Arsenal are looking to bounce back from midweek disappointment when they take on Aston Villa this afternoon – as well as looking for revenge for the 3-0 defeat in the reverse fixture earlier in the season.
Here are the official line-ups.
Aston Villa: To follow
Subs:
Arsenal: Ryan, Bellerin, Holding, Gabriel, Cedric, Xhaka, Partey, Smith Rowe, Pepe, Saka, Lacazette
Subs: Runarsson, Chambers, Mari, Elneny, Ceballos, Odegaard, Willian, Martinelli, Aubameyang
COYG!!!!
There’s no Craig Pawson, we have a chance.
Some other c*nt will do his job
Ye cedric after a minute
Pepe is keeping Auba on the bench!
I think Arteta is secretly glad for a reason to drop Auba, let’s be honest here the team is far less fluid with him at LW and he’s had a poor season so far.
Agreed, and it’s a really good option off the bench.
i really hope we’ll not find that we should have sold auba in the summer. not suggesting he’s past it, but it’s fair to be afraid he might not be able to replicate something close to his form last season
of course i would love to see auba back at his best, and i can see him do it
I think he will. We’ve seen Laca go through some serious dips and look how he’s bounced back
I got crucified for making this point last season.
At some point a 31yr old is going to dip physically
Arteta demands a lot of work from his wide forwards
Aubameyang isn’t really a No9, I’m not convinced by the argument of moving him centrally
He’s an elite goal scorer, who I think will still find some form.
But last summer was the time to cash in
.
Laca can’t play every game, Auba will be needed. I’d rather see Auba centrally instead of Eddie, even though he doesn’t look convincing there. He’s more likely to score a goal though
Soon Auba will be loaned out…Kidding
But I can’t say i am unhappy about the situation, given the amount of energy Pepe or Martinelli add to the game.
Auba will come on for Laca this game.
Even for the position upfront its more fluid when Laca plays, currently.
However, I think when Auba finds form, it will be interesting.
Lets win this one. COYG.
If we’re losing, Auba will more likely be on for Pepe.
Honestly I don’t think auba’s head is in it atm which is understandable given his family troubles. I was saying to a friend when we were on that shit run he didn’t seem the same and now it makes sense. We’re all human at the end of the day and I hope he and his family get through this. Let’s continue to give our captain the support he may need.
I fancy 3-0 to The Arsenal, easy.
Shhhh… I was thinking the same after 44 minutes of the last match.
Thank God for Ryan!!!!
Not sure how settled he’s is, need to be good with his feet as well his hands.
I’ve heard he is good with his feet from playing with Brighton – admittedly I heard it from the comments section of this site but it might be good for something
Indeed but hands only inside the box and not outside 🙂
and the Arsenal medical staff… .
I was scared Fredo Corleone would be in goal too. Hopefully Ryan keeps a clean sheet
Well spotted Edu, actually.
Jeez….. when martinelli and Auba can’t get in the starting lineup….. tells you how good we are up front
I like that Arteta doesn’t rush in Auba. Laca has earned himself that starting place.
Come on lads!
This is the strongest team at the moment. It should Villa something to worry about.
If we get out of the blocks the way we did against Soton and Wolves, we should nick this one.
COYG! Pay back time.
We keep Grealish quiet and win 2-0.
Did Grealish even touch the ball prior to the goal?
(I wasn’t really paying too much attention before our early implosion).
Great line up! What a bench!
Great line-up. This looks so exciting
If our midfield 2 can sit on Grealish and Barkley I think we can win comfortably
Let’s hope so. I’m always a little concerned whenever I see that little word, “if” though. I think it will probably be a draw or, possibly a narrow win for us.
Good lineup
Fair lineup based on merit
And I’m hopeful that martinelli will given genuine opportunity at some point to build up some merit too
COYG… Any win please will do…
Not looking forward to having to hear the commentators saying Ollie Watkins full name every time he gets the ball instead of just his surname.
If Cedric adapts well, we are good.
