Premier League leading Arsenal resume their Champions League campaign Tuesday evening in the Czech capital against Slavia Prague, having kept three consecutive European clean sheets, away against Athletic Club in Bilbao and home to Olympiacos and Atletico de Madrid for an impressive goal difference of 8-0. What with Arsenal’s domestic defensive form being nearly as stingy of late, the Czechs could find scoring a bit of a conundrum but I have no doubt they will be willing to give it their best shot.
The last time Arsenal faced Sparta in this competition, in October 2007, Alexander Hleb and Theo Walcott were among the goal scorers as the Gunners thrashed Sparta by 7-0. It is doubtful that we might see such an unbalanced contest again, and we certainly won’t see the same faces but I have a feeling that Arsenal may have enough to keep their unstained European record intact.
Slavia
Slavia Prague are the defending Czech league champions, and this season they are tied for the league lead with rivals Sparta Prague on 30 points after 14 matches played. In Champions League competition, Slavia drew their lone home match 2-2 with Bodø/Glimt, before losing by three goals at Inter Milan, and playing a goalless draw at Atalanta. They are not really among the elite of Europe, but they will be playing before a raucous crowd on one of the biggest home fixtures of their European season, so they will pose a real threat no matter the names of the players they put out on the night.
Arsenal Team News
The media reported after Saturday’s efficient 2-0 win at Burnley that Viktor Gyökeres felt a niggle which made the boss decide not to let him play in the second half. Martin Zubimendi was subbed off after feeling some muscular discomfort, but he wasn’t available for Slavia in any case. Zubimendi practiced today (Monday), and hopefully both players will be back for Sunderland away next weekend if not for this match.
Mikel Arteta may decide to rest Declan Rice to ensure he doesn’t pick up a ban that would prevent him from facing Bayern in Arsenal’s next Champions League game. Rice should be an essential component of our midfield against Bayern so resting him for this one seems to me to be Mikel’s best option. But the boss may also rest a few others leaving Arsenal with a starting team something like this one:
Raya
White Mosquera Gabriel Hincapié
Nørgaard Merino Lewis-Skelly
Nwaneri Eze Trossard
The ’holic pound
7-0 should not be on the cards but I have a feeling that our recent record of defensive stinginess will continue, and I also think that we may find scoring a bit easier than we have done recently on the domestic front, so I am predicting a good old 3-0 to the Arsenal.
Enjoy the game, ‘holics, and Come on you Gunners!
Tend to agree with your team, bt8. Let’s not risk anyone ahead of Sunderland. We can have Rice, Saka et al on the bench in case anything goes pear shaped.
The manager has confirmed that Gyokeres will not okay tomorrow night and was inscrutable about his availability for the weekend.
Good looking team, bt8. Let’s keep a clean sheet and win.
Play, not okay.
Freudian.
Good stuff, bt8. I like the philosophy behind your team selection (especially the absence of Rice) but I would give Eze a break and play Andre Double-Barrel and ask him to go one better than he did against Brighton and score the goal that his run in behind deserved. I doubt that Arteta will rotate his XI quite as much though. However, the keys to rotating the team so much is to give these players match experience together and to have the big guns on the bench to help out if required.
COYG
Thanks bt8, would be happy with that 3-0 win given Slavia seem
to have a fairly tight defence of their own.
I’d guess Merino will be pressed into service up front, and without
Zubi I think Declan may have to play too but MA surprised me
in the Carabao so who knows who he will pick really.
Thanks for a bright and breezy preview, bt8. I’d take your 3-0 — and no more injuries — in a heartbeat.
Bath@5: Harriman-Annous has travelled to Prague. He could well get on, given the lack of strikers. Starting him would allow a Norgaard, Merino, Eze midfield, which would be decently balanced. MLS could then start at left back or be used in his finisher role. I suspect Saka will start.
The GHF Predictathon leaderboard and form guide updates for Matchweek 10 have been posted. Improvements in scores all round, but who improved more than others? You know where to find the answer…
i’d like to see harriman-annous and dowman start, with trossard, up front. nwaneri in midfield with merino and norgaard. mls rather than hincapie. let the slavians feel the potency of hale end.
hincapie, eze, saka, rice on the bench as necessary. really resist bringing rice on. rather push up mls to midfield and bring hincapie in at 60 or later…
otherwise, nicely done, bt8. thank you!
One thing about starting neither Saka nor Rice is that the potency of our corners diminishes.
Thanks bt8 – guessing a team for this one is tough but Mikel often surprises with his will to win every game undiluted.
Note the early kick off time – 17.45UK time.
In alumni news, Arteta confirmed in his pre-match press conference in Prague that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, formerly of this parish, is training with the Academy teams while he looks for a new club after Beskitas cut him loose.
Thank you bt8 for the thoughtful preview!
Slavia Praha’s stadium, Fortuna Arena, is far away from the main city, in the southeastern suburbs, past trendy Vršovice, in an area literally called Eden. 🙂 Very far from the city rival Sparta’s — Tomáš Rosický‘s club — epet Arena, north of the Vltava river, not too far away from the castle. Slavia also has kind of a very local derby against the Bohemians (because it’s Bohemia, after all :-)) of Vršovice. Interestingly, but unsurprisingly because this is not an uncommon pattern in the continental clubs, the first big successes for Slavia came under the tutelage of a football manager from the UK in the early 1900s, a Scotsman named Johnny Madden.
While I think your predicted starting eleven would be a very good choice indeed, I don’t think Mikel will take quite that much chance. In the context of the season this is actually a very important match: win this, and then two wins from the remaining four matches would very likely see us in the top eight with 18 points. Given we have to play Bayern and Inter, even though our full strength team would beat them this year, in that four match run — other opponents being Brugge away and Kairat at home — having some margin for error would be a good plan. I think we will see a team like this:
Raya
White – Saliba – Gabriel – MLS
Nwaneri – Norgaard – Rice
Saka – Merino – Trossard
If we can get a dominant enough scoreline by the 60th minute, the changes will be brought in.
This won’t be an easy match, the home atmosphere will drive the Slavia players a lot. Keeping with the mean, a 2-0 away win will suit us perfectly well.
Come on Arsenal!
Team news
Arteta going with a strong XI, arguably his strongest available XI. Some youth on the bench to run at tired Slavian legs and give some of ours an early rest with the trip to Sunderland at the weekend in mind. Looks like Kepa is an addition to our injury list.
One of Basildon’s finest on the bench, too, in Kepa’s absence — and adding to Bath’s collection of double-barreled surnames.
Jeez that big lad up front for Slavia is a massive unit.
Looks like Gabriel’s given him a dead leg. Off comes the genetic freak. 6’6” evidently. No 25, Corey.
3-0 away from home in the CL, great result
3-0 it was. bt8 knows!
Oh yeah, well nailed bt8!
Merino really is a very useful player to have, loved the goal just after half-time.
Congrats to Max Dowman too, youngest ever!
Hopefully no new injuries and however briefly top of another league 😂
Slavia Prague had a lively opening 10 minutes, pressing high, but once we had stamped control on the game, they didn’t really offer much threat. On to the much more testing Bayern Munich we go.
Congrats to Dowman on becoming the youngest player to appear in the CL.
C100@17: Not only is Chory 6’6″ and change, he weighs 15 stone 12 lbs (101 kgs in the new money). Big Gabi, hardly a lightweight, is only 13 stone 10 lbs (87 kgs).
Will Merino get a new song?
🎵Mikel Merino
He scores without looking.
>>>>>>>