Grand, because we have not seen Premier League football from 3 long months and the opening match between Man Utd and Fulham was shit. So, forget about what happened yesterday and treat this as the opening of the season. I can guarantee much more excitement, enthusiasm, the eagerness to win and the quest for the title begins for Arsenal.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the best club in the world plays football today. Arsenal takes on Wolves at 3 PM BST (7.30 PM IST), at Emirates. We have a almost everyone available to play, Fabio Vieira and Jurrien Timber missed the Emirates Cup but they are mostly likely to be available today. Whether they will play is a different thing, since Zinchenko is most likely to start in that LB and midfield is full. Tomiyasu and Tierney are the only two players who will not be available for today’s game but we are not going to miss him at all.
Team selection will be a headache for Mikel, since we haven’t got Merino and if he tries to fit in Havertz along side Rice, the CF position will remain open. He can alternatively play Havertz up top and have a midfield of Partey, Rice and Odegaard. I am expecting to see Martinelli on the left, the rest of the squad picks itself up. Wolves are a bit in a mess after selling their captain Max Kilman to West Ham and Pedro Neto to Chelsea. Two very important players for Wolves missing out today, and we need to capitalise on it.
Mikel Arteta was very positive about today in his press conference –
We are really excited. We’ve been missing the competition for many weeks, it’s too long for us. We are so willing to start and so enthusiastic about it.
source : Arsenal.com
We have got a pretty decent track record against Wolves. We have won our last 6 games against them, we have won our opening games in our last season and before that. We have at least scored once against Wolves in our last 33 games and that’s some achievement.
There are a few things I am expecting to see as the season folds. Timber will slowly take up the space Zinchenko plays in. He showed promise when he joined us in pre-season last season before his injury and there will be some time before he is match fit. It remains to be seen if Arteta takes his time or rushes him back in the team, but it’s going to happen.
Havertz, moving to the CF position for final. Kai had 14 goals and 7 assists last season, mostly playing up top and I am sure Mikel is in the mood to make him permanent in that position. Primary reason why we are looking for midfielder than a CF. Now, would I loved a traditional CF? Yes. Is it going to happen? No. So, lets hope Kai have a great season, ends up 20+ goals this season and become a main character in our winning season!
Third, Calafiori. This one is a mystery to me. I believe he is a back up / competition to Saliba and Gabriel and not brought as a LB or RB. Saliba played every minute for the club last season, and there is always a probability for injuries / sickness / form loss. We needed a back up, we had Tomi and White but Mikel never tested them so yeah, lets see how much Mikel uses Calafiori this season.
Right, I won’t bore you much today. We have an exciting team, an exciting season ahead and we hope Mikel delivers a trophy (or 2 I won’t mind). Don’t forget to share you predictions, expected team and anything related to Arsenal in the comments.
No teams in the premiership are push overs unless they have reached the point when they know they are doomed for a certain relegation.
Wolves have lost two of their better players so on paper we should win and by some margin unless of course Havertz does not have any idea where the goal is. Odegaard to score today.
By the end of October we will see if we are in a position to get to the final few weeks with a chance of winning the title.
Ipswich testing Liverpool, you know it has a special Salah goal written all over it to make them cry.
NORG
Yep, Premier League is tough, you can’t expect no fight from any of the teams. Big hopes on Havertz and Martinelli for me.
Team is out..
Raya
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko
Odegaard, Partey, Rice
Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Nwaneri makes bench with Jesus, Nketiah, Trossard and others
Strong team, strong bench. Good to see Nwaneri in the squad.
Ambarish – describing last night’s game as shit is a little unfair on shit to ve honest. The passing was terrible from both sides. That ought to mean 6 points each from Manure and F-f-ulham this year.
Watching Leeds v WBA. Also terrible.
It’s aw doom I tell ye!
not surprised by the selections…it’s difficult to believe that winning is above all else when you start the season without a single new player in our side…not even a “like a new signing” Timber sighting…I guess i just imagined that this would be a show of intent gig
Good rousing post, Ambariish.
