Arsenal News Round-up: Dortmund Preview, Wilshere’s Bet & Gotze Link

Don’t you just love Europe’s elite club football competition? An exquisite tournament where the best teams from the continent lock horns for ultimate glory. The clubs from Manchester have been the big bullies of the Premier League betting odds this season but yesterday night’s Champions League games proved again that other European football cultures are a different ball game compared to the teams in the Premier League that just prefer to park the bus when they meet the so-called juggernauts of the League.

Manchester City have been phenomenal in the Premier League by dropping just two points in 12 games and it’s safe to say you should be putting your house on them winning the league at this stage. But when they visited the San Paolo in Italy, Edinson Cavani showed them how it was done and a bad result against Group leaders Bayern Munich would mean that the current FA Cup holders will be playing Thursday night football in the Europa League after Christmas. Nice.

Moving over to Arsenal news, Wojciech Szczesny feels that the team’s defending has massively improved and he made some comments about his coordination with his back line on the pitch. He also said that his best is yet to come and that’s a positive thing if you ask me. With Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone trying hard to push on for a starting place, Szczesny has to be on his toes to put in performances that’ll make the other goalies feel at home on Arsenal’s bench.

Wilshere Bet

Jack Wilshere hasn’t featured for Arsenal this season and it seems as if he’s going to spend more time out as Arsene Wenger recently said that he might be out till January at least. However, Wilshere has taken the role of an ardent Arsenal supporter and he believes that the Arsenal-above-Spurs trend will continue despite Tottenham’s good form and he went as far as placing a bet to back his claims:

“I tell you what at the end of the season if Spurs finish above Arsenal I will give £3000 to charity.”

“If Arsenal finish above Spurs every Spurs fan that follows me must send me a pound each and I will give it to @Jack_Marshall_ charity!”

“Do we have a deal THFC fans!?”

His manager also backed his gamble on Arsenal finishing above Tottenham:

“He made a contest. The good thing is a charity will get some money. If we finish above Tottenham he said the Tottenham supporters have to spend £1 each, so because they have many I hope the charity gets a lot of money!

“I hope Wilshere won’t pay anything! We are ready for a challenge, and hopefully the charity will get some money – but not from us!”

Wenger also urged the fans to be patient with Per Mertesacker as the defender needs time to adjust. Mertesacker hasn’t been stellar in most of his games so far but his performance against Chelsea and Tottenham were questionable. Recently, he was involved in a defensive cock-up that led to Norwich City’s match opener.

Gotze Linked

The winter transfer window is around the corner and the media have linked Borussia Dortmund’s teenage sensation Mario Gotze to the club. They’ve reported that Arsenal can get the wonder kid for £30m but Wenger has remained coy on the potential transfer. Wenger took out time to praise the bloke but he also said he’s happy with his squad and Arsenal isn’t after any player at the moment.

Mario Gotze came into the fray last season and he wasn’t overawed by being under the spotlight at such a young age. He scored six goals and laid on 15 assists last season and he recently scored Dortmund’s only goal in the top-of-the-table crunch match against Bayern Munich last weekend.

Gotze will be part of a Dortmund team that will visit the Emirates Stadium tonight in a Champions League match of utmost importance to both sides. Arsenal needs the win to seal a place in he knockout phase while Dortmund would need to get a result to give them some hope to qualify as they have a 6-pointer against Marseille on match day six.

Dortmund is a side that’s good with the ball and they have technically astute players that can pose a threat to Arsenal tonight. They also have a dynamic midfield with a perfect blend of youth and experience in the form of Sven Bender and Sebastien Kehl. Mario Gotze and Kevin Groβkreutz will add some wit through the flanks while Shinji Kagawa will play in the hole behind Rort Lewandowski.

Team News

To team news, I expect Wojciech Szczesny to continue in goal and Laurent Koscielny will be deployed as a right back following his good performance against Norwich. Thomas Vermaelen and Per Mertesacker will pair up at the heart of the defense while Andre Santos will continue on the left.

The midfield trio of Alex Song, Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey will have to work really hard because Bender and Kehl are known for their strong tackles and superb work rate. Wenger has confirmed that the in-form Robin van Persie will start and he’ll have the support of Gervinho and Theo Walcott.

Arsene Wenger has also confirmed the return to action of Abou Diaby and it seems as if he came earlier than scheduled. Wenger says that he’s doing well in training so we might just see him make a subs appearance tonight or in the Fulham game coming up this weekend.

Enjoy the game wherever you are.