Brighton is a tough team to play against. They play high intensity, positive game and have Europe in mind. Having played 3 less games than Tottenham, who sits at the 6th position, Brighton could overtake them with a win. They are in a happy place but they know things can turn bad towards the end of the season, and won’t really be wishing to leave it to that. They will fight, and they will make things tough for us.
Today’s game comes with a relief for Arteta, both Solly March and Webster are ruled out of game and we are back in fine form. Saliba and Zinchenko are ruled out for the season, but Kiwior didn’t disappoint and Tierney is as good a player at LB. He might come up short in his midfield abilities, but I’m of the belief that a defender’s first priority is to defend well. Anything else is extra.
Having said that, I would really like him to excel in the three games left. Rumours about him leaving (or sold) is not a good news for me, I don’t know if we need to splash another 60m for a LB when we already have a lad covering it and doing well whenever given a chance. It would be like creating a problem and then fixing it.
For the rest of this season, we don’t have anything to win or lose now. I’m a generally optimistic person but everyone and their dog knows City are not going to drop points, and are not going to give away their 1 point lead with a game in hand. We feel the Liverpool’s frustration, in a short amount of time they have overtaken the title race. No doubt we have thrown it away ourselves by sharing points against the likes of West Ham and Liverpool after going 2-0 up, and against Southampton at home, but Pep is showing to us how hard it can be for any other team. Not only does he prepares his team tactically, he engrains in them a tough, winning mentality which allows them to perform at the top when needed the most.
It was nice till it lasted. It leaves us to the last three games, and I’m looking forward to finishing our season with 3 wins, and 90 points. It will keep the confidence high, make the incomings in the summer easier and gives us the confidence to pick ourselves up and retry again next season.
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Back to the game, I’m expecting a a back 4 of White, Kiwior, Gabriel and Tierney. Jorginho would probably keep his place after a good game against Newcastle. Xhaka starts because he always do. We would see Saka, Odegaard and Martinelli behind Jesus, but I would personally like to see Eddie given a chance today. We are at home, we are playing Brighton and Eddie can do a job.
Trossard would like a game too, but unless we play in 2 competitions, I doubt we will see much of him. Mikel has his favorites and there is nothing wrong in that if it works. The only problem is, it don’t keep people happy. We need a strong bench, but good players don’t like to settle on the bench. A conundrum Mikel has to overcome, and we still have ESR and Eddie waiting, Balogun, Lokonga and Tavares returning, Saliba and Tomiyasu injured.
I would love to see a clean sheet. It felt sh*t to David De Gea winning the golden glove. I wouldn’t have mind if it was Ederson or Allison but lol.
Right, a short one today. Lets beat them seagulls and continue the quest of being the best out there. If you are saddened with missing out the trophy after being top of the table virtually the whole season, here’s some positive – we will be playing in Champions League next season, we will be fighting again for the trophy, Spu*s might not even make to Europa and London is red through and through.
#COYG
Partey is clearly being punished for things largely out of his control…he was left on an island against a couple of opponents, most notably City, due to MA’s poor tactics and having Holding playing behind him…the problem is when we have this particular midfield group on the pitch it requires a lot out of our forwards, as they have to come back deep far too often, which ultimately affects our ability to counter with any directness and pace…it also requires Jesus to assume a more Laca-like MO, which isn’t always a beneficial situation
Marts going off could be problematic, as Trossard is certainly not a like-for-like replacement…Tierney will need to be far more adventurous now in order to maintain some much-needed width
we look second best thus far…
TRVL
Agreed. Struggling to keep hold of the ball.
our midfield is like having two old men on a porch angerily shaking their fists at passerbyers
that yellow could be important, as they’ve been far more physical so far and this might make them think twice
very fortunate that Ramsdale got a touch…Mitoma made White look quite stupid there
as I’ve said all along, just imagine what BHA might look like with a bona fide Striker and if Sanchez had better ball-playing skills, which is why a bang average Steele is starting again
We might see some stupidity from Gabriel, since now Saliba is not around to stabilize. Mind Kylior doing a good replacement though.
But Gabriel seems all worked up
Hoopah-he’s acting a little to Holding-esque for my liking…I just find in matches where things get physical and Xhaka/Jorginho are barking at the refs, Gabs has a tendency to get a tad hyper and eractic
if they don’t make any substitutions at half, we better come out in full attack mode on Saka’s side of the pitch, as we just might induce a second yellow
if only we were even an average clinical side, in front of goal, we might still be sitting on a 5 to 8 point lead
Notwithstanding these last 2 minutes, this game is suggesting that we’ll only discover our intensity this afternoon if we ship a goal first.
Arteta needs to dust off his hand rubbing motivational speech. And Tony, get your best tinned salmon out at H-T for pumpers!
KP-agree with your “ship a goal first” sentiment…how we haven’t targeted Saka’s side with a vengence is mystifying…hopefully they don’t make the necessary adjustments, in that regards, and make us look late to the party once again
KP that’s tempting fate too much with Pumpkin’s lethal gas issues.
I thought it’d be a close game with with more goals.
TRVL
Their left back is a red card waiting to happen. He’s scared of Saka and rightfully so. If Saka uses his noddle, he’ll draw Estupinan into more fouls and the eventual card.
Where has our confident home flair gone? You’d think we were the away team.
Why isn’t ESR playing instead of Xhaka?
Oooooh yeah. Feline fartage leaves a lot to be desired.
We’re playing with 10 men with Xhaka
only a matter of time, although you don’t see that sort of switch off everyday
a few moments earlier, even if Xhaka were onside, he still wouldn’t have mattered because he made another bonehead play when he was 4 feet from goal…if that doesn’t show you the absolute insanity of his pass first mindset you must be fucking blind
Tony-I’m not even sure MA knows ESR is even available for selection…maybe ESR should post a reminder Tweet
We’ll win now with Xhaka off
Xhaka out in the 60th….never have I ever…for the love of god, is this a sign of things to come
Really poor. Unable to hold the ball and find space.