Arsenal have the chance to go into second place in the Premier League this evening, if they take all three points against Ipswich.
Here are the official line-ups.
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Rice, Odegaard, Havertz, Martinelli, Jesus, Trossard
Subs: Neto, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Tierney, Calafiori, Jorginho, Partey, Merino, Nwaneri
Ipswich: Muric, Johnson, O’Shea, Woolfenden, Greaves, Davis, Phillips, Cajuste, Hutchinson, Szmodics, Delap
Subs: Walton, H Clarke, Townsend, Taylor, Burns, Chaplin, Broadhead, J Clarke, Al-Hamadi
Pretty close to the strongest attacking lineup we could have picked. Let’s get this done and stay in touching distance of Liverpool.
I agree. Feel it’s a bit weird that we bought Merino this summer as he’s really a “depth” signing who doesn’t make our best 11 and i much prefer it when every new signing is someone good enough to claim their spot in the first 11, given the amount of money we spend.
Give him some time. He was injured for the first two (three?) months when he joined. He still has a lot to learn to play the way the coach wants. Also, he’s up against Rice and Havertz for his place so not an easy spot to get imo
I was on the fence between him as a depth signing and as a definitive answer to the left 8 position. I think we are already seeing, regardless of intentions, that it’s going to be more of the former. When he and Rice play together it becomes too much of the same. The broader issue though is that for Arsenal to continue our rise to the absolute elite echelons, we need more threat and more goals from that position. Granit Xhaka, Declan Rice, Mikel Merino; these guys are good players but they are not natural attackers and don’t produce enough… Read more »
I agree with you. Havertz gave infinitely extra in that left 8 position offensively in our last match. Sort of explains away some of our open play struggles for goals this season. Merino and Rice are nearly interchangeable….when oodegard was injured we were flat…
Meanwhile another year goes by and arsenal don’t win anything!!! Other teams will get better with further investment too – time win some serious silverware this season!!! I think Liverpool will unfortunately win the league so arsenal should focus on the FA cup and CL – yes I would like to see them win the league but unfortunately I can’t see it happening!!!
Trossard was a ‘depth’ signing and has been really important. It takes all sorts.
City spend a £100milion on players to put them on the bench for squad depth- Grealish, Nuno to mention a few.
City also sponsor themselves to the tune of 400x the usual amount of other sponsors. Allegedly.
Merino is part of a 4 to 5 man midfield rotation, he’s started some games and has been on the bench for others. At the moment because Jesus rewon the starting striker position Kai has been moved to midfield so Merino is one of the less preferred midfielders in that rotation, but that’s all fungible and can change in the space of a couple of matches if he performs well and/or someone else doesn’t. It’s really pointless trying to make conclusions about a player’s place in this team based on a couple of lineups.
I think it’s more about how to keep Jesus up top given his torrid scoring of late. I am sure in future matches once he cools off Merino will get his opportunity.
can’t argue with all the comments asking for me to temper my expectations for Merino given the injury and lack of time to settle but what I will say is that, given I am no footballing big-brain but there is nothing I’ve seen from before or since he joined that makes me think he is ever going to be in our best 11. I hope to be proven wrong!
Been waiting for this news all day.
Good to see Lewis-Skelly keeping his place. First team selections should always be a meritocracy, experienced heads on the bench (all three/four) will have to get good.
Also glad we have a similar profile to rest Calafiori and manage his past injuries
completely agree, my only caveat is that it must be a tiny bit dispiriting for Nwaneri? Because when Odegaard was out he seemed to also do enough to deserve a start or two at the right 8 position and he never got that, which I was never against, but now the slight inconsistency there makes me worry that he will feel like he was treated differently to MLS? Hopefully Arteta has sound logic behind that and will have explained it to Ethan.
Ethan’s had a lot of minutes, probably more than he would have anticipated. That said I think the difference is comes down their profiles and those of the guys they’re competing with. MLS does most of what Calafiori does; not as good in the air, not as cultured in possession; a slight downgrade but essentially similar. There’s a bigger gulf between Ethan and Odegaard, especially when it comes to organizing the deeper passing i.e. phase 1 &2. You saw that vs. Everton how it all fell apart without the captain. It was because we lost the ability to connect from… Read more »
Strong bench. 3 points essential today. 2nd place awaiting…
Empty cupboard to full house–available left backs: Lewis-Skelly, Califiori, Zinchenko, Tierney, Kiwior, and Timber. Not bad in midfield either–on the bench: Partey, Merino, Jorginho, Nwaneri. A little light in attack.
Still no Tomiyasu, but you’re right – huge strength in depth there.
Gotta love MLS being picked ahead of all those guys at LB!
We really need Tomi back. I’m very worried about the load on Timber especially coming back from an ACL. I have no doubt with Timber fit last season we’d have been champions.
Full on Murphy’s law there huh, either you have 7 left backs available (and struggle to keep all of them happy) or you have none.
4-0 to the Arsenal. The title race is on. COYG!!!!!
Ipswich defend in a deep block and look to break quickly with Delap, who is a power runner in the mould of Haaland. I like him a lot. Despite being short of quality, they attempt to play out from the back and do concede chances to the counterpress. Facing Havertz-Odegaard-Jesus pressing them is likely to be as tough as it gets, so look for Arsenal to profit from those high turnovers today. Their goal kicks might be some of our best chances to score at an even game state. Arsenal don’t have to be special to win today. We just… Read more »
from that analysis it seems like a couple of easy chances might fall to Jesus and/or Havertz off turnovers, hope they have their finishing boots on today 🙏✨⛪🧑🎄
I deleted that paragraph about how if McKenna decided to go long from GKs then Arsenal would have to create all their chances against the block. That’s how it’s panning out. Odegaard looks totally off, loose touches, misplaced passes, even from the set piece routine. Needs a rest. Martinelli is not ideally suited as a Saka replacement vs. a low block, doesn’t trust his left, makes him 1 dimensional. Only Trossard looks capable of doing something, conjured that assist by himself. Overall, I’d say if we want to score we need to take more risks; more dribbles, more crosses, quicker… Read more »
I hope Partey is just rested, because he definitely deserves a place in the starting 11 on merit. He has been amazing in midfield this season.
Strong bench apart from attackers.
A clean sheet would be great.
Sadly no white christmas.
7 of 9 subs are lefties, no reason we can’t trial each of them in Sakas role.
A Kai Havertz masterclass incoming. COYG. Santi is in attendance today too. Let’s make him proud.
Is it me or Martinelli is struggling in that right wing position. I know it’s quite early in the transition for him but I didn’t expect the difference to be this steep.
Well he certainly looked good v Palace.
See, people take Saka for granted. Martinelli, like most wingers, doesn’t have a weak foot cross like Saka does, so he becomes a 1 dimensional threat. His right foot crossing has been very good though to be fair.
Martinelli is playing against a low block. His kryptonite. What good is pace, his biggest strength, against a low block….
not his fault is it. arteta needs to make it work for him somehow god forbid we’ll have to rely on him finding some form… unfortunately i don’t think mikel’s up to it
Piss poor so far. The signs of performance, without Saka, are not good.
we’ve been awful but at least we’ve won.