The game against Leicester City went exactly as I predicted, we won 2-0 with Lacazette on the scoresheet after converting a penalty. Thomas Partey scored his first goal of the season after hitting 6,000 shots on target with a beautiful header, and missed another one by inches.
The game had several promising moments. Partey has been brilliant in the midfield and continued with his performance. Ramsdale made an out-of-the-world save which made even Brendon Rodgers say WOW. Our defensive unit kept a perfect clean sheet and what a player Odegaard has been for us.
The most shocking bit (in a positive way) was Xhaka’s 77th minute strike, had that been a goal, I would have searched the football gods – both old and new and thank them in person. Saka took a hit in 80th minute and was limping but hopefully it’s not a concerning one.
And we have hit the best winning league run under Arteta i.e. 5 games in a row. We are sitting on 4th position having played 3 less games than Manchester United who are sitting in 5th. Everything looks nicer if you are an Arsenal Fan.
There wasn’t anything to complain except that Arteta’s in-game management still looks poor. Saka should have been subbed the minute he looked in pain with only 10minutes to go and we had Pepe on bench. You don’t risk your best players when some challenging games are coming. We also went defensive after our first goal, and only after the first half break we tried to claim back the control of the game. A good team can punish us in those moments but that’s understandable with a young team. We will grow eventually.
What’s Next?
We are playing Liverpool tonight. We have beaten Liverpool only once in our last 18 games, and they have won on both previous occasions when they visited Emirates. What worries me most is that we have not scored even a single time against them in our last 5 games, we would need goals against one of the best defence in the world and we might need more than one if we are thinking of winning.
I hate their front 3 of Salah, Mane and Jota. They can wreck havoc if you give them space and it would be a real test for White/Gabriel to keep them in check. What I would love to see is that we stick to our attacking game and not a low block, time wasting strategy. I will be more than happy if we manage to get a point but I am hopeful we might even get all three today. Boys are full of confidence and you gotta beat the best to be the best.
It’s a shame match is 8.15 PM BST, I can’t wake up till 4 AM for it to complete and then work in my early morning shift but I’m sure my UK readers will have a good evening. It might turn out I wake up and see a 2-1 which will keep myself happy for the day before long weekend begins for me (don’t be jealous).
Wrapping Up
What do you think of the Leicester game? What’s your expectation for game against Liverpool today? Let us know in the comments.
Cheers to the 16 unique visitors on Leicester’s game day, I love you all 😀
Oh, and I didn’t realise London Is Red completed an year on 4th March. I had written 51 articles in that time and started my journey with She Wore, She Wore. I was bored and not finding a platform to write my thoughts about Arsenal, so decided to pay a month’s wages in hosting and a domain; set it up quickly and started my journey. My writing is certainly improving having never worked on a sports blog earlier and since it’s about the passion than money this time, I’m sure I will manage it even better in coming years. Thanks for all your support!
Congrats Mate for completing 1 year.
Remains an unchanged team.
Ramsdale
Cedric, White, Gabriel, Tierney
Partey, Xhaka
Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli
Lacazette
GoonerLite
Thanks mate, hope to see you more often.
One year down, nice one mb, keep it going. Disappointing result tonight but for me it was always going to come down to the villa game. I know it seems that the next game us always the most important but in terms of momentum a win gets us back up and running and tonight rapidly becomes a distant memory. Lose and the doubts creep in. I’m gonna be a nervous boy Sat morning. Enjoyed the read,well done again.
Almunia
Finally managed to watch a detailed highlight after work. Indeed it was a disappointing result, even more if you consider the Martinelli’s cross which should have been a goal.
If that went in, we might have atleast won a point. We seriously need a CF, Laca is not what we need.
I’m frustrated about Martinelli not getting a chance as CF. Even Eddie would have been a better choice than Laca…he scores at least.
It might just be too late for Arteta to try anything new. We have to win against Villa to get back on track. It’s a must win. At least I will be able to watch it this weekend.
Anyone see Pedri’s goal for Barca? Kid is very special,hope his career is managed correctly, he looks like a joy to watch for years to come.
Speaking of which I’d like to see Saka given a break, looks tired to me, he gets kicked all over the pitch from one week to another,needs a bit of the aul cotton wool treatment I feel.
Pedri is following the footsteps of Messi. THE most surprising thing was Auba’s header hitting the bar. FFS he couldn’t head a ball for his life when playing for us lol.
Agree with Saka’ breaks. Teams has been doubling down on him, and handling him physically more often than not. I don’t see it happening though at this stage, when every match is an important one. I’m being selfish in saying lets keep him playing coz he is one of the best players for us and hope it don’t turn out to be another Wilshere.
Hey there Mb…. happy 1st anniversary, keep at it Bro… something would break soon… cheers
Mulerise14
Appreciate it bro.
Ambarish
Sorry I keep missing you, Almunia and the others. Congrats on reaching the one year mark mate – there’ll be many more anniversaries I’m sure. Keep piggybacking your reports on Le Grove. That’s about the only thing that site is good for right now. I’m banned of course after being too forthright about the paranoid and echo-chambery vibe on there these days. Pedro’s alter egos all have one thing in common: they’re wankers and suspect, plastic Gooners to boot. If you get time pre-Palace, I’ll do what I can to help spread the word. All the best and slainte Almunia. I’m off to watch Wales v Austria tonight. Qatar here I come!