Sunday afternoon, in the last game of the season’s opening half, Arsenal will get the chance to avenge their one and only defeat to date when they host the Red Devils of Manchester. In early September Sunday’s guests beat the Gunners 3-1 in the reverse fixture thanks to two second half counterattacking goals scored by Marcus Rashford after Bukayo Saka had scored an equalizer. Thomas Partey was unavailable that day due to injury, and our weakened midfield looked uncertain at times. The game turned after Martinelli’s opening goal was ruled out for a dubious foul in the build-up after a pack of angry Mancs surrounded the referee demanding a VAR check. Needless to say, the authorities never sanctioned United, but I digress. Arsenal need to maintain their focus, prove their maturity once again, and prevent United from catching them out at the back as they did last time.
During the World Cup break, Arsenal’s critics were predicting that Arsenal would fall away after the season resumed. So how have the Gunners fared so far? I’d say that three wins and a draw in four matches doesn’t sound so bad, and certainly not when Arsenal have maintained their five point lead over second placed Manchester City while having played one match fewer. The critics will be saying that Arsenal’s fixture list wasn’t difficult but those three wins were over 5th placed Spurs and 7th placed Brighton as well as relegation-threatened West Ham, and the draw was with 3rd placed Newcastle, so it’s actually been a quite rigorous test for Arsenal so far this month.
On January 14th press reports suggested that Arsenal were confident of completing the Mykhailo Mudryk signing in time for the Ukraine winger to make his debut in this game but the very next day Chelsea signed the player in question. A few days later, transfer window frustration had receded and Arsenal announced the signing of left winger Leandro Trossard who is in the prime of his career, has 25 Premier League goals to his name, and promises to provide needed depth in Arsenal’s attacking positions. Here’s hoping we get a glimpse of him on Sunday.
The Opposition
The third-placed Red Mancs are on an excellent run of form having defeated Burnley and Charlton to get into the League Cup semifinals after dispatching Everton in the FA Cup. In the Premier League they are undefeated since the World Cup break, pulling 3-0 home clean sheets on Forest and Bournemouth, a 0-1 away clean sheet on Wolves, a 2-1 derby win against Citeh on January 14th, and Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace. Prior to the Palace game United had won nine games in a row in all competitions equalling their longest run since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. Despite failing to score at Palace, Rashford had scored eight goals in his previous seven games.
Coach Erik ten Hag deserves a lot of credit for turning United in a positive direction in a short time, notably by forcing out the negative influence of Cristiano Ronaldo just before the World Cup, but also by easing out the previously untouchable Maguire from United’s starting back line. The signing of Casemiro boosted the effectiveness of United’s midfield, but his suspension means we may see Fred or McTominay instead. Keeper David de Gea commented: “It’s a big blow to lose Casemiro for Sunday. Now we are missing one of our best players for a big game and it is a big loss for us.” How very sad for them.
In the United defence, young left back Tyrell Malacia has shared that position with Luke Shaw. Martinez and Varane were first-choice centre-backs until the World Cup, but ten Hag played Shaw there until the Argentine came back from his national side celebrations for the Palace game, and Shaw returned to left back. Diogo Dalot had taken over on the right side for most of the season but Aaron Wan-Bissaka has returned with Dalot missing the last few games due to injury. Early this week the Mancs signed giant Dutch loanee Wout Weghorst, the Burnley forward who began the season at Beşiktaş. He started against Palace on Wednesday but his partnership with Rashford didn’t seem to produce ten Hag’s desired result against a packed defence. I expect another of United’s pacy mobile forwards like Garnacho or Elanga will replace Weghorst to increase their counterattacking threat with Arsenal on the ball.
