Unai Emery says he cancelled training on Friday after Arsenal returned to London at 6am following their 4-2 win against Valencia.
The Gunners will regroup today at London Colney ahead of Sunday’s final league game of the season at Burnley but with only a minuscule chance of finishing in the top four it’s expected that the Spaniard will heavily rotate his squad.
“We arrived home at 6am and today we cancelled training because it’s important to rest,” he told Arsenal.com.
“Saturday we are going to prepare for Sunday’s match but I am going to decide with the players who are hungry and in good physical condition to play this match.
“We struggled a lot here [at the Emirates] against [Burnley]. I remember this match and I watched it two weeks ago when they drew with Chelsea. It was a very tough match against Chelsea and I’m expecting the same on Sunday in Burnley.
“We are going to play with the idea of imposing our gameplan, our capacity and our team against them. We know it’s going to be a difficult match with long balls, second actions and set-pieces, so we need to defend well in these situations.”
Bernd Leno will likely start in goal and we expect the likes of Joe Willock, Mohamed Elneny and Eddie Nketiah could all feature. Carl Jenkinson and Stephan Lichtsteiner will also be hoping to be involved, but after that it’s anyone’s guess as to how many of the regular first team get minutes.
It’s not like there’s nothing to play for. If we lose or draw tomorrow and Manchester United beat Cardiff we’ll slip to 6th in the table and lose out on prize money. The only way we can finish above Sp*rs is if they lose at home to Everton and we win with an eight-goal swing playing out during the 90 minutes.
The smart money is on a Theo Walcott double hat-trick and a brace for Jenkinson. You heard it here first.
Theo double hat trick? I’m on my way the bookies as we speak!!
If we come sixth I think we have to go through a Europa qualifier so our pre season will be interrupted / start earlier. Fifth is automatic qualification into the Europa (again I think).
That’s only if Watford win the FA Cup. If City win the cup, then 5th and 6th go direct into Europa (unless we beat Chelsea!) and 7th go through qualifiers.
Ah okay, in that case play the kids!
And if Watford win and we beat Chelsea and Man U win on a full moon, then the qualifiers have to have a donkey race while juggling hot potatoes and third place and sixth place will qualify.
Man hard to wrap your head around all these rules am I right?
I would pay to watch that donkey race
While I do absolutely get that an 8 goal swing is VERY unlikely, you surely play to the whistle in any circumstance?
Everton beat Utd 4-0 the other week. It’s not exactly impossible for them to do the same thing. Unlikely, but not impossible. I’d rather we sent a team out capable of beating Burnley 4-0 (i.e. The City team, fnar, fnar, etc.) and then at least we have done everything in our control to try and get 4th.
It’s unlikely, I get it, totally. But I’d rather we tried than treated it as some sort of testimonial type game.
I guess Spurs will rest all their best players for the CL final, so it’s quite conceivable that Everton can win there, as West Ham and Ajax have done in recent weeks.
It’s ages away to that game… I have a funny feeling
i see your point, but are we really going to risk getting important players injured before an european final, just because a really small chance of coming back? i think emery will, but i definitely wouldn’t.
What about Auba’s desire for the golden boot? Still in with a shot and with plenty of time until the final I’d imagine he’d be very keen to get a chance to boost his tally.
Arsenal – Burnley 2-0, Özil on the two goals. Don’t check the stats: no assist, no goal, but decisive.
Are you this boring in the rest of your life too Alex or is it just in relation to Ozil ?
Worth noting that the difference in prize money between 5th and 6th is £1.9m pounds (€2.2m).
So basically one Rob Holding.
PLAY THE STRONGEST TEAM POSSIBLE.
Burnley are a physical team to put it mildly so do you really wish to risk key players getting injured for the final?
I think Emery should play the best team he has, as there is a two-week break before the final for rest (and other training work), and this team needs to be better — the more competitively they play together, the better. Auba and Laca are hot has hell right now; let’s not cool them off completely.
We always berate our players who aren’t “up for it” in these types of games — let’s get them out there to play and to fight for a little more Arsenal pride.
Just win and move on because most fans don’t care, we’re just waiting for EL Final.
It should be a given that Sp*rs are going to lose tomorrow.
It’s not out of the question that they could lose 2-0, 3-0 or worse.
Plus, let’s not forget the countless highly-imaginative, inconceivable ways Sp*rs have fucked-up over the decades.
If there’s such a thing as karmic balance for that last minute ghastliness during their match against Ajax …
It would be so poetic. And in-keeping. And traditional.
Now that would be a DVD to remember.
Everton are missing some key players for their match (Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison), but they’ve been on a streak and loving the goal, so it wouldn’t surprise me as much as that Newcastle final day triumph did if they were to give Poch’s boys the business tomorrow. Dyche will be engineering a physical battle for us tomorrow as he’s desperate for a positive point in a disappointing season (remember when pundits said Dyche should be our manager, or Eddie Howe?! – man, I love the absurdity of professional sports …), and it would be a victory in more ways than one… Read more »
I personally want to see our young prospects like Eddie, Saka and Willock, so I’d prefer they either start or get significant playtime.
I mean honestly, if fans can’t muster giving youth prospects again in a dead rubber of a game and find a justification for why we always need to play our strongest, you can’t start complaining when we start losing youth prospects to other leagues then.
Come on.
Spuds 0 Everton 3 with Theo holding up 3 fingers (hopefully not from a stretcher). Burnley 1 Arsenal 6. 4th place achieved. 🙂
Burnley get a goal – obviously Mustafi comes on?
Yes I had to factor a goal conceded in…:-)
Here’s to another officiating disaster that leaves Sean Dyche exasperated and moaning about the result after his team waste time from 15 minutes in!
Europa finals some ways away.
Don’t rotate (much) go for the STRONGEST team.
Leno of course.
3 at the back maybe cycle in Mustafi for Koscielny.
Full/Wing backs stay the same AMN and Kolasinac please.
Midfield Granit and either Torreira or Guendouzi.
Ozil or Mhkitaryan
Two up front please.
We can set Iwobi on them later as well.
Try and go for AS BIG a win AS POSSIBLE.
You never know with ‘the other’ game and we don’t want to regret it(like we have last 4 matches in league)
Players could get injured in training, or even by stubbing their toe in the kitchen. They are professional footballers…when the matches are scheduled, you send them out to play football.
Play the best team and go out and beat the hell out of Sean’s Douche’s side!
Auba hattrick gets him the golden boot. Please make it two hat tricks! CoyGooners!
An 8 goal swing…?
Auba’s gonna deserve the Golden – no, *Platinum* boot!
;¬)
Vibranium boot, man–Wakanda forever!