How will Arsenal line up tonight?

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Every time I see fans use our lack of League Cups as a stick to beat us with I laugh. I really do not care that we have not won it since 1993. It merely shows that in that time we have had bigger fish to fry.

During the peak Arsene Wenger years, from 1996 to 2006, the League Cup was looked at with disdain by top clubs.

As the Champions League extended, teams became less bother by England’s 3rd most prestigious trophy and basically “put out the kids”. In reality, with smaller squads back then, these kids were also sides back up players. Their second XI.

From 1997 to 2005, neither Arsenal or Manchester United won the League Cup. This despite them sharing every league title except for 2004/05. The competition become one for the mid-table teams. Leicester City, Chelsea. Tottenham, Liverpool, Blackburn and Middlesbrough.

Then Roman Abramovich turned up with his dirty money and Chelsea suddenly had two squads. No longer was their “2nd XI” mainly prospects. They won two out of 3 League Cups in a period under Jose Mourinho where they also won the league twice. And then the competition returned to being dominated by “also rans”.

In a 7-year period from 2007 to 2013, no team won the Premier League and League Cup in the same year. It quickly became a runners-up prize.

Arsenal missed out during this period, losing to Birmingham City in the final. This time coincided with our toughest period where financial restraints meant that our first XI was now filled with kids, and our 2nd XI was basically filled with teenagers. We were struggling to compete against sides who were gaining greater strength in depth.

From 2014, Manchester City showed their dominance and have won 6 League Cups in 8. They were Chelsea on steroids, and their 2nd XI was filled with regular internationals. £50m players. That enabled them to navigate those early stages of the competition.

At the same time, those clubs in the middle of the Premier League followed top sides lead and begun putting out weaker XIs. Your Tottenham’s Aston Villa’s and Everton’s deciding that their Premier League survival was more important than winning a trophy. The result was Manchester City’s path to the final became even easier as their 2nd XI was vastly superior to the 2nd XI of their opponents.

In last couple of years, the League Cup has once again become the trophy of the also rans, with Liverpool winning it twice and Manchester United once.

Now I do agree that Mikel Arteta needs to get more trophies on the board. One FA Cup in 4 seasons is not particularly impressive. But I can handle that if he lands us the big one. And I would happily sacrifice another decade of League Cup success if it meant us winning the Premier League just once.

So tonight we face Bolton, and off the back of 3 tough away games in a row, I expect Arteta to rest and rotate his troops.

With Neto cup tied having played for Bournemouth, 3rd choice Tommy Setford is in line for his first start.

The 18-year-old is highly rated having joined in the summer from Ajax. He will likely be in a straight-out battle with Karl Hein next season to be backup to David Raya. Although I also would not be surprised if the Neto deal is made permanent and that battle happens in a further season or two.

The defence is a bit of a headache for Arteta.

Jakub Kiwor will obviously start, but who is alongside him in the back 4 is anyone guess.

I am sure Arteta would have liked to have rested both William Saliba and Gabriel, the pair having played every minute so far this season. But with Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney out, and Ben White, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori doubtful, he might have to play at least one. I would probably go for Saliba for the balance.

I expect young Myles Lewis-Skelly to come in at left back. The League Cup could be a great tournament for him to show that he is ready to be a factor in Arteta’s thinking moving forward. Right back is more awkward.

Over the summer, Brooke Norton-Cuffy, Reuell Walters and Cedric Soares all moved on. The next in line in the youth team is 18-year-old Josh Nichols. He is the only realistic choice unless either Timber or White recovers. The youngsters inclusion will be another reason why I would expect Saliba to start.

Moving into midfield, Jorginho is a shoe in, and I would expect him to captain the team.

I expect Raheem Sterling and Ethan Nwaneri to both get their first starts. they will be joined by Gabriel Martinelli. Some might be surprised by my inclusion of the Brazilian, but my thinking is simple.

With Leandro Trossard suspended tonight, he gets an enforced mid-week rest. The result is Martinelli plays tonight, and then Trossard starts against Leicester City on Saturday. I expect Arteta to continue rotating the pair midweek and weekends (and we might start to see similar with Sterling and Saka).

the one remaining midfield spot is up for grabs, and it could depend on how Arteta plans to line up against Leicester City.