Arsenal XI
The signing of Trossard gives the Arsenal squad additional attacking depth, and alleviates concerns about the length of time they will be missing Gabriel Jesús as well as the possibility of any new injuries along the front line. It remains to be seen if Arsenal’s transfer window will bring cover for Thomas and Xhaka in midfield. With a FA Cup match against Manchester City looming on Friday, and the resumption of Europa League play a little over a month away, it is good to have capable players like Tierney, Tomiyasu and Trossard available but Arsenal should line up against United with this settled side:
Ramsdale
White Saliba Gabriel Zinchenko
Thomas
Ødegaard Xhaka
Saka Nketiah Martinelli
The ‘holic pound
Between the Gunners’ September loss at Old Trafford and last April’s win at the Grove, the last two league encounters between these clubs resulted in 3-1 wins to the home side, making another such result either more or less likely in a statistical sense. I’m tempted to predict another 3-1 home win but my gut tells me this one is going to end up 1-0 to the Arsenal with William Saliba powering home the winning header in the second half, and the Arsenal fans to erupt in Saliba song.
To those who are attending, please be sure to cheer Arsenal on to victory but don’t neglect to let us know how the singing went, and may the revenge be filled with merriment.
Enjoy the game, ‘holics.
oh, i’ll drink to that. but now i’ll read the post 🙂
fine post, bt8. i share the 1-0 optimism, no call on which of our lads will score it. maybe even a de gea own goal? i’d take that. 🙂
anything to win. everything to win. come on, lads!
Thanks bt8, an excellent preview of a once again relevant clash with Manure. They have been resurgent as you say though the fixture list gave them a kind end to 2022 and an odd refereeing decision gave them the win against Shitteh. As de gea said casemiro is a loss for them but unsurprisingly he didn’t mention casemiro was lucky not to get a red for that tackle. Anyway, McTominay / Fred will make it a cloggy clumpy midfield pairing for them, which will hopefully give us a few free-kick situations to exploit for Gabriel / Saliba to nod in a goal or two. If they score having out-jumped Martinez I wouldn’t mind at all. I think we can get at their full-backs too as the central areas will be congested and Saka is certainly good enough to toast Shaw. Manage their young forwards with our now customary defensive competence and a sprightly 3-0 is on the cards. Oh, almost forgot Bruno Fernandes is a divey cheat who should be charged by the FA every week but inexplicably isn’t, perhaps because they are too busy exaggerating shit in order to fine The Arsenal.
Welcome to Trossard and soon Kiwior I hope. Jakub is a player I have been following for at least as long as TTG in the previous drinks and he will if all goes well be a big help later this season.
On an unrelated note Juve have been very naughty boys
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64355497
I noticed the Spud director of football Paratici got a 30 month ban.
It may be applied worldwide as FIFA/UEFA are being asked to apply
the ban everywhere. Course, the way things are going in the Marshes
he may be fired before that 😃
Excellent preview bt8!
Your team looks good. Looking forward to everyone, including the electrifying home support, playing their part towards a convincing win. As Mikel mentions, hopefully the sobering lessons learned in the away fixture will help us both tactically and psychologically.
This was the rivalry that defined Premier League and helped shape its worldwide popularity in the 90s and earlier in this century. Mikel alluded to that history in his interview. I wonder if he hasn’t used examples of some of those feisty encounters to raise the intensity this weekend.
Any win will do, and a convincing 3-1 would do perfectly.
Come on Arsenal!
And a hearty welcome to Trossard. If he can find consistency to match with his impressive technical abilities in tight spaces and the knack for important goals, he can become a genuinely potent weapon in our attacking set-up.
Your customary excellent and comprehensive preview, bt8. As you note, the Mancs have found a vein of form, but so have we. We will have a fight on our hands, no doubt, but we can win this 2-0 to avenge the setback at the OT.
Thanks bt8
I’m expecting a lot of niggle and a good old 1-0 will do nicely.
