So the first bit of news is the Europa League draw.
Arsenal face Rapid Wein of Austria, Norway’s Molde and Republic of Ireland side Dundalk.
As a travelling fan, it is a frustrating draw. Dundalk and Vienna would have been great trips.
The good news for Arsenal is that we do not have to travel to the far side of Europe.
Dundalk is an hour and 20 minutes and Vienna a little over 2 hours. There are not any direct flights from London to Molde, but expect Arsenal to charter a flight which will take around 2 and a half hours.
With games coming thick and fast due to the shortened season, Mikel Arteta will be pleased that players should be in their beds in London by around 2am.
It should be a group that Arsenal negotiate with ease.
Arsenal did not really get the respect for beating Liverpool in the League Cup that they perhaps deserved.
Many people have said Arsenal faced “Liverpool’s C side” or “Liverpool U23s”, but this is just not true.
Liverpool fielded their two best players Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk.
On top of these superstars, they also had the likes of 34-year-old James Milner and new £40million signing Diego Jota.
It also ignored that this was no where near Arsenal’s best team, without the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin.
Comparing the starting XI’s gives interesting results:
Transfer Value:
Arsenal £153.5m
Liverpool £168.5m
Average Age:
Arsenal 24.5yrs
Liverpool 25yrs
U21 Players:
Liverpool 3
Arsenal 3
Academy Products:
Liverpool 4
Arsenal 3
So yes, it was not Liverpool’s strongest XI, but it is clear that the XI put out by Arsenal was of similar standard. Arteta deserves some respect for beating Liverpool 3 times in 4 attempts, regardless of competition, team or penalties.
One player to come out of the Liverpool game with immense credit was Gabriel.
It was another powerful performance as he dealt easily with Salah.
If Arsenal move to 4 at the back, it has to be Gabriel plus one.
Dani Ceballos has been called up to the Spain squad. Thiago has been left out.
Tomorrow is Sheffield United.
It should have been the first game of the season for home fans this season. Instead it is unlikely we will be allowed back in grounds this year.
Maybe we might be able to do one of those Euro away trips if UEFA OK travelling fans.
Anfield Stadium, Anfield Road, Anfield, Liverpool L4 0TH
Thursday, 1st October 2020. Kick-off time: 7.45pm
(4-2-3-1) Bernd Leno; Cédric Soares, Gabriel Magalhães, Rob Holding, Sead Kolašinac; Joe Willock, Granit Xhaka; Nicolas Pépé, Dani Ceballos, Bukayo Saka; Eddie Nketiah.
Substitutes: Kieran Tierney, Alexandre Lacazette, Alex Rúnarsson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, David Luiz, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny.
Scorers: Alexandre Lacazette, Cédric Soares, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Nicolas Pépé, Joe Willock
Yellow Cards: Cédric Soares, Granit Xhaka
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 43%
Referee: Kevin Friend
Assistant Referees: Adrian Holmes, Simon Beck
Fourth Official: Paul Tierney
Attendance: A maximum of 300 attendees due to UK government coronavirus restructions
Here we are again, just three days after our last visit to Anfield; only now we lock horns with Liverpool in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup. Traditionally, this competition has always been viewed as the “Aunt Sally” of domestic cup competitions, which is extremely unfair, because as we know, this can lead to a cup final hosted at Wembley Stadium and a possible placement in a European competition for the winning club next season. As expected, we have a few changes in the team this evening, but despite that, it still is an excellent line-up, all things considered. Everything to play for tonight, then. Let’s go!
Surprisingly, it was a bit of a messy start, really, with the ball being given away here and there, with both sides desperately trying to grab an early advantage.As early as the eighth minute, Nicolas Pépé ran to the byline, and after a mix-up in the Liverpool penalty area, the ball fell to Eddie Nketiah, and as he tried to take it around Adrian, he pushed the ball away from him. The home side appeared to wake up and put us under pressure now; Diego Jota came close with an awkward shot and a despite a period of Liverpool dominance, we managed to break out and Granit Xhaka supplied a couple of superb crosses into the Liverpool penalty area, but unfortunately his efforts came to nothing. The rest of the half settled down, and although both sides had their chances, the match became some kind of strange stalemate, with the only incident of note was when Liverpool demanded a penalty kick after Dani Ceballos tripped Diego Jota outside the penalty area a minute or so before the break. Thankfully referee Kevin Friend saw through their nonsense and waved them away, before blowing his whistle for half-time.