Thomas Partey is another to have played every Premier League minute this season, but is due a break. That will either happen tonight or on Saturday.

Arteta might choose to go with only Declan Rice in midfield at home to Leicester, then play Kai Havertz in behind Gabriel Jesus. The result will be Partey drops to the bench for the Premier League match, and Rice does not play tonight. However, if Arteta decides to go with Rice and Partey, then I expect to see the Englishman start tonight. He has played the least minutes following his suspension against Tottenham.

Another option would be Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand. However he played 70 minutes against Stoke City for the U21s on Monday.

My bet is we will go for Partey, for at least the first half. And then maybe bring on Declan Rice for the second.

Up front will be Gabriel Jesus.

Predicted XI:

Setford
Nichols Saliba Kiwior Lewis-Skelly
Jorginho Partey
Sterling Nwaneri Martinelli
Jesus

Time to put Manchester City behind us

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And thus ends the wild ride that was Manchester City 2-2 Arsenal.

Arsenal mixed determination, composure and togetherness into one package, and so very nearly beat a team that have only lost 2 of their last 80 matches at home – a record dating back to November 2021. And we so very nearly achieved it with 10 men, too.

Despite that horrible feeling of glorious failure, the positives are still overwhelming. Three incredibly tough away games in the space of a week, and we didn’t lose one. Domestically it also means we have navigated that horrible-looking opening three away matches without defeat – while extending our 2024 unbeaten away record to: won 10, drawn 2, lost 0 – Goals for 33, Goals against 5.

We may not have been at our free-flowing best as yet, but we have still come away from our tough opening five fixtures unbeaten, and now it is time to give the first answer to a question that will be asked many times in the coming weeks: how will Arsenal fare without Martin Ødegaard?


We showed we can still defend as a unit very, very well without the Norwegian. Now though, our next three Premier League matches see us host Leicester and Southampton, followed by a trip to Bournemouth after the next international break. Matches where we will face teams packing out their own defensive third. Matches, where typically – we would rely on Martin to help unlock those doors.

Either way, these are matches we should win and we need to win. And if we do, things could really start to fall into place. A run of victories to push us into late-October with the returns of Mikel Merino and Ødegaard himself then on the horizon? Sounds perfect.

And speaking of individuals, an obvious hard-to-ignore moment from the weekend came with Riccardo Calafiori’s first goal for the club. A beautiful, sweeping longshot, arching away from Ederson’s reach and into the City goal.

And with such a gorgeous strike helping us towards a valiant point, I wanted to know your favourite goal that opened a player’s goalscoring account with The Gunners. It could be as crisp as the late José Antonio Reyes’ first goal against Chelsea, or it could be the “I was there” feeling of seeing John Jensen’s only goal for the club. Whatever one is your favourite for whatever reason, I’d love to hear it.

Nevertheless, another week of thrills, pride and bizarre decisions to digest. But the genuine belief we can have in this side is a great feeling. Let’s just hope we’re allowed to keep 11 men on the pitch for the remaining 33 matches, hey…

Nick

Brave Manchester City secure draw against The Arsenal

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Imagine the scenario…

Arsenal were at home against Manchester City. They were playing their 3rd away game in a row whilst we were playing our 3rd at home.

Following a home match in Europe, we had 3 days of preparation before the Sunday afternoon kick off. Manchester City were playing away on a Thursday, so only had the Saturday to prepare.

We had taken the lead in the opening 10 minutes and then City went down to 10-men moments before half time. We then huffed and puffed and it took us until the 97th minute to grab an equaliser.

A draw at home despite everything being in our favour. The narrative will be that this is an opportunity lost for The Arsenal. And a statement made by Manchester City. That they had bravely battled to a draw despite everything being against them.

Instead, with the tables turned, the narrative being written is that drawing away to the 4-in-a-row champions is a poor result and performance.

3 away games in a week

Tottenham away
Atalanta away
Manchester City away

Many pundits were writing that this would be a week that derails our title chances early in the season.

Back to back away games made harder with a trip to Italy in the Champions League sandwiched in between. Most of our detractors would have had us down to lose all 3 games.

Instead, we come away from the run with 1 win and 2 draws, concerning just 1 goal. And that goal being in the 98th minute of the last game in the run having played with 10 men for over half of it. Incredible.

