The best part of this new Champions League format is that, you get to play against 8 different teams in group stages and while some of these games might be boring, you will also play some of the best teams from other leagues. The earlier version where a group consisting of 4 teams, 2 out of those were minnows would always give us some taken-for-granted games. With the new format, we don’t need to wait till the knockout stages to see some exciting games.
We had a tight fixture list in Sep where we played Tottenham away, City away, Atlanta away, Bolton and Leciseter in last 15 days and we passed the test. We were without our Captain, there were some injury concerns – Ben White, Timber, Saka, Raya; some decisions didn’t go our way and we still managed to not lose any of those games. October is no less and needs the same level of commitment from us.
We are playing PSG in our next Champions League fixture. An exciting game ahead, Oct 2nd is an Indian Holiday and the game happens at midnight. Perfect set up for us Indian Gooners for a game at Emirates.
The injuries woes continues for us though. Odegaard and Merino will not be available for the PSG game while Calafiori is a doubt and will be assessed later in the day. A back 4 of Timber, Saliba, Gabriel and Calafiori looked brilliant in last few games and I was hoping we continue with that, at least in the big games. White has done a tremendous job but putting Timber at the RB allows Calafiori to play in LB position, which allows Martinelli to play freely. We have been heavily relying on attack from the left due to a non-competent LB and Cala fixes that. At any point in game, we can switch side and there would not be a drop in attacking quality. Plus, Martinelli gets some support and his games improves.
Midfield is a concern. We need Odegaard because a combination of Thomas Partey, Rice and Trossard is not doing justice. Odegaard’s presence makes Saka’s game lethal and his vision of passing open up game. Partey/Rice are doing exceptionally well but both of them shouldn’t be in the same midfield because of the nature of their game. Ode + Rice/Partey + Merino is what we need to get to full functioning of that midfield.
Top 3 has no concern except that goals are drying out. Yes, we scored 4 games Leicester and 2 against City but goals against City were scored by 2 defenders and Kai Havertz’s goal against Leicester was pure luck. We need more end results from both Martinelli and Kai if we want to win something this year. Trossard is a very handy rotation for Martinelli but CF position is a bit concerning. Either Kai picks up his goal scoring form or we need to do a make shift because Gabriel Jesus doesn’t have goals in him.
I’m expecting a win for us and if Calafiori makes it, a clean sheet as well. A 2-0 win at home would do for me.
What do you think? Do you expect a different line up and a different scoreline? Let me know in the comments.
Romano dropped a tweet saying Mikel Merino is training with the squad today before PSG game. A good news but is it too early to directly introduce him in Champions League after an injury?
Ambarish—Merino’s shoulder issue probably allows him to train, without contact of course, but I would be surprised if he’s anywhere near returning to competitive matches
when I look around the League I can envision a whole host of dropped points by top 5 clubs against lesser opponents, which is why I’m thankful that we found a way to right our ship on Saturday…we saw some good things, most notably Cala and Timber out wide, albeit I would rather we have them both pressing high at times with Rice dropping deeper, which enabled Marts to cook a bit…I do worry about relying on both of those guys, as they seem to be a little injury-prone, but regardless they represent the kind of backers we need here moving forward…enough with the inverted backer shit simply so Rice can pursue his fanciful offensive dreams, as it’s time to reign in the whole shoehorning clusterfuck…by this time next year we should be deploying wide side backers, Rice in a deeper-lying position, an Ode-like midfielder on the left and a bona fide Striker…fingers-crossed
as for our PSG encounter, I must admit I worry about how negative our tactics might be considering MA’s propensity to underwhelm against anyone of note…just look at what transpired against a lesser Atalanta side, Porto last year and Sporting two years prior…clearly his publicly-displayed bravado doesn’t extend to the field, especially when he’s facing any manager of consequence…hopefully we’ll be able to run something similar to that of Saturday, but I’m certainly not holding my breath
TRVL
Makes sense re Merino. Good to see he’s getting ‘lungs fit’ as he’ll find the PL draining with the high tempo.
PSG tonight to be honest I know little about PSG so will enjoy reading yours and other’s take on the game. I’ll get to see it in the morning.
Potter for Manure? That could be an interesting one. Not something I’d even considered.
Ousmane Dembélé has been dropped from PSG’s squad to face Arsenal in the Champions League after an argument with Luis Enrique following Friday’s game against Rennes, according to multiple reports 😳
– CBS Sports
—
They are usually reliable.
