interesting line up. A shame that neither ESR nor Saka could make the squad. They will be missed. No Xhaka either in the line up.
Not convinced by the team but this is the best we can do in the current situation.
We really need to press Liverpool from the get go. They have been all over the place this season. If we can damage them from the start,then, who knows, Liverpool may pull off an Arsenal and lose.
I am quietly confident for some reason. So let’s go and beat Liverpool!
The only way I would want Chelsea to win a game of football is it it was last game of season and the team they were playing were fighting us for the title.. hate them more then Spurs
I like the combination Ode had with Chambers last match…. in attack… but I am a bit worried about defending Mane.. Anyhow… looking forward to winning today.. Let’s do it. Would be a huge morale booster.
G – it was quite funny when they drew with Spurs in 2016 though
Chambers up against Mane is a worry
Looks like the end of days for Bellerin at Arsenal
Not taking £22 million from PSG last summer, is another mistake we can add to the list of never ending screw ups
Not much dynamism or pace in that team today, Ceballos, Chambers, Holding, Lacazette, often look like they’re running with breeze blocks tied to their ankles
Totally agree Midwest.
Chambers really surprised me how good he was in advanced positions, and I’d worry about any of our RB’s v Mane
Again, a win tonight would be a massive boost.
Chambers is definitely an odd choice up against liverpool’s speed. Then again, Hector isn’t exactly the quickest anymore either is he?
Yep… think there will be a lot of goals chances today, both ways… Just hope we get the best of them and take our chances.. Pepe is a wildcard… you never really know what he is gonna do. Could be anywhere from terrible to amazing.
There’s this nagging scare biting at me as go into the game. Really sad we don’t have either of Saka nor ESR. Not sure the Arsenal that will turn up but if we can reincarnate the second half of the game against West Ham, then I’d be really glad but can we?
I know a lot keep harping on Xhaka’s departure, I honedtly wish he’s available to partner Partey rather than Cebalos. Am trying very hard to keep my expectations low so I won’t be devastated at the expiration of the tie.
At least there’s no Bellerin or luiz
Not happy with Ceballos in the middle
Or Aubameyang on the left but hey ho. Rather we keep Saka and ESR ready for Thursday
Fu NY enough I think we can win this. Partey and Ceballos have always been my preferred pair sitting in front of the defence.
I hope I didn’t just jinx it.
I hope Tierney elbows Mane in the first minute…..you know, just to let him know “he’ll be there all day”.
And then , afterwards , we can all say “ he’s not that type of a player”
We have 4 players injured apparently, Luiz, Saka, Xhaka, ESR
Not keen on our bench, hope nobody goes off !
Heartwarming to see those Rocky shirts in the warm up. What a player and man he was.
“ Pepe is a wildcard… you never really know what he is gonna do. Could be anywhere from terrible to amazing.“
Terribly amazing will do nicely
Cheers Bob. Was hoping he’d either trebled his transfer value or had a blinder and proclaimed he wanted to rejoin us at RB!
Not giving up a goal in the first 10 minutes.. would be a good start.. Not really needing a repeat of the West Ham match.. it was an exciting comeback.. but I don’t need that much excitement today.
Yeah all the Rocky Ro… banners and tributes are cool.
Why does he keep changing the centre back pairing?
Bergkamp63
It’s the weakest bench I can remember, but Martinelli is certainly the wild card
Our biggest problem today will be Auba being anonymous on the left. Auba left and Laca up front has never ever worked. And it won’t tonight either. We’ll miss ESR. But martinelli should be playing instead of Auba.
Why does he keep changing the centre back pairing?
Luiz is injured.
I agree that we have a good frontline that can score goals today. The question is: will they all come out firing on all cylinders? We can’t afford to miss the opportunities that come along.
Graham.. True.. saw highlights of that game during the week
Love the Rocky tribute
Let’s hope we keep a clean sheet for more than ten minutes, and at least one of our own have their shooting boots on
Enjoy the game
Come on you Gunners
Worried about ceballos at this level. He’s done nothing this season
And it’s liiiive
Love Martinelli to come on and grab a late winner.
Partey and Ceballos could be an interesting pairing in this game, both can beat the press and at least attempt to progress the ball forwards. Think we need that with Xhaka missing, the danger with Elneny is he is usually safety first.
liverpools kit is ugly af
Really missing the fans in the stands.. think they would be well up for this one. Anyhow… Let’s go!!!!
How long is that pathetic knee thing going to last? It’s a well known marxist Trojan horse
Ok Thomas, time to stand up
Come on The Arsenal!!!!°
I’m quite confident we can beat them tonight
“ liverpools kit is ugly af”
It’s the type of shirt only impossibly good looking people can pull off
Good break up play by Laca.
Come on The Arsenal!!!
Pretty cagey so far… just don’t let Mane get wound up.. don’t like him running at our defense.
Ha ha. They played the Rocky, Rocky, Rocastle chant. 😀
Ceballos can fuck off
Passenger
12 solid minutes v Burnley last season, that’s it
Quiet start. Odegaard some nice touches. Chambers looks up for it.
Has Pepe touched it yet?! Hardly involved
To the poster who had asked why I thought the Saka picture wearing the Rocky Arsenal shirt was an anti racism message. I said this because I have always associated the yearly tribute to Rocky as a celebration of diversity at our club.
Of course, this is also Saka showing how much he respects Rocky as an Arsenal player and that he looks up to him.
That wasn’t a difficult pass for ceballos but be made a mess of it.
….time for passengers to disembark
Dull so far…
Ceballos putting us in trouble again after the break looked on. I had a feeling ceballos would struggle in there.
Auba didn’t do anything.
I’m ok with dull.. hahaha We tend to be a second half team.
Playing with so much fear. Even smaller teams don’t do that
Dreadful performance so far
Shit game
Why is there no medic running on the pitch???
Ceballos slows things down everytime
I’m ok with dull.. hahaha We tend to be a second half team. And here in lies the annual revision of our expectations of this club. We are at home against a very poor Liverpool side with two unknown centre backs. Auba, Pepe and Laca should be having a field day and run at that back line but yet we have a few players again ‘on mute’. Thomas again proving to me that he sadly won’t make it, sort of game that he should boss but I don’t think he is a midfielder monster we were led to believe. Appreciate… Read more »
Can’t even string more than two passes together.
Passing is so slack and weak
Good to see we have learned from all of our mistakes playing it out from the back. Really poor so far too many players not putting a shift in…..
They are faster than us.