Little to no rest

Manchester City played at home on Wednesday night. They had 3 full days of preparation following their game against Inter Milan.

Meanwhile, it was gone midnight Thursday in Italy by the time we had left the San Siro. Even if we got a flight home straight from the ground to London, we are probably talking about it being 4 or 5am with the lads being back home in their own beds.

At best, Friday would have been an afternoon rest and recuperation session at London Colney, giving us just a single day to prepare the lads for the toughest away trip of the season.

We have seen the impact of playing Thursday / Sunday in the Europa League. The fact is you are more likely to drop points on the Sunday. And that likelihood further increases if you were playing away mid-week.

Given the lack of rest and preparation for Arsenal, Manchester City went into Sunday as clear favourites.

Over half of the game with 10-men

Post game, Arsenal received a lot of criticism for the way we played.

Players and pundits pointing out statistics that showed Manchester City played the most passes, had the most shots, and were basically camped in our own half for 45 minutes. But what did they expect? Arsenal were down to 10-men.

Should we have done what Fat Ange did last season against Chelsea and gone all out attack, defending on the half way line, and get spanked?

Bernardo Silva came out in his post-game interview comparing Liverpool to Arsenal, saying: “Liverpool always faced us head-on, to win matches. From that perspective, our games against Arsenal haven’t been like the matches against Liverpool were, and still are”

Back in 2017, Liverpool faced Manchester City at the Etihad. They went down to 10 men in the first half as Sadio Mane was controversially sent off. The score was 1-nil to City when the Senegalese forward was given his marching orders. Liverpool lost 5-nil.

Now I might not be a genius, but surely drawing 2-2 is a better result when down to 10-men than losing 5-0?

The fact we went down to 10-men and held on for a point has clearly upset City players, who are used to opponents beinding over like being at a P Diddy party.

We move on

When the fixtures were announced, an early season collapse was predicted for Arsenal.

3 away games in the first 5 games. Trips to Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham. Last seasons 1st, 3rd and 5th. Only Liverpool’s inclusion would have made it a tougher start on the road for us.

Many pundits and fans had us down for 3 defeats. An expectation that at best we would have 6 points from the opening 5-games. Our title challenge over before it even begun.

Instead, we got 7 points from 9 on the road, and conceded just twice.

That leaves us 4th in the league, 2 points off top, and unbeaten. We have conceded just 3 goals this season, with 2 of those coming when we had 10-men.

When you go to places like Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester City, you can not expect to role them over. Win 3 or 4 nil. So I am not sure why our defensive outlook in these games is being criticised, rather than our performances be praised.

Mikeikel Arteta is growing tactically.

We can play defensive like Mourinhom, possession-based football like Pep, and a high press like Klopp. The team has the personnel to change tactics depending on the opponent and in-game situation.

Why is a manger being criticised for being tactically adaptable (meanwhile Ange is being praised for “sticking to his philosophy” and losing!). Why are we being criticised for being unbeaten? And why is the narrative now changing from”Arsenal are naive” to “it is wrong for Arsenal to engage in the dark arts”?

For a decade under Arsene Wenger, we were Southern sofites. We were naive. Unable to grind out results. And now we are doing just that, in 3 tough away games, Arteta is being compared to Tony Pullis and Sean Dyche.

This is a team, remember, that scored a club record league goals last season, breaking the record set the year before.

These opening 3 games were never about style, they were all about results. We could not have won the title in the opening 5 of the season but we could have lost it.

Instead of being 9 points behind City after 5 games, like many predicted, we are just 2. And I guess the Manchester and Liverpool pundits do not like that!

We stay together. We back the manager and what he has built, and we will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.

The Arsenal are now unbeaten to Manchester City in the last 4 games. They have failed to beat us twice in a row at the Etihad. Despite their players trying to criticise our achievement, they are clearly scared of us.

We have proved in the last 2 away games against them that we are now their equals. Head to head there is nothing between us. We now need to do it for 38 league games.

My final thought is finishing 2nd behind Manchester City is not a failure considering what they have spent (on both transfers and salaries) in the last decade. Yes, some fans will point to “net spend”, but we all know this is meaningless. City are currently spending “less” because they have a well establish team built over the last 10-years.

We are in the race.

Keenos