Throughout the Europa League, Mikel Arteta has adopted a 50/50 approach.
Half the XI have been from his strongest team, half from the 2nd string.
Arteta then rotated who he selected from his strongest team every game week, and within games spread the workload with key players usually playing no more than 60 minutes before being swapped out for fellow first teamers.
Against Brighton tonight we expect him to go for a 100% 2nd string.
We have the break for the World Cup coming up, Arteta will want to finish the league campaign strong against Wolves on Saturday night. That will mean giving everyone a rest tonight.
The League Cup is low priority for us this season and as a reuslt, Arteta will happily sacrifice it for 3 points on Saturday.
Matt Turner returned to the bench for the Chelsea game having missed the last couple of games due to injury. He will regain his place in goal from Aaron Ramsdale who covered for him in the final 2 Europa League games.
Takehiro Tomiyasu limped off last week against Zurich. Post-match Arteta said “We don’t know” what the issue is. He was then not on the bench against Chelsea. I would not be surprised if we do not see him again before the World Cup back. So expect Cedric Soares to start.
Rob Holding will continue his run in the “mid-week” team. I was suprised he was not captain last week against Zurich (Gabriel Jesus took the armband).
Whilst Holding’s selection is clear and obvious, his partner is not so much.
Ben White is now clearly first choice right back, with William Saliba and Gabriel first choice in defence.
If Tomiyasu is fit, we might see him join Holding at centre back. Alternatively Arteta might go with Reuell Walters, who saw some game time during pre-season.
Gabriel is perhaps an obvious choice considering he will not be going to the World Cup, but I think Arteta will want to give everyone a mid week rest. Walters could be the man to make his first start.
Kieran Tierney will return to left back (although Arteta might take it as an opportunity to look at Lino Sousa. A longer blog on the youngster repalcing Tierney next summer will be released during the break).
Mohamed Elneny‘s early return to fitness will see him replace Thomas Partey as the deepest midfielder. Ahead of him well be Fabio Vieira and Albert Sambi Lokonga.
Reiss Nelson will be given another chance to impress on one flank, with Marquinhos on the other side. Eddie Nketiah will look to end his goal drought.
Brighton have ended their 5 game run without a win with 2 victories on the bounce. In 6th place, I would expect them to look at the League Cup as a good chance to make a final; so expect them to field a strong team.
We have now played Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United and gained 9 points from 12.
So much for us “falling apart” when games come thick and fast and we “play someone decent”.
The Manchester City game showed why those saying we were suffering burn out are wide of the mark.
They needed a 95th minute penalty to overcome Fulham at home. It highlights how tough the Premier League can be, especially when you are playing mid-week in Europe.
Only an idiot would now disagree with Mikel Arteta’s team selection pre-World Cup. He has shared the load perfectly.
To have dropped just 4 points in the first 12 games, and topping our Europa League group, is an incredible achievement.
We have another mid-week game tomorrow against Brighton in the League Cup.
I expect Arteta to go “full 2nd string” rather than the 50/50 team he has played in Europa League. More on this tomorrow.
We now just need to finish the first part of the season well against Wolves on Sunday. And then it is the break for the World Cup.
Final squads are beginning to be announced.
Yesterday, Brazil announced Gabriel Jesus and Martinelli were both on the plane, whilst Arsenal’s other Gabi – Magalhães – was left at home. Not a huge surprise.
Whilst the trio have been in fine form for Arsenal, both Martinelli and Magalhães have seen very little (of any!) game time for their country.
Martinelli was left out of the last Brazil squad and has not featured for his country since June.
He arguably plays in Brazil’s most competitive position – with Neymar, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, Richarlison and Jesus all capable of filling in on the left.
Vinicius Jr will start and it was probably a toss up between Rodrygo and Martinelli for the reserve left winger. A case could be made for either. And it is a surprise that Tite has taken both.
As for Gabriel (the bald central defender one), he is still yet to play for his country.
Thiago Silva and Marquinhos are Tite’s long term preferred partnership, with Real Madrid’s Éder Militão as their regular 3rd choice centre back.
In recent squads, Tite has had a look at the likes of Gleison Bremer (Juventus), Lucas Veríssimo (Benfica) , Roger Ibañez (Roma) and our Gabi. All 4 are a similar profile, age and playing at a simialr level. Tite has opted for Bremer and Verissimo.
Gabi not being selected should not be seen a slight on his ability. We all know he is a class player and there will be plenty of Brazil caps to come.
This will be a tough season with games continuing to come thick and fast after the “break” so the more players that do not play over the 6 week period the better.
Arsenal players that do not go will probably have 2 weeks off, before returning for a weeks light work at London Colney.
They are then scheduled to head out to the Middle East for a couple of weeks warm weather training (expect a couple of behind-closed door friendly) before returning to England to prepare for the West Ham fixture.
Stamford Bridge Grounds, Fulham Road, London SW6 1HS
Sunday, 6th November 2022. Kick-off time: 12.00pm (noon)
(4-3-3) Aaron Ramsdale; Aaron Ramsdale; William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Martin Ødegaard (c), Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka; Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli.
Substitutes: Kieran Tierney, Eddie Nketiah, Rob Holding, Cédric Soares, Fabio Vieira, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny, Matt Turner.
Scorers: Gabriel (63 mins)
Yellow Cards: Bukayo Saka, Ben White
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 56%
Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistant Referees: Stuart Burt, Dan Cook
Fourth Official: Robert Jones
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Jarred Gillett; AVAR Matthew Wilkes
Attendance: 40,142
For today’s derby clash at Stamford Bridge, we have seven changes from the side that beat FC Zürich 1-0 last Thursday to ensure top spot in Group A of the Europa League. The only players that remain in the team against Chelsea today are Aaron Ramsdale, Gabriel, Ben White and Gabriel Jesus, whilst captain Martin Ødegaard, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are returning, along with Oleksandr Zinchenko, whose return from injury is most welcome.
After the incredibly moving respectful silence, the playing of the Last Post by a solitary bugler and the laying down of wreaths in the centre circle to commemorate Remembrance Sunday next week(as today is the last first-class match at Stamford Bridge until 27th December), this normally white-hot London derby between these two leviathans of the English game commenced with the home side starting proceedings at high noon. Within a minute of the start, Thomas Partey launched a long throw into the Chelsea penalty area and although Gabriel met it with his head, the ball went harmlessly wide. The opening stages of the match were dominated by us, and although we came close to scoring on a couple of occasions (including an excellent free-kick taken by Bukayo Saka after he was fouled by Marc Cucurella), our superb efforts came to nothing, sadly. Following a Chelsea counter-attack which petered out, Ben White had an excellent shot on the tenth minute for the match which went inches wide of Édouard Mendy’s goal. Generally, we are playing with confidence, creating chances and causing problems for Chelsea in many areas of the pitch, often blocking the home team in, mainly in their own penalty area. Gabriel Jesus robbed Ruben Loftus-Cheek of the ball and weaved past a couple of defender’s challenges and into the penalty area, but sadly his shot was blocked by Thiago Silva. Just before the half hour mark, Ben White was the recipient of an extremely late tackle from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, which rightly earned the ex-Arsenal man the first booking of the match. Shortly afterwards, Gabriel Martinelli placed a beautiful ball from the left into the Chelsea penalty area destined for the head of Gabriel Jesus, who placed it inches wide of the post. William Saliba neatly robbed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of the ball in the penalty area, and although the home side are having chances, at the moment, we do not appear to be threatened too much. There is a lot of good passing between our players, but not a lot of decent finishing, as the match is looking to be quite flat at the moment; it needs an Arsenal goal to liven things up a bit! Bukayo Saka received our first booking of the afternoon for a silly tackle on Marc Cucurella, and in injury time, Gabriel Martinelli broke through and won a corner, which subsequently went nowhere, and seconds later, referee Michael Oliver blew his whistle to bring an erstwhile dull first half to a conclusion.
The second half started with Arsenal kicking off and taking the game to the home side. We got an early free-kick courtesy of a foul on Bukayo Saka by Marc Cucurella (again), and although the ball went out for an Arsenal corner, it was easily cleared by the Chelsea defence. César Azpilicueta was booked for a bad tackle on Gabriel Martinelli, and after our free-kick the match returned to us playing good football and pressurising the Chelsea goal. Ten minutes after the restart, a ball in from the right wing courtesy of Martin Ødegaard glanced off Thomas Partey’s head just in front of the goal, and it flew past Édouard Mendy’s post. The game was stopped briefly for a medical emergency in the crowd, and when it restarted, Trevoh Chalobah was booked for a body check on Gabriel Jesus, and a few minutes later, our number nine was desperately unlucky not to score when he was put through on a one-on-one situation, and on the sixty-third minute, we fnally took the lead when a corner from Bukayo Saka was allowed to go through a host of bodies at the near post, and although it looked like the ball was heading straight in the goal anyway, our man Gabriel made sure by prodding it over the line to score the opening goal of the afternoon. We went back looking for a second goal when Oleksandr Zinchenko’s cross from the left fell to Bukayo Saka on the opposite side of the box, and he took a touch and completely “skyed” his effort. This effort from Oleksandr Zinchenko led to several good chances from our strikers, particularly Martin Ødegaard, who blasted the ball over the bar when it looked certain that he would score; with thirteen minutes of the game remaining, Kieran Tierney replaced Oleksandr Zinchenko, and a couple of minutes later we had a penalty call denied by VAR when it looked like Marc Cucurella handled the ball in the Chelsea penalty area. Ben White was booked for time wasting, and shortly afterwards, William Saliba cleared the ball out of our six-yard box after a Raheem Sterling effort looked dangerous. Conor Gallagher tugged at Kieran Tierney’s shirt (which earned him a booking), and the home side’s goalie plucked the ball out of the air quite easily from the resulting free-kick. Our captain Martin Ødegaard (who passed the armband to Granit Xhaka) was replaced by Mohamed Elneny with four minutes of the match remaining, and after yet another yellow card for a Chelsea player, when Raheem Sterling fouled Thomas Partey, we entered the five minutes’ injury time with a frustrating fracas between Granit Xhaka and Trevoh Chalobah which resulted in our man getting a talk in his ear from referee Michael Oliver, and with the minutes ticking away, Gabriel Martinelli was replaced by Rob Holding in order to shore things up, and just a mere minute or so later, the whistle was blown for the match to finish, and for us to replace Manchester City at the top of the Premiership.
Okay, it was not exactly a classic match, it was a wee bit scrappy at times, but we got the three points and Arsenal return to the top of the Premiership this afternoon in the wake of this victory. Ben White, William Saliba and Gabriel were absolutely first-class today, as was Thomas Partey, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Ødegaard also; let us not forget the impact Granit Xhaka had on the game today either, he kept his head really well (full marks), despite some extreme provocation by some Chelsea players. Overall, we were by far the best team on the day, and well deserved our win at the Bridge, and as far as the history books are concerned, the win today was the first time that we have won three matches in a row against Chelsea since 1974, and the first time since 1951 that Arsenal have won three consecutive league games at Stamford Bridge. All in all, a very good day at the office for the boys.
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Brighton and Hove Albion at the Emirates on Wednesday, 9th November at 17.45pm (Carabao Cup). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
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