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Young Guns silence the Pompey chimes

Mar 2nd, 2020 by

Photograph Paul Childs/Reuters

This a Goonerholic, as it happened, type report. Not my usual style but no time tomorrow for a more reflective analysis. I’m sure my colleagues in the drinks will provide more thoughtful input.

A Monday night F.A. Cup game on the South Coast. Fratton Park and Portsmouth FC. A game full of history and TH14 hat tricks, as Bt8 referenced in his fine preview. A game against league 1 opposition, albeit one third in that division and pushing strongly for promotion. An easy draw or a banana skin? Portsmouth hadn’t lost at home since September so a few butterflies were about. Especially with Mike Dean as the referee, with no VAR.

The line ups showed a young Arsenal side selected by Arteta. Martinez in goals, Sokratis (not so young) at right back, a debut for loanee centre back Pablo Mari next to captain Luiz, a welcome return for Reiss Nelson, and Martinelli and Eddie up front with Joe Willock pairing with Torriera and Guendouzi in midfield. No Auba or Ozil in the squad, but Laca and Pepe on the bench. Saka started yet again. We really do need Kieran Tierney back asap. Still, Arteta was ringing the changes with 9 changes from the calamitous night in the Europa league last night and six players aged 20 or younger.

Early indications were that we would be under an aerial bombardment. A couple of crosses troubled the make shift defence and Martinez looked far from secure under the high ball. However at the other end Willock was running straight upfield and linking well with Reiss Nelson. Eddie seemed to take an elbow in the face but just a free kick was given.

Guendouzi lost the ball in the centre circle and Portsmouth broke down the left, where Papa was struggling against a lively left winger. The cross was thrown in and Pablo Mari made an important header to clear on the back post. 12 minutes in, Bolton (a well named player) took Torreira man and ball and seemed to injure him badly. Lucas was stretchered off and replaced by Dani Ceballos. Jermaine Jenas (ex Spurs) commentating of course saw nothing wrong.

20 minutes in and Arsenal were showing signs of settling into the game. First Martinelli (to Eddie) then Saka purred into the box and tested the defence and keeper. Reiss Nelson got round the defence and crossed just behind Martinelli. Better Arsenal, better. Guendouzi was hauled down on a break and tried to take a quick one. Mike Dean brought it back twice, so Matty placed the ball dramatically on the ground, taking the piss. Yellow card. Even Jenas thought it was ridiculous.

Right on the point of half time, Ben Close cynically took Ceballos out on the edge of the box. The yellow card remained in Mr Dean’s pocket of course. The free kick went harmlessly into the wall. But there was one last twist in the fourth minute of injury time. We won a corner which was headed away. But the ball was gathered and recycled by Ceballos to Reiss Nelson who swung in a lovely cross to the penalty spot where it fell to, of all people , Sokratis, who met the ball with a sumptuous right foot volley that bolted into the net. One nil to the Arsenal!

48 min. Goal (Sokratis). Portsmouth 0-1 Arsenal

Half time. A vital goal on half time against some (ahem) robust play by Pompey maybe flattered us. Some nice touches but we weren’t getting the ball to our young speedsters quick enough. Portsmouth were always looking a threat on the break and from set pieces.

Half time. Portsmouth 0-1 Arsenal

The second half began and the Pompey chimes rang out. A real blast from the past. Saka lost the ball weakly in midfield and Pompey broke. Defensively he’s been getting weaker in recent games. Time for a break and a reboot on the training ground for the 18 year old surely?

50 minutes gone and a great Arsenal goal. Reiss Nelson was sprung on the right by Joe Willock who had found space, Cesc like, in midfield, and Reiss just burned off his full back with huge verve. He got to the byline, crossed into the six yard box and Eddie bundled the ball home. Oh my word, that pace. Welcome back from injury Reiss Nelson. Nelson for England?

50 min. Goal (Nketiah). Portsmouth 0-2 Arsenal

Arsenal then calmly controlled the game without really threatening a third. Kenny Jacket played his trump (he hoped) bench cards on 65 mins bringing on Marquis, their top goal scorer this season, and Ronan Curtis, their dangerous first choice left winger (not Rebecca Long Bailey or Bernie Sanders J). They didn’t have a noticeable effect.

Saka was having a quiet game for once, but he danced into the area and hit a lovely shot which the keeper tipped over. 12 minutes to go – don’t let them back into the game lads! You got the feeling that one goal for Pompey would get the crowd roaring and could open the floodgates. On 86 minutes Xhaka came on for the hard working Joe Willock, responsible for both “pre assists”. He had done himself no harm at all. AMN got a late appearance for Reiss Nelson injury time.

So who had a good game? I thought Luiz was terrific, and Pablo Marí next to him had an excellent debut. Reiss Nelson looked electric. Martinelli caused problems every time he had the ball. Sokratis is not a right back but my word what a goal to break the tie.

The chants of the Arsenal fans sang out loud and clear, Wemberley, Wemberly, We’re the famous Arsenal and we’re going to Wemberley. WHAT DID SHE WEAR?

Full time. Portsmouth 0-2 Arsenal

Clean sheet. Controlled the game second half after two great goals. In the quarter final draw. Jermaine Jenas and Mike Dean gutted. That’ll do me fellow Gooners.

Posted in Match Report | 79 Drinks »

All Cannons to the Port

Mar 1st, 2020 by

Image courtesy of stadiumguide.com

What a difference a few days can make.  Arsenal will now be looking at their 5th round FA Cup away tie with Portsmouth quite differently than they would have been thinking about it prior to last Thursday’s disappointing exit from Europa League competition at the hands of Olympiakos.  Mikel Arteta’s mandate for the players will be to set Arsenal back onto a positive course, and to refocus their energy on one of the two competitions the club is still contending: Premier League and FA Cup.  Since there was nothing the Gunners could do about the Premier League over the weekend as rival clubs picked up points in the table, concentrating on Portsmouth is their only constructive course of action.  The Gunners advanced to this point by defeating Leeds United at home in the 3rd round, and Bournemouth away in the 4th round, and come into the tie knowing Portsmouth will feel they have nothing to lose but everything to win.

The Monday evening match represents only the fourth time these clubs have been drawn against each other in the FA Cup.  The precedents came in 1932 when Arsenal travelled to Portsmouth and emerged with a 0-2 win, in 1971 when Arsenal drew 1-1 at Portsmouth but won the replay at Highbury, and in 2004 when Arsenal again travelled to Fratton Park and won by a score of 1-5, with Thierry Henry scoring a hat trick.

Portsmouth were FA Cup winners just 12 years ago when Sol Campbell marshaled Pompey’s defence at Wembley, and another Arsenal legend, Nwankwo Kanu, scored the only goal of the game to win it for Portsmouth.  But financial crisis soon set in, and Pompey were relegated in 2010.  In very short order Portsmouth were relegated two more times, landing in League Two in 2013 while nearly going defunct as a club due to financial improprieties.  In 2017 the south coasters won promotion back to League One where they have stayed under manager Kenny Jackett, who in his first two seasons led Pompey to 8th and 4th place finishes in the table.  Last season they missed a chance for promotion to the Championship by losing in the playoff semifinals. 

This season’s Portsmouth moved up to 3rd place in the League One table on Friday night with a 3-0 home win against Rochdale.  Pompey sit only two points behind the leaders so the FA Cup is not the only competition they are contending at the moment with automatic promotion or a playoff spot up for grabs.  In addition, Portsmouth are still involved in the EFL Trophy where they are defending champions, and on 18 February they reached the final with a 3-2 home win against Exeter City.  Pompey may still be competing in three competitions, but a home FA Cup tie against Arsenal is no doubt a highly anticipated event for Portsmouth’s management, players and fans.  Arsenal have won the FA Cup 13 times, more than any other club, including six times since the turn of the century (2002, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2015 and 2017).  The feel of the occasion should be all the more special being a contest of relative minnows against giants, and its Monday evening scheduling can only add to the sense of drama.

In the FA Cup 4th round Portsmouth also played at home, and defeated Barnsley by 4-2 after leading 2-0 at halftime.  In their three previous rounds Portsmouth defeated Harrogate, Altrincham and Fleetwood.  Pompey’s most dangerous attacking threat is Republic of Ireland international left-winger Ronan Curtis, who has scored 11 goals and added five assists in league play this season.  In FA Cup play Curtis has added an assist and two goals, including one of Pompey’s goals against Barnsley.  Portsmouth’s other standout attacking threats include centre-forwards John Marquis and Ellis Harrison, who have scored 13 and 10 goals respectively in all competitions. 

Team Selection

Mikel Arteta is expected to rest several players who faced Olympiakos, and looked like they had very tired legs by game’s end.  At left back, Bukayo Saka may deserve a rest after playing all 120 minutes on Thursday but Arsenal have no obvious replacement for him with Sead Kolasinac out injured and Kieran Tierney having just returned to training on Friday.  We can expect Saka to play unless Arteta opts to play Granit Xhaka in that position, which would force him to reshuffle the midfield.  Hector Bellerin may be rested in favour of Ainsley Maitland-Niles at right back. Shkodran Mustafi left the game injured halfway through extra time against Olympiakos and is likely to miss out, with Sokratis Papastathopolous ready to replace him in the centre of defence.  The Greek international could be partnered by Pablo Marí, who is poised to make his debut after joining Arsenal in the January transfer window, but Rob Holding could feature if Arteta decides the Spaniard is not ready.  Emiliano Martínez could replace Bernd Leno in goal, if only to keep the German on his toes.

In midfield Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira may come in for Dani Ceballos and Mesut Özil.  So long as Arteta doesn’t move Xhaka to left back, I would expect to see him continue as our remaining midfielder.  In the attacking positions, Nicolas Pepe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Alexandre Lacazette may all get a rest, with their most likely replacements being Joe Willock, Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli, but Reiss Nelson could also play a role in this contest.  On Saturday four first team players—Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Pablo Marí, Rob Holding, and Reiss Nelson—each played 45 minutes against Manchester City for the U-23 team, and any of them could play at least another 45 minutes at Fratton Park.

The holics’ pound

Portsmouth seem to have a feel-good factor working at the moment, and will hope to catch Arsenal on the rebound from their Europa League exit four days ago, but seeing as they are two levels below us and we need to let off some steam, the verdict must be 1-3 to the Arsenal with Martinelli scoring twice and Nketiah tapping in the coup de grace at the death.  Come on Arsenal, put them to the sword!  A Cup win would make this week a little less harsh, and help keep two hands firmly on the tiller in the maelstrom of what’s to come in the rest of the season.  Wherever you are watching the match ‘holics, keep spirits high, your Arsenal-supporting voices loud, and make it a good one.

Posted in Match Preview | 69 Drinks »

Invincibility is not an easy state to acquire

Feb 29th, 2020 by

In what has been a very trying and generally pretty miserable season for Arsenal fans I found myself becoming increasingly irritable and maybe ultra-sensitive every time I read an article or saw a discussion about how Liverpool were likely to overtake Arsenal’s Invincibles in their run of unbeaten games and how they would be able to go through the season unbeaten. This is partly because a number of Liverpool fans who I have met ( by no means all) desperately need a course in humility and partly because the very sizeable anti- Arsenal lobby in the media were urging them on to destroy the uniqueness of the  achievement that Arsenal completed in 2003/4.

The moment that Vieira seized on Dennis’ through ball and waltzed around the Leicester keeper on that rapturous May afternoon at Highbury I think every Arsenal fan felt a huge wave of euphoria, relief and pride as we realised that not only were we Premier League Champions ( we had been for weeks) but we were UNBEATEN throughout the whole season . We were Invincible, the first team in the modern era that could make that claim. The fact that we had done it playing football that was utterly sparkling on so many occasions and with a team that was studded with some of the greatest players ever to play for our club made that achievement incredibly special for every Arsenal fan. I’ve never met a Gooner who fails to swell with pride when you mention the Invincibles. They were a truly special team and they were our team.

On occasions listening to the cretin that is Adrian Durham , a man utterly consumed with spite and jealousy I have heard him rubbish the achievements of that side because of the number of draws that we had in that season . Arsenal fans loyally refused to countenance that argument because the pressure of competition is such in the Premier League that to play each team twice and NEVER lose represented a monumental achievement.

But wait we were told here come Liverpool , a side so complete that not only will they set a new unbeaten record and go through the season unbeaten they will win virtually every game that they play. So we watched and disconcertingly it seemed that Liverpool always found a way to win games that they really didn’t deserve to and always seemed to get a break that proved decisive. We could be accused of sour grapes and were as they approached our record and we wondered if a cataclysmic clash at our place might see us rob them of the Invincible tag…..please!

Well we need worry no longer. I’ve already drunk a toast to a Watford team that blew them away tonight and made what is an extraordinary team look very fallible indeed. Watford produced an unforgettable effort and in doing so underlined the huge difficulty that any side has in going through a Premier League season unbeaten. Watford were next to bottom, had not won for five games and desperately needed points with sides around them winning. Well win they did and they shattered Liverpool in a second half where the Scousers looked as if they were running on fumes.

The inquests and debates will begin, I can almost hear the nauseating drone from Durham now as he seeks, as he always does to denigrate Arsenal . But the big news is that whatever he says, however Liverpool fans claim that they were never really worried about being Invincible and Sky pundits try to  rate them in comparison to other champions we can console ourselves that along the length of a season in which we competed in the Champions League and the FA Cup to the later stages ( beyond where Liverpool are now) no side could lower our colours, no side could beat us …we were Invincible and what happened tonight goes to prove just what an extraordinary achievement that is.

One of the great satisfactions of my life is that I became an Arsenal fan. It has meant, heartbreak, frustration, anger and deep, deep joy at different times but the thing I am proudest of as an Arsenal fan is that we did something remarkable in that season of 2003/4. Nobody could beat us, in that season very few teams ever led us and never led us close to the end of games we played and no team can make that claim or share that achievement, in a season that hasn’t been much fun that fact resonates triumphantly tonight. Enjoy your invincibility fellow Gooners…it’s a very exclusive feeling!

Posted in Invincibles | 39 Drinks »

Welcome to Hellas; we crash out of Europe in a traumatic way

Feb 28th, 2020 by

Image courtesy of Evening Standard

Following our excellent one nil away win in Athens last week, it seemed odds on that we would complete the job against an Olympiacos team who, whilst strong at home, often struggled away from their home stadium. So it was with good heart that the Arsenal faithful rocked up in North London last night.

For a mid week European game, especially one against Greek opposition, there was only one place to be before the game, which was in my favourite Cypriot restaurant in London, The Apollo, on the junction of Seven Sisters and Hornsey Road just ten minutes from the ground. The place was jumping, with a great buzz, many regulars present and walk ups being turned away due to lack of space. My son and I were greeted like family, as always, but we were probably in the 20% of clientele that did not converse freely in Greek (with a Cypriot accent). We dined exceedingly well on taramasalata, calamari and kleftiko, washed down by Keo beer and Cypriot red wine. As a precaution against a cold night, landlord Nick kindly ended the meal for us with complimentary metaxas.

During the meal the team news came in and it was a selection that I think everyone approved of. The full current 1st XI, as chosen for Sunday’s game against Everton, with the first choice back four, Xhaka and Ceballos in midfield and Ozil, Laca, Auba and Pepe up top.

So to the ground and a chilly night in North London, not helped by a new security check system that took 15 minutes to get through, meaning I only reached my place on the North Bank lower as the teams emerged.

Reader, I will draw a veil over the first 45 minutes. It was turgid, very slow, featured lots of bad passing and miscontrol from both teams and ended 0-0. We did get the ball in the net, via a familiar route of Xhaka to Saka to Laca, but only to see an offside flag. Time for Arteta to do his thing at half time.

Out for the second half and, from my North Bank perspective, one immediate thