Arsenal’s trip to Wolves, originally scheduled for Sunday 17th March has been postponed due to Wolves continued interest in the FA Cup.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side overcame Bristol City 1-0 at the weekend to advance to the competition’s quarter-finals where they will host Manchester United.
If Arsenal fail to beat BATE Borisov on Thursday it could make for a quiet March on the fixture front. As things stand, the only confirmed games are a trip to Wembley to face the Homeless Goblins (2nd) and Manchester United’s visit to the Emirates (10th).
? @PremierLeague fixture update…
? Our trip to @Wolves has been postponed due to their participation in the @EmiratesFACup
? A new fixture date will be announced in due course
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) February 19, 2019
Without Europa League football, which would sit either side of the Red Devils showdown, we’d have a three-week gap until Newcastle visit on April Fool’s Day.
When a new date for the trip to Wolves’ Molineux is confirmed, we’ll let you know.
Time to book your holidays lads
Yeah, come back in August!
Russ, do you mean August 2019, 2020, or 2032??
…. Very good question.
Maybe we can go back to August 2003?
Russ of Ross?
The doom and gloom of a possible Europa league exit is quite scary right now ?.. Pretty sure we’ll be okay on a decent pitch though..
Lack of an away goal is a concern though. I don’t trust us to keep a clean sheet which means we need to score 3 against a team that will be parking the bus to the max.
Exactly. It looks like we’ll need to score at least 3 goals to go through. BATE are crap and putting 3 past them should be a piece of cake… But you never know.
I honestly thought we’d do that last week!!
Last time 10:1 on aggregate
I completely agree. We could even be 2-0 up after 5 minutes and basically be considered “through” for the majority of the game, have 90 % posession, but until we score that third goal, I won’t rest easy, because their goal could always happen through a freak defense error or set piece. Only with three goals I will be relieved, because as crap as they are, I don’t think they will score 2 against us.
On a normal pitch we surely will repeat last year’s result. We won 6-0.
I’m not 100% sure we’ll be ok. We are currently suffering a massive drop of form from almost everyone, including the coach.
They are going to sit deep and just absorb the pressure then try to hit us on the break. I really hope we start with a back 4 and put Ozil or Rambo in the starting squad. We need some creativity.
If Ozil isn’t in the squad I will have a serious meltdown
If we start this Thurs with a back 3, I think fans will be throwing things. It simply cannot happen, and if Emery goes with a back 3 then I think it shows he’s actually a bit clueless
Homeless goblins ? ? ?
I hope their eventual move is a complete disaster!!!
It already is. For a start, it’s supposed to have happened a while ago.
They’re going to be well pissed off when we add the extra seats to take our capacity above theirs. They’ve struggled to get 40,000 Spudz into Wembley; mind you, we may not have that many either if current form continues. 2 half empty grounds in North London?
I can’t imagine, even for a moment that we’re going out on Thursday but I suppose not much surprises me these days.
If we can’t beat Bate at home then I think we’re in real trouble and my feelings towards Emery will be fading even faster than what they are now.
We will win 2-1 on the night, but the away goal knock us out!
Frankly I expect us to score at least 6 and possibly more. We did it last season so I cannot see why we can’t repeat it.
Confidence is so low, that it’s a real concern!
Hope is Emery has identified, stated and produced the must win games this season like against Chelsea, Huddersfield (yeah). So, he can rally the team and get the job down during this sqeeky bum part of the season!
Confidence is low and also don’t forget: Pressure is high.
If I remember correctly, the 6-0 was the last group game last year. I am not sure if BATE still had something to play for, but I remember that we were through.
So I reckon that even if you put the exact same 22 players on the pitch again, yet for BATE there is something to achieve, while for us there is everything to lose, the result will be drastically different.
I trust Emery will go and watch that wolves FA cup game to better prepare.These days Arsenal cannot underestimate anyone.
I’m ok with this. Gives the head coach more time to work with the team. Coaches always complain that they have little time for training in England. This is an opportunity to sort out our many issues. COYG!
Problem is with the timing and fixture situation by the revised date. Frankly, I don’t mind the new date as Wolves are a side in good form at the moment, while we are certainly not. Let’s see if we pick up some form before going away to play at the Molineux.
I’m not confident we can keep a clean sheet at the moment and we looked completely devoid of ideas in the last outing. It’s in our DNA to go 2-0 up then fail to convert a whole host of chances before conceding a really poor goal 3 minutes from the end.
“You watch, they’ll go straight up the other end and score now, see if they don’t”
– Fever Pitch
I hope this will reposition the players for the upcoming games. We need to take as much point as possible if we will make it to the top 4.
If the team work hard we could proceed to the next step
Did anyone actually think we’d lose last week??? I certainly didn’t!
Obviously I want us to win on Thursday, but when the pressure’s on, it doesn’t always go well… knowing we have to score at least twice & keep a clean sheet… put it this way, I won’t be betting on it!! COYG… although I still can’t believe this is against the mighty Bate Borisov (Who????) Jeez ?
I think the problem last week was the lack of pressure. The warm blanket of apathy lulling us to sleep. In games when our feet were well and truly to the fire (Sp*rs, Chelsea) we’ve been dominant and victorious. The expectations of a sure win may have been to detrimental. Hopefully the sense of a must-win does enough to provide a big response from the squad.
I hope so very much that you are right with that theory, mate.
COYG
If Emery accepts to grant Ozil a start on Thursday night & let him play his natural No.10 role, we’ll surely qualify for the next round but if he keeps adamant & fields his 5defenders expecting creativity from wingbacks, we are in trouble. I hope 4the best!
Yeah, I don’t see any reason from a footballing perpective why we can’t play Ozil.
Unai has played Ramsey and he is leaving this summer.
Considering they will sit deep and we had 72%possession away, we should be playing 4 at the back to add an extra (creative)mid.
Auba will have to be sharp. Last thing we want is to not take the chances we create. That has also been an issue this season.
I doubt Ozil would be match fit and play his best. But this would be a panacea to Emery as he shows a how a rusty player is not as sharp as he could be.
Still, given the zero creativity we saw recently, that is a low threshold to cross.
Wolves are a well organized team and nearly beat the gunners the last time.I feel that under Emery ,Arsenal are a similar style to Wenger. The speed of the attack
compared to other team aint there.
BM frustrated Pool last nite. I am afraid Bate would play a similar game and if the
gunners go kamikaze on the attack they will be suckers and lose.
Btw,BBC reported Barca had 25 shots but still could not win.So much for attack.
When do we start preseason training? 1 week before first fixture?