Tony—PSG have been dominant once again in Ligue 1, but they struggled against a Girona side, who lost a couple of their key cogs in the off-season, in their first CL match…they will be without Dembele, as he and Enrique clashed following their victory on the weekend, so he’s supposedly been left behind for disciplinary reasons…as such, I would imagine they will move Kolo Muani out wide right, as Dembele’s replacement, Lee Kang in the false 9 role and the in-form Barcola on the left…they’re still missing Goncalo Ramos, which will hamper their attack, so their midfield will likely be Fabian Ruiz, Joao Neves and Zaire-Emery…this trio could present problems if Rice goes roaming too often…without Hernandez, the French International LB, I would suspect that we will have Timber pushing further up the pitch, whereas Cala, if available, might play a more conservative inverted role than on the weekend, especially with Hakimi on the left…of course, PSG have some high up-side bench options with the return to health of Doue, Asensio, both of whom MA supposedly coveted, and Vitinha, the crafty Portuguese midfielder, so we will have to play a full 90 or there could be some late-game consequences
after our stale away affair at Atalanta we need to push for 3 points at home, but I’m not convinced MA will buck his usual trend of negative football against the better CL sides…I hope I’m wrong though…I would guess we will look to win this by getting a shitload of set pieces/corners by whatever means necessary, so you should expect a plethora of flopping and a mess of balls being kicked off PSG shins whenever we’re near their endline…it reeks like a draw to me, unless we can take advantage of a side that clearly has some internal issues…Enrique, like every PSG manager before him, has tried desperately to crack the whip, with mixed results, so if we can put them under pressure by scoring a couple in the first 45, they might not be able to find their way back into the match
PSG are the most horrendously cunty club. Owned by hand-choppers, infested by Neo-Nazi fans and arriviste bourgeois twats who think they have a divine right to win things. I remember beating them over 2 legs in the Cup winners cup in the 90s. I seem to recall the one nil to the Arsenal tune was a direct plagiarism of their Allez Paris St Germain chant when they had that tosser Ginola playing for them. That Arteta also counts among their ex players is no surprise. I lived in Paris for three years and successfully avoided the temptation to go back to the Parc des Princes to watch them although that also had something to do with Nayim and Real Zaragoza.
I hope we turn them into Steak Tartare….
KP,
We would do, today. Buzzing for the game myself.
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Partey, Rice, Havertz, Saka, Martinelli, Trossard.
Subs: Neto, Porter, Lewis-Skelly, Robinson, Kiwior, Kacurri, Jorginho, Merino, Nwaneri, Sterling, Butler-Oyedeji, Jesus.
PSG: Donnarumma, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes, Zaire-Emery, Vitinha, Neves Doue, Barcola, Lee.
Subs: Safonov, Tenas, Beraldo, Skriniar, El Hannach, Ruiz, Zague, Mayulu, Mbaye, Kolo Muani, Ascensio
Donnarruma is playing. My info was just a rumour then. Same team that played against Leicester.
Ambarish—your rumour was about Dembele not the Keeper…the only question about Donnaruumma was his health
I’m a little surprised by some of Enrique’s choices, but they’re still fielding a very talented side…Barcola is the one to watch, as he’s been stellar in recent times
PSG has potted 20 goals in only 6 League matches so I doubt this will be a repeat of the Atalanta scoreline
best pass by Raya since his arrival…would love to see that a wee bit more
one thing in our favour is this PSG squad has had an unsettled starting 11 so far this term, due in large part to several injuries, so we should be a tighter side
there’s a shitload of young footballing talent on the pitch tonight, which is always exciting to watch
KP—don’t mince words, just tell us what you really think about PSG’s owners
that’s what makes Cala far better than Zinchenko…he really intrigues me because he can do so much off-script, which can really left teams on the cusp
this PSG side is largely made up of players who MA has coveted but who weren’t interested in his project, which is why I think MA went into full super-size player mode
Starting 15 minis so close…..even ball position and strike is approximately equal….hope, everything will be good but, in our favour..!
2 chance missed to score a goal but game is so good till now !
Finally….GOAL
Perfect jump & header
That was a very good one from Havertz.
DK
Good to see you brother after long.
finally we get to see Havertz pot a pure header’s goal…let’s hope there’s a lot more where that came from
this looks like a father/son match, considering the size difference…no wonder Havertz was Vegas’s choice to score first
TRVL
Yep, that was really a good one. We need to score couple more to seal it. Saka captain, and he is putting his 200% today..
I have a feeling Martinelli is going to score a worldie.
big play by Timber there…without Dembele, Barcola will be the danger man
We are poor defensively today.. that was almost a goal from PSG
the commentators are fluffing up Havertz and Arteta again…of course he works hard, as that has never been in question, but his finishing has been bang average for a few years now…as for his supposed versatility, he’s been very poor when called into action within the midfield…so I understand why you might not waste a lot of money on a number 9 you’re not convinced about, but to really change our organizational trajectory we need a clinical finisher up top…it’s kind of like with Rice playing further up the pitch, in that I would much rather have him on the squad than not, but surely there’s way better options out there in those advanced positions
Arsenal is going to win 4-0 today
2-0 Arsenal.. #COYG
Donnarumma should be embarassed by that one…Enrique’s going to have an absolute shit-fit at halftime
I figured set pieces were going to be key today, due to the size differential, but surely not like that
we need to pile on while the getting’s good, before any halftime adjustments can be made
Defence is a regular basis problem of arsenal…. sometimes, opponent score very easily…but today, we are playing in there half almost… attacking mode on !
Well that was funcking amazing from Bukayo Saka
TRVL
That goes as a Saka goal, so basically no one touched it. Not even the GK. Lol
PSG does have a history of poor performances/results on the heels of disciplinary decisions by numerous previous managers, like Poch, Unai, Tuchel. etc…
Ambarish—no one touched it, thank God, because if Marts knicked it Partey would have been offside
I would suspect PSG will make a change in the midfield and in the false 9 position, where Kang has been useless and overmatched at every turn
Enrique must be furious with his defence..
TRVL
Yep, thank God.. and it’s good to see Saka on the scoresheet.
The Gunners are looking to pick up their first win….
Nuno Mendes seems to get the better of a duel with Saka