Everyone seems to have an opinion about the continuing rise and fall of Arsenal football (including me), but what will this team put together on Thursday following a miserable defeat to Liverpool?
I’m sure their confidence has been rattled, and the manager is assuredly riding their tails this week in training as well, but what will it mean for this upcoming, very important match? As Gooners, we hope to see a positive rebound, like Phoenix rising from the ashes, but unfortunately, we fear a complete meltdown in the only competition we have any chance to achieve a positive ending.
I am hoping for a smart rebound and a nice win, however, as he puts his line-up together for Thursday, Mikel Arteta faces some questions on player fitness. Will Bukaya Saka and Emile Smith Rowe return from injury, and is Granit Xhaka well enough to play? We already know the Gunners will face Slavia Prague without David Luiz and Kieran Tierney.
He also has decisions to make about the recent performances of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe.
So, with that said, here is my predicted line-up 48 hours ahead of kick-off…
[4-2-3-1]
Martinelli
Smith Rowe, Odegaard, Saka
Xhaka, Partey
Cedric, Gabriel, Mari, Bellerin
Leno
Predicted final score:
ARSENAL 3 – Slavia Prague 1
COYG!
One of my all-time Arsenal players, Olivier Giroud, returns to Emirates Stadium on Tuesday. This time as a player for the competition, Lille. Giroud scored 105 goals in 253 appearances for the Gunners.
Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard on Man City’s punishment. “In terms of how I feel, I potentially could be affected if you like, I wouldn’t want individual players to give stuff back, that wouldn’t be right. But the club, they have to be stripped.”
Good lineup, although I would probably add Nelson and put Saka at left back. Cedric was consistently out of position and contributed nothing offensively vs ‘pool. He was never available as an outlet to play out of the back. Positional sense leaves much to be desired.
After what I saw vs Liverpool, I just feel like banishing most of the senior players from the team.