Aussi ref is a bit suspect thought it could have been a pen on Havertz.
A usual rusty 18 minutes by both sides, but great to get started for the new season.
Wolves have no out from their box, so the goals will come for us.
looks like we worked on a few things in the summer, like Havertz flopping and how not to shoot from distance…sorry about the negative nelly shit, just can’t believe we haven’t done more
do agree though Tony…if Wolves conintue to play like this, we should get some goals
Agreed KP good to see Nwaneri, would be great to see him get 20 minutes if we are 2 up.
Havertz on the scoresheet.
WTF was Sar doing?
TRVL
As if so ordered🙄
Maybe 3:0?
well that’s a hopeful tally…we always were hoping that headers would be in the offing when Havertz was brought in and that was his most decisive one yet
we were always
still think those could come if Havertz were in the 8 and we acquired a true Striker, as even on that play he came into the box late
TRVL
Any thoughts on Rice and Zinchenko on the left?
Good to see Rice and Partey on the pitch but what happens when Merino shows up in September?
Who gets dropped?
bit of a sloppy one against Saka, but there appears to be a new initiative in place where the official on the field will leave more of the in-box decisions to VAR…I noticed this in yesrtday’s affair too
yesterday’s
Tony-I think I’m just miffed about the whole window display, especially after some recent reminiscing about Wenger’s Cech-only 2015 window
as to MA’s selection/tactical choices, should Merino come in, I posted something in that regards on the last thread…I was going to cut and paste it here but then thought otherwise
If Wolves keep it to 1:0 until halftime, they’ll still have the odd dangerous moment in the second half.
How did Mart’s miss the cut back to the penalty spot for Rice?
Havertz looks more spry and bit more positive/direct, just wish he would try to play through contact much more often…now if you could get that version, then add a Striker of consequence, you might just have something there
on a side note, I’m elated that Marts is starting
Good first half and worthy of the goal. Not happy Zinchenko is slowing our attacks and not the answer on the left. Marts could make way for Trossard, as his inside the box play will pay dividends like last season. He’ll be too quick for the Wolves CBs.
it was a great save by Raya, now that I’ve had another look…I did think his performances were better at the end of last season and in his Euro start
sadly, that woeful attempt by Havertz was much more in line with what we’ve seen since his arrival…as the commentator stated, he needs to seriously “refine” his skills in front of goal
as was often the case in year’s past, we get a goal lead then sit back too much and willingly invite pressure…why the fuck would you do this against a Wolves side who didn’t even allow their backers to push up the pitch in the first-half…hopefully we can take advantage of a countering opportunity
Timber in, Zinchenko out…as I stated earlier in the summer, I think Calafiori is here to replace Gabs
Not surprised to see Zinchenko off. Timber will give defenders splinters🙈
nice to see us finally on the front foot again
TRVL
Does look like Deja vu of last season.
We should be dispatching Wolves by 72 minutes.
Needed 73 then.
Inspired subs TRVL. 🤔
personally I would love to see Timber and Saka on the right together, especially knowing that the both will cut inside and out in the final third
beautiful finish by Saka…we need that sort of decisive finishing from him this season
To be fair White has been largely ineffective with his final 3rd work. Timber by far is the more skilful player.
Need that from Havertz but doubt we’ll see it. Havertz main effort went way wide. Havertz had time.
Ode is finding new telepathic levels
Tross comes in, as expected, then pushes Marts to the right…that’s not a good sign for Marts, in that if he doesn’t take his chances as a starter, he will quickly become more of a cover piece option, like at the end of last season…Tross makes more sense with Havertz up top because he likes to tuck inside more, but I think Marts would be far more effective with a better Striker and LB on the pitch
not even sure what the fuck our formation is now
Maybe we could sell Eddie to the Wolves…they could really use a poacher-type with PL experience
always good to get a win and a clean sheet, but far from routine