Arsenal take on Stoke City at the Emirates this saturday, knowing fully well that any points dropped here, would deal a severe blow at their title-chances. Our home form has been terrible this season, so don’t go thinking this is going to be a walk-over!
Injury news:
Gibbs, Tommy-V, Almunia are still out of the squad. However Abou Diaby has returned to training and may feature against Tony Pulis’ men. It is not clear who will start in goal for Arsenal, but majority of Gooners would prefer Szczesny over Luke. So lets see what Le Boss decides….
Predicted Team Line-ups:
——————————————————SZCZESNY————————————————–
–SAGNA————————KOSHER——————————SQ18———————-CLICHY—-
——————————————————–SONG—————————————————–
————————————CESC——————————-NASRI————————————
—THEO—————————————————————————————–ARSHAVIN—-
———————————————————RVP——————————————————–
SUBS: LUKE, EBOUE, DJOUROU, TR7, JACK, CHAMAKH, NIKKO.
Tactics:
I’ll keep it simple and precise. We have to press like Barcelona. The tempo of the game from our side must be kept at a constant high level, and Song should be told not to move up ! Cesc and Nasri should both pull the strings from midfield, and if required Cesc can fall in deep beside Song, to initiate long-balls. Of course then the formation shall change to a 4-2-3-1, with Nasri in the middle. For me RVP is a complete striker and should be given some amount of game-time. Theo and Arshavin should provide us with some width, so I guess crosses won’t be that much of a problem. Chamakh if required can be brought on later.
Now the boss may choose to start, so in that case He will move into Nasri’s role, and either Theo or Arshavin will be replaced.
ARMOURY SQUARE PREDICTION: Arsenal FC 2-0 Stoke FC…I hope I don’t jinx the team, but I do have confidence that we can pick up all 3 points this saturday at the Emirates.
Cheer-i-o,