UTA
Thanks for an excellent preview, bt8. Your team selection and predicted 1-0 to the Arsenal feel about right to me. I would of course be delighted if we delivered a wider margin. This is going to be a tight and tense affair and predictions of thuggery from the opposition acknowledge Manure’s traditional strategy for stopping a talented Arsenal team. If in his attempt to emulate Demento’s modus operandi ten Hag adds both McTominey and Martinez to the vile Fernandez in their starting line up I would expect them to garner a hat trick of early cards if the official were to do his job properly (I know!). If that snide malign little Dutchman plays at left back then I would expect a quartet of early yellows.
I look forward to a statement victory as well as to a fine prematch lunchtime reunion with ‘holics from far and wide.
Oh! I forgot! A warm welcome to Leandro Trossard. He was always a thorn in our side when we played Brighton in recent years and is an excellent addition to our attacking options. I think his playing style is made to measure for this Arteta team. There are no guarantees but I am optimistic he will be a great success at TNHOF. Perhaps even with a debut winning goal today?
It sounds like Edu is on a roll – Kiwior is exactly what we need to sustain our backline’s high level of performance (as well as provide much needed emergency cover in central midfield) and Fresneda, described as a right sided Zinchenko, may well be the next piece in Mikel’s jigsaw. Sign ’em up, Edu!
Of course, I must confess not to having as much knowledge of Jakub Kiwior as TTG and OskaMatt.
Wonderful words of weekend wisdom, bt8 !
Yes, the result at the headquarters of the Surrey Supporters Club was a mixture of dastardly decisions and tactical twittishness from us. We will certainly be hoping to reverse that scoreline although I’m reigning in my usual optimism and will be happy with any victory.
That could well depend on which of the Mancy Mafia and the Salford Sopranos have been allocated this game. Well, I can tell you that Anthony Taylor is the Man in Black, Andre Marriner is fourth official, and Michael Salisbury (whooooo ?) is on VAR.
I can also tell you that the Manchester fans are fearful that Anthony Taylor will cost them the match by giving it away in our favour.
I guess we fans are more similar than we might like to think then 😳
Come on You Rreedddssss !
I can tell you that I was thrilled to hear we had / were about to sign Jakob Kiwior and have been totally convinced of his quality ever since I first heard of him yesterday lunchtime.
Robert Lewandowski apparently thinks he’s a bit special so I’d say he must be pretty good.
Played in all Poland’s World Cup games, disappointing as their run was – but no blame attached to him. Left footed central defenders are like gold dust and Arteta and Edu have done a fair old job of spotting talent so far.
Cheers bt8. After the Spuds surrendered to City, we might be under a little bit of pressure again, as City play again before we do. Any victory would be huge. Going to be a tough game but should be a great day. Looking forward to it.
Does the reported Kiwior interest mean that none of the Academy centre-backs is seen as likely to make it to the first team, or that we have a shortage of left-footed ones?
It was nice to watch the Liverpoo / Chavs game with not a care in the world as to the result as both are irrelevant to us. Been a while.
I say watched but I mean for the first 30 as they were both crap and I couldn’t be bothered after that.
Bt8
That’s an excellent and very realistic preview, many thanks .
A group of sundry Holics are meeting for lunch beforehand , an occasion which I think we are all looking forward to especially as Bath is paying 😀
I’m hopeful of a 2-1 win. If we can get three points it would represent a fine haul from the clump of games for the month from Boxing Day.
Great preview Bt8. Really looking forward to the game and our third GHF lunch of the season before. Meanwhile here’s Jonathan Liew on Ben White and Luke Shaw.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jan/21/arteta-and-ten-hag-take-inspiration-from-cruyff-in-their-full-back-fluidity
Ned,
Pangloss and I have been speculating on how many managers have their first match against Arsenal .
It is likely Frank Lampard will be out on his ear before we play Everton and a new manager in situ . I remember Big Ron taking over Forest and playing us in his first game and I have a feeling that we tend to see new managers pitching up against us more often than other clubs – but this may be paranoia and wariness of the ‘bounce’ that new managers can provide . Have the monks any stats on this ?
Cheers bt8!
We are fucking do those cunts tomorrow. Fear not.
