FA Youth Cup Final to “be scheduled before Saturday 29 April”

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Rumours are circulating that our home game against Chelsea will be moved due to a clash at the Emirates with the FA Youth Cup.

Nothing is concrete yet, and I would be very surprised if a Premier League game is moved for a Youth Cup game.

The rules of the FA Youth Cup is that “the Final is to be scheduled before Saturday 29 April.” The below is taken directly from the FA website:

Anyone involved in lower league or non-league football will know you usually have a deadline to schedule cup games, rather than an exact date they need to be held on. The FA Youth Cup is similar.

To highlight it, the 4 quarter finals took place on the 22 & 23 February, 2 March and 7 March.

Clubs can hold them “within a time frame” to enable them to use their main stadium for the gasme; usually scheduling the game for a weekday evening shortly before or after an away game.

So whilst Wikipedia might say the final is on the 29 April, the FA have yet to announce the actual date of the final.

REDAction bring up the Coronation as one of the reasons why. I am not sure how moving a game closer to the Coronation helps out with policing.

The Coronation of King Charles III is scheduled for 6 May, with street parties set to be held in celebration on 7 May. Moving the Arsenal v Chelsea game to the 2 May will distrupt the Mets preperations rather than help.

The “all police leave being taking the weekend before” only makes sense if every game in London and beyond was cancelled. But it is not.

On the Saturday, Crystal Palace travel to West Ham, Nottingham Forest to Brentford, and Chelsea to Arsenal. On the Sunday it is Fulham v Manchester City.

Also, we have spoken to a police officer who has informed us that whilst police leave can be cancelled, the OB can not then dictate that it must be taken on certain weekends. Leave scheduled for the weekend of 6 May would not automatically be shifted back a weekend.

If the game is moved from the Saturday to accomodate the FA Youth Cup, Islington will still need a fairly large police presence. I imagine it will be a 60,000 sell out, especially with West Ham not having a home game that weekend.

So “police leave” as a reason for moving the Premier League game makes zero sense.

It is interesting that Sky have moved the WBA v Norwich game from 3pm to 5:30pm on the same day as we were due to play Chelsea, almost as if they have a TV slot to now fill.

The women’s team play at the Emirates on 1 May in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. I can not see Arsenal being happy with a game taken place on the Emirates pitch on Saturday 29, Monday 1 and Tuesday 2, especially with the last game being the mens team. The most important side.

What will more likely happen is the FA Youth Cup final will be announced for Thursday 27 April.

That Thursday, Arsenal are not playing, West Ham are not playing, and the stadium is free to be used. Then the Chelsea game will go ahead as expected at 17:30 on Saturday 29. Finally the womens game will be on Monday 1 May.

If the game is getting move, for seemingly no reason whatsoever, then it will be fans who lose out. Norwich fans travelling to Birmingham lose out. And those with booked trains and hotels for Arsenal and Chelsea will lose out.

On today’s game, I have remained fairly consistent this season. Manchester City are favourites for the title.

Even with us 8 points clear, I still have them down as favourites.

And even though the media and opposing fans are now going with “greatest capitulation if Arsenal do not win it from here” narrative, I still have Manchester City as favoruites.

8 points might be a huge gap, but it is not a chasm.

Manchester City have a game in hand – at home against West Ham. You have to assume they will win that. We also have to go to City away.

In our last 15 meetings with City, we have lost 14. Winning once. We have also gone 14 games without beating them in the league. And the last time we beat them in Manchester was in 2015.

Arsenal winning in Manchester will be a surprise. So suddenly that 8 point gap is only actually two.

And with trips to Liverpool and Newcastle still to come, Arsenal have a tougher run in than Man City. And that is why despite an 8 point lead, I do not recognise us as favourites, and have not yet begun to dream of lifing the title in May.

Win today, and that potentially changes.

Our two point leads (lets call it 2 rather than 8), means we can probably afford to lose once more outside of Manchester City. Looking at the fixtures ahead, that defeat could happen at Anfield or St James Park.

Worse case scenario is we lose both those games, ans against City, and they win the league by a couple of points.

Victory today will mean that we could probably afford to lose against City, and against Newcastle, and lift the title. Unless Man City win all remaining 11 games (which I would not put it beyond them to do).

Lose today, and all the pressure is on that Newcastle game.

I probably fear the Newcastle game more than the Liverpool one. There is a reason they are 3rd in the league. And last season st James Park was where our top 4 dreams died.

We are a very different side than then. We capitulated that day. Bottled it. Ran out of steam. But Newcastle are also a different side. And it will not be easy for us.

If we win today, it potentially changes everything. Especially for City fans who will have this down as a defeat.

Beat Liverpool and I might just start dreaming…

Keenos

6 into 5 doesn’t go for Mikel Arteta

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The big talking point ahead of Liverpool tomorrow is who should start up top against Liverpool.