Glad (or should that be relieved?) to see Ryan between the sticks. I don’t know much about him but those who do say he’s good. The “Auba decision” is probably for the best – he’s shown a little more of his old self here and there but nothing near what he was, say, a year ago. Good to have him ready to come on should we need more firepower. Given our poor results over the last couple of games, we need something from this one to stay where we are, let alone make any progress up the table. Let’s hope… Read more »
Xhaka will police Grealish just like he did with Fernandes against Man U. Trick is to cut off supply lines to Grealish. COYG!
Grealish plays wide-left, Xhaka will barely get near him. Partey, Bellerin, and Holding will have to combine to cut him off and diminish Barkley as well.
Partey will be crucial. The last time we played them Partey was injured early on in the first half and his presence was enough to not let Grealish dictate the game. Hopefully no injuries this game and 3 points.
COYG
Can’t remember the last time I was this excited for a match. I thought Ødegaard would start but ESR has been unbelievable so far. Let’s go Gunners!
Good starting 11. Strong bench too.
Yep.
No reason for Willian to play today.
In fact, it’s crazy that one out of Ceballos, Odegaard, Martinelli and Auba will definitely remain unused.
Two if we chuck on El Neny to potentially close out the game.
From now on the name of the ref should be added next to the line-ups before every single game, it has proven to be a game changer issue for us lately…
Let’s hope VAR is neutral today.
Pretty strong bench with the likes of Auba, Ceballos, Martinelli and Odegaard.
Surely there is no chance of game time for Willian…
Grrr, thought I was posting this as a separate comment.
Obviously has nothing to do with VAR 😅
Let’s go Ryano!
Oz Oz Oz!
Strong start
Pretty strong bench with the likes of Auba, Ceballos, Martinelli and Odegaard.
Surely there is no chance of game time for Willian…
We keep shooting ourselves in the foot over and over!
Great start by Cedric
Can’t pass a ball 5 yards and 1-0 down. Not a great start.
True. Those Gooners forecasting an easy win in earlier posts are probably going to be disappointed – but it’s a funny old game so you never know.
That’s a promising bench!!
The BT commentary is fucking horrendous.
We should have gotten a left back tbh
Allergic to holding on to the ball today are we
If Luiz was a red, how is the last man bringing down Saka not?
Because its not Arsenal… Duh… 🤣
Distance from goal, direction and another defender
But we need to play against their yellow carded players
Unjust yellow for Partey… just waiting
Losing faith, I genuinely believe if that had been the other way round our defender would have been off.
ARTETA OUT!
Just Shit.
I feel even more cheated by the Wolves match now. It looks to have set us back in confidence. Back to slow predictable passing and not taking chances.
It seems that way
Still a half to go yet
I know referees are hesistant to give red cards when the attacker is 40 yards from goal, but I think they have to analyse the details of each incident. And a very important factor is that Saka is lightning quick. Would Matty Cash have caught him if he wasn’t tripped? Well Konsa actually impedes Saka twice. Yes, the focus is the contact that brought Saka to ground (clipping his leg) and I think Saka had slowed down enough to give Cash a chance to cover. So in isolation, I can see why a red card wouldn’t be given. But what… Read more »
Now yellow for Partey for nothing. Referees need to up their game.
We deserve a draw.
Expectations calibrated with the understanding that we are 1-0 down, our ex-keeper is playing against us, and the referee is the same cunt who was the VAR guy against Wolves. We do deserve at least a draw.
And now recalibrating for Partey off, Willian on.
But barring his mistake for the goal, Ryan has been good.
Barring Cedric’s mistake, Gabriel incorrectly committing himself (allowing Traore to burst past him) and a fortuitious deflection (for Watkins) off Holding…
Not his fault for goal a deflection. Look no further than Cedric for that goal.
Wasn’t his mistake, the ball was deflected
I think Arteta made the right sub replacing Cedric with Ødegaard. Cedric was struggling in this game.
We got Willian in now
Very frustrating game here Willian just tops it up with his presence
Willian! Please man this nervousness should end!
Let’s pack up this season
Arteta is going nowhere, he’s a shite manager
Saw Willian came on and knew the game would be lost as we only have 10 men from that point.
Now I don’t know what we must do really, because we are fighting hard enough
Just came back to check Martinelli was on the bench. He was and wasn’t used. Bizarre