We made no changes during the interval and slowly and surely, Liverpool were winning the odd ball here and there, but it has to be said that in the chaotic ten minute or so period after half-time, Bernd Leno was immense. He stopped the home side from scoring on several occasions and single-handedly marshalled his defenders in front of him constantly. However, things started to change for us when Dani Ceballos was substituted for Mohamed Elneny twenty minutes before the end, and almost immediately, we came close to scoring on two occasions when Bukayo Saka and Rob Holding were desperately unlucky in not getting on the scoresheet. Ten minutes later, Eddie Nketiah really should have scored with a fantastic header, but unbelievably it went wide of the target by at least two yards. With five minutes of the match remaining, just a couple of minutes apart, Alexandre Lacazette replaced Eddie Nketiah, and Bukayo Saka was substituted for Ainsley Maitland-Niles in a final throw of the dice for Mikel Arteta. Liverpool sensed this, and literally threw everything at us, but thankfully our organised defence held, and as the time ebbed away, it was becoming obvious that we were all heading for the dreaded penalty shoot-out.
And so it’s penalties, and after a long, tiring match at Anfield, this is surely a situation that neither club must be looking forward to. James Milner sends Bernd Leno the wrong way to put the home team ahead, and Alexandre Lacazette also does the same thing to the Liverpool goalkeeper to equalise. Georginio Wijnaldum and Cédric Soares score the next two, whilst our hearts were in our mouths when Takumi Minamino scored for Liverpool, and sadly Mohamed Elneny saw his penalty saved to give advantage to the home side. Thankfully, Divock Origi’s penalty was saved by Bernd Leno and young Ainsley Maitland-Niles levelled the scores again. Curtis Jones and Nicolas Pépé made sure with their penalties to ensure that we are now into sudden death. An extremely nervous Harry Wilson saw his penalty saved well by Bernd Leno, and all eyes were now on our next man to step up to the plate. Joe Willock ran up, stroked the ball and Adrian was unable to stop the ball rolling over the line and as a result, we are through to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup by beating Liverpool 5-4 on penalties at Anfield on a dark and dank Thursday evening.
Phew! We did it! And at Anfield too! This victory will certainly lift everyone here at the club, and the chance to go all the way to Wembley in this competition will surely propel the players to fight for places in the first team, and the desire to win matches in all competitions will now be greater, and the sheer will to win in the hearts of the younger players must undoubtedly go up several notches now. Our next opponents in this competition are Manchester City at home in the third week of December, and after tonight, who knows what this side is truly capable of? Well done everyone!
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: Sheffield United at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, 4th October at 2.00pm (Premier League). Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon.
Arsenal will get a deal for Lyon midfielder Houssem Auoar over the line. It will be done.
His signing will add important creativity to Mikel Arteta’s side; and will also see Arsenal transition from 343 to 433.
For a long time, the view has been that Arteta prefers to play 433, but did not have the players to do so. Auoar changes that.
Whilst Auoar is a creative player, he is not a Mesut Ozil – a player who want to play behind the forward line, and contribute little defensively.
For Lyon, Auoar usually plays on the left hand side of a midfield 3. Arteta will look to see him replicate that:
Leno
Bellerin Luiz Gabriel Tierney
Ceballos Xhaka Auoar
Pepe Lacazette Aubameyang
Xhaka remains fairly static in the middle of the park, allowing the 2 number 8s either side to press and push forward – with Ceballos offering creativity on the right hand side of the pitch and Aouar on the left.
(Note: at this point this isn’t a debate on who the front 3 is. Whether it is Willian on the right instead of Nicolas Pepe, Bukayo Saka on the left it Aubameyang down the middle. It’s a blog for another day).
Auoar will change the way Arsenal set up.
Matteo Guendouzi
Arsenal quickly realised this summer that the big bids for Matteo Guendouzi were not coming in.
The midfielder is still just 21-years-old and is extremely talented. But a mixture of attitude and Covid19 has seen his value plummet.
Guendouzi’s value at Arsenal has not been as low as it is now since joining the club.
Whilst he only has 2 years left on his contract, a good season on loan at Marseille next season will see his stock rise again.
If he gets his head down, Arsenal would expect his value to rise again and bids northwards of £35m next summer.
Regardless of performances, his time at Arsenal is over.
Bukayo Saka
Well deserved England call up.
Alongside Ainsley Maitland-Niles, it is the first time in a while 2 Arsenal players have been selected in the England squad.
Just hope Gareth Southgate doesn’t waste his talent.
Bernd Leno
Fabulous performance from Arsenal’s number 1 last night.
Bernd Leno has not let the club down since he joined Arsenal from Leverkusen, and Arsenal were completely correct in backing the man with over 300 top flight games to his name.
Now it is time for fans to forget about Emiliano Martinez, move on, and back the keeper who wanted to stay and fight for his place.
Celebrations
When did everyone become so concerned about how other clubs celebrate trophies?
Is there a rule book on what games teams can and can not celebrate winning? How much they can celebrate? What is too much? What is no enough?
How about just let players and fans live in the moment, and celebrate how they naturally feel at the time.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 