The form of Leandro Trossard has given Mikel Arteta a selection headache, leading to many calling for him to start. So who should be in the front 5 at Anfield.

Leandro Trossard

Last weekend, we beat Leeds United 4-1 with Bukayo Saka on the bench through illness. Trossard played wide right in his absence adding to his 7 assists since joining towards the end of January.

Trossard has already played at Anfield this season, playing in behind Danny Welbeck, his movement and ability to find space caused havoc. The result was a Trossard hat-trick.

The Belgium’s versatility means means he is a multi-position option for Arteta.

Already for Arsenal he has played left and right wing, contributing from both sides of the pitch. He also replaced Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah when both were injured.

Trossard can also play inside, behind a striker, as he did at Anfield for Brighton to devastating effect. The headache for Arteta is: If Trossard starts, who missed out?

Gabriel Jesus

After missing 3 months with injury, Gabriel Jesus made his first start since November against Leeds, and grabbed himself two-goals.

Arteta has bought him back in the team slowly, and continued to protect himJesus by taking him after 60 minutes against Leeds. That denied Jesus the chance to get a hattrick, but was the correct decision.

The game was done, there was no need for Jesus to be on the pitch, and taking him off showed we had one eye on this weekend and beyond. Short term pain (for Jesus) for long term gain (for Arsenal).

Jesus showed against Leeds that he has lost none of his sharpness and hip swivels since injured.

His movement and exploitation of space could prove deadly at Anfield. And his tendancy to drift left alongside Gabriel Martinelli will overload Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Trossard has similar traits in that when he plays down the middle, he does not stay there. But Jesus is a natural striker. Jesus starts.

Bukayo Saka

Liverpool is our biggest game of the season. We need to win 8 from 9 which means we can afford to lose one game. Most of us have that defeat pencilled in for Manchester City. That means it is essential we beat Liverpool.

You do not go into your biggest game of the season and leave your best player on the bench.

Despite his good performance against Leeds, there can be no one making a case for Bukayo Saka to be left out.

Saka is arguably the best right winger in the world right now. He scores, he assists, he drives the team forward. He has to start. Bukayo starts.

Gabriel Martinelli

If you asked Trossard his most natural position, he would probably say left wing. And you can picture Trossard playing there at Anfield.

He can go inside, he can go outside, he will give Trent nightmares. The Englishman will not be able to cope with him.

But Martinelli is our most in-form player right now, with 6 goals in his last 7 league games. And when we played Liverpool at home, he scored and assisted. Alexander-Arnold was taken off “injured” at half time.

Trossard or Martinelli looks to be the battle. And I expect if both do not start, one will come in for the other at some point during the game. They form a devastating axis.

For me, Martinelli edges it due to his raw pace.

I imagine early on during the game, we might have to absorb some pressure and look to hit Liverpool on the counter. Martinelli showed against Manchester United at Old Trafford (with the goal that was wrongly disallowed) that he is a huge threat on the counter.

Trossard, meanwhile, excels in tighter spaces. He will be more useful if Liverpool are ahead and decide to defend deep. He could unpick that lock. Martinelli starts.

Martin Odegaard

Trossard’s hattrick earlier this season came whilst playing in an attacking two behind the striker. But he played on the left hand side of that two.

Whilst I can see him coming in for Odegaard, it is not a change you will be looking to make against Liverpool. Odegaard starts.

Granit Xhaka

This could be an interesting contest.

As mentioned, Trossard’s hattrick earlier this season came whilst playing in an attacking two behind the striker. Trossard playing left of that two.

Can I see a line-up where we play Martinelli out wide with Trossard in behind him and Jesus up top? It is certainly an option.

That would really overload Trent at right back, with the 3 of them rotating through the attacking positions. Liverpool defenders would be pulled apart and not know who to pick up.

But what is the case for Xhaka to start?

Firstly, his left foot provides a nice balance to Martinelli and Jesus’s right.

If Martinelli pulls Trent out of position, he needs someone to run into the space left behind and drive in a quick, hard cross. With Oleksandr Zinchenko not boming forward, that task has been left to Xhaka this season.

I have lost count how often Martinelli get on the ball, drags a right back towards him, then Xhaka runs inside to receive an easy pass and then proceeds to drive the ball across the face of the goal from inside the box.

Manchester City scored a similar goal last weekend, when Jack Grealish pulled Trent out of position. Kevin de Bruyne filled that space with an inside to out run, played the ball first time left footed back to Grealish who made it 4-1. you can see Arsenal trying to replicate that goal.

Trossard can play that ball, and his left peg is certainly not just for standing on. But Xhaka plays it a bit more naturally.

We also have to take in Xhaka’s infleunce at defending corners.

At 6’0″, Xhaka is the 6th tallest outfield player in our squad. With Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jakub Kiwior and William Saliba unlikely to start, Xhaka is usually our 3rd tallest outfield player – Gabriel Magalhães, Rob Holding and Thomas Partey the only ones who stand above him.