What Esso said 💪
just saw patti smith in november, esso. amazing. she closed with this, and made it a singalong with the 400 in attendance. so good.
let’s batter those manc bastards.
The journey starts. Mild local transport problems but I should have enough margin.
A delectable amuse bouche, cheers bt8!
Oh, and Esso knows!
MMBD
Departing on time. Looking forward to seeing some of you later!
It’s foggy and frosty here in Cambridgeshire. Headed off in about an hour. Safe travels all and see you there!
Excellent preview bt8.
After the neighbours from Middlesex this has always been the team next of the list who must be mightily despatched. They have mainly been a step up from the marsh dwellers so nerves before the match not uncommon. We need to avenge their fortunate win at Old Toilet earlier in the season – let’s go gunners and send them back north with their tales between their legs. A hard fought 2-0 to the good guys.
Oh, and fuck manure!
COYRRR
A misty and frosty morning here on the banks of the Thames. Nerves just beginning to jangle despite the pre-match prospect of a fine lunch with good company and TTG :0). This afternoon’s game is yet another test of our mettle. I hope that we can conclusively prove that we are indeed as good as we aspire to be and that we put these pretenders to the sword with style and aplomb. Far too often in the past decade we have failed to perform against dysfunctional Manure sides and not done ourselves justice. Make today’s result payback and a platform for the rest of our season. Focus, focus, focus.
COYG
Greetings from Chicago and COYG! I fear the game may coincide with my flight back home but if so I’d like to say FMUCWATRRFSNBAMA.
And many thanks for reading the post and for your kind comments above. A special shout out to those gathering before the game and meeting old friends and new.
TTG@16: Not easy data to compile but do you and Pangloss have Eddie Howe on your list? His first Newcastle game was against us.
Are you sure of that, Ned? According to transfermarkt, he was appointed on 8-Nov-2021. Newcastle United played Brentford on Nov 20 and us on Nov 27.
Sorry to nitpick, but I checked all current PL managers on transfermarkt, and when I told TTG his immediate response was to put the question to you.
COYG
Cheers, bt8! Excellent preview. I can not argue with your team selection but I want to beat Manure badly. I would like to see a 4:1 beating here.
Every time we play against Manure it’s feel like a freedom fight. Fighting agains a particularly ugly agressor.
All those dubious decesions which went for them all those injusticies we suffered are burning. A good thrashing here could ease the pain.
COYG
Going a bit further this line, I think Fergie’s famous hairdryer style was nothing short of abusive. Just check what kind of personalities were developed by Ferguson. Beckhem the money maker or Ryan Giggs the serial cheater and women beater. Compared this with Viera or Arteta under Wenger.
Harmony is the word!
COYG
A little revenge for our loss in Sept please. Expect City to beat Wolves so lead will be 2 pts come game time. I think adding Trossard was very good business, a player that can slot in immediately and provide coverage across the front 3 and a spark off the bench.
COYG!
Re: Up4GrabsNow!
Don’t give up on Wolves, they could still get something from this game. I’m not watching but suspect they are four times more solid defensively than Sp**s.
Rodri (Manchester City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
TTG & Pangloss: This is a snapshot; of the 27 men who have managed in the Premiership this season, only Eddie Howe had his first game in charge for any of his clubs against us. The clubs most often facing the new manager bounce, at least against this cohort of managers, who have collectively managed 54 clubs in English football, are Brentford, Chelsea, Liverpool, Watford and Wolves, thrice apiece. David Moyes is the only manager in the set to face the same club more than once in his first game in charge of a new club; Fulham was his first opponent after taking over at both Everton and Preston. But Big Ron also did it, with Forest in 1999, as you remember, losing 1-0, and with Sheffield Wednesday in 1997, winning 2-0. He almost made it a hat-trick, but we were his third game after he took over at Villa in 1991.
Pangloss: Just read your @34 after posting the above. I will double check.
Pangloss@41: Jason Tindall was in charge of Newcastle for the Brentford game. Eddie Howe took over for the game after that, against us.
Re: Ned @42. I suspected the monks were right. 😎
rsenal: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Saka, Nketiah
Subs: Turner, Tierney, Tomiyasu, Holding, Lokonga, Vieira, Smith Rowe, Marquinhos, Trossard
Bench looking stronger attack wise?
Esso ain’t wrong
Team to play Manchester United: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Nketiah
Subs: Turner, Tierney, Smith Rowe, Holding, Tomiyasu, Vieira, Lokonga, Marquinhos, Trossard
4 of 9 substitutes’ surnames start with T and it appears to be a growing trend. 🤔
bt8@43: 👍
Manure have been more attacking than I expected with McTominay / Eriksen in midfield.
We should overrun them.
The Weghorst factor should be interesting
Fernandes throwing himself to the ground already.
Whoever this prick with the drum is, I hope both their arms fall off.
Lovely header, that.
Get in Eddie!!
Came back well after their goal.
COYGS!
Fucking YES!!
What osaka said! Fucking yes!
Opportunity seized. What a win. Fantastic game and team performance all around, but shouts out for Eddie, Saka and MØ8.
What a fantastic game.
Even the ref couldn’t spoil it.
WE ARE THE ARSENAL
WE ARE THE BEST
WE ARE THE ARSENAL
SO FUCK ALL THE REST!
Massive win. Tremendeous effort, well doooone lads.
Forward we march. COYG!!
Bit like the Liverpool game, we just kept on and on and got them in the end.
A Holic lunch speciality.
We were brilliant the last 20 especially. 50 points at half way, what a fucking
Team we have now.
Half way there, but still 57 points to play for.
And what Esso said @61.
What a game. Even though I only saw parts of it due to my travels. Saw Eddie’s first goal a minute after turning the game on during my flight and hissecond a few minutes after arriving back home. What a team.
Some great performances all around: Eddie, Saka, Xhaka, Zinchenko, Ødegaard, Saliba…
Zinchenko’s best performance for us. Technical security and intelligence all over the pitch …
That Saka goal is possibly his best yet. Impossible angle between 4 ManU players …
https://i-dailymail-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/ii/w820/s/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/01/23/20/8904084-6625029-image-a-13_1548275626257.jpg
And a shout out to Zinchenko, too. Very cunning for our left back to play left back in the first half.
Lets get this party started!
Trossard’s cameo was encouraging. He slotted right in and showed excellent close control. If we can get a signing like that for midfield as well that would be great. 🙂
Everybody happy yet?
You betcha!
Well, I’ve had worse days…….
To all of you who were part of it, thank you.
what a game. for those who went was it as loud as the pool game? arteta’s praising the fans for their response after manure scored, must have been bedlam. it was at our supporter’s bar, we had 100+ people screaming “we are top of the league” at the end.
shoutout to ufgn@37 pretty much calling trossard’s involvement to a T. well in.
who’d‘ve taken 5 pts over citeh with a game in hand after 19 games at the start of the season? i would just have looked at you funny if you offered it!
and saka and saliba avoided yellow, as did jesus (😉). so we are reset for the second half.
no voice left, happy as a clam. we are the greatest team the world has ever seen.
and sorry i couldn’t be at the pre/game. must have been hella fun!
Thanks Ned. I see I can’t rely on newly-hired managers to manage the first game after their contract starts. (I refer the interested reader – which should rule everyone out – to the case of Mr E. Howe mentioned above.)
What a day, what a game, what a win. Here’s Zinchenko
Back in the hotel. Tremendous day, wonderful company and what a match.
Here’s to the Guv’nor!
Was great to meet you Ollie!
What Ollie said.
Raises glass.
Trossard stint was useful, slotting right into the team with confidence and nous, and I think he can be very important in the second half of the season.
he’d be loving this. to dave!
Gunnerblog sums it all up. What a day.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>