Meanwhile, only Fabio Vieira is shorter than Trossard. Leandro is just 5’7″.

Only Tottenham, Brentford and Arsenal have scored more goals from set pieces than Liverpool this season, with nearly 25% of their goals coming from corners and free kicks.

Whilst Trent is horrendous defensively, his delivery into the box from corners and freekicks justifies him being on the pitch. That means that whilst we are talking about the front 5, we also need to take into account who can also contribute at corners.

If van Dijk, Gakpo, Konate, Nunez, Fabinho and Henderson all start, Liverpool will have 6 outfield players who are 6’0″ or more. We are likely to start 5 (Gabriel, Holding, Partey, Xhaka, White).

Those 5 will be important whether we mark zonally or man to man. But you take Xhaka away from Trossard and it leaves us with just 4 big men.

If Xhaka does not play, the 5th tallest will then be Martinelli at just 5’8″.

I can potentially see Trossard coming on for Xhaka if we are chasing the game. Sacrificing the extra defender at corners for more creativity up top. But certainly to start the game you have to go for Xhaka. Xhaka starts.

Trossard might feel aggrieved if he starts on the bench tomorrow. But that is part of playing for a top club. You can not start every game.

Jesus, Saka, Martinelli, Odegaard and Xhaka is our best front 5, and they all must start in our biggest game of the season.

Trossard will get game time off the bench, and having someone of his versatility is a huge asset to bring on.

You can see him coming on for Jesus if the Brazilian can not play the full 90. Likewise Trossard will replace Martinelli if the other-Gabi is struggling to take advantage of Trent being useless. And the Trossard for Xhaka sub could be one we see if we are 1-nil down after 65 minutes.

It is a headache for Arteta, but it is one of those headaches you need to have if you want to be Champions. And we win tomorrow, it might be time to dream….

Keenos

Still 2 days until Arsenal play – get those chores out the way!

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Good morning and happy Easter weekend to everyone. What are your plans?

Me? I am pulling up some carpets and repairing the floor boards ahead of laying new carpets next week. Will take the opportunity of no carpets to do some painting. Also got some grass to cut, garden to sweep and begin getting things ready for the summer.

If I get the time, the garden bar will be re-opened, de-cobwebbed and cleaned. I may even treat myself to a couple of new sets of Arsenal beer mates. Our friends at Kick Off Merchants are currently offering 2 for 1 on their Arsenal beer mats. Just use the code TopTheLeague at check out to claim your discount.

So on to the football…

Not much really happening in the world of Arsenal today. We did not play mid-week, and we do not play until Sunday.

The only real news is that the Brighton home fixture has been moved to 4:30 on Sunday. Manchester City’s game at Everton has been moved to 2pm the same day. Sky really are going to be hyping up this title race.

4:30 Sunday games are probably my second least favourite after Monday night games. They just do not give you much time for a few beers after, home for dinner, and wake up the next morning without a fuzzy head or feeling bloated. Probably shows I am getting old.

Gone are the days when I would arrive back from Newcastle away at 1am having been drinking since the 10am train up there, and get up at 5am for work. Just can not do it anymore.

We are still waiting for the TV companies to confirm when the Nottingham Forest game is. I expect this to be announced next week. And will probably also be on the Sunday.

At least next year, with no Europa League football, we should see more Saturday games.

News of Arsenal in talks to extend Reiss Nelson’s contract. I am not sure that is a good idea.

Nelson has played just 103 minutes of Premier League football this season, and his 10 seconds of greatness really does not change the fact that Mikel Arteta does not fancy him.

Last weekend, when Bukayo Saka was ill, it was Leandro Trossard that played on the right.

With Emile Smith Rowe on the return from injury, Nelson is, at best, 5th choice right winger. I would also expect Gabriel Jesus to be pushed outwide ahead of Nelson in an emergancy.

This summer I hope we sign a right winger in similar mould to Saka that can come in if he is ill or injured. Personally I would go for Michael Olise.

A new signing would see Nelson as 6th choice striker. He would not see any game time.

Let him leave on a free, get the compensation (if he joins a Premier League club) and allow him to flourish elsewhere. Like Joe Willock has done at Newcastle.

I would also question Nelson’s desire to play football if he signs on for another 5 years. He has played just 192 minutes of Premier League football in the last 3 years. Surely, at the age of 23, he wants to get on with his career and play football. Even if it is away from his boyhood club.

Liverpool Sunday, and the big question who is the front 5? Do we start Leandro Trossard – who score a hat trick at Anfield earlier in the season for Brighton – and if we do, is it Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka or Gabriel Martinelli that is dropped for him?

Will expand on this tomorrow.

Have a good Good Friday. Buy those beer mats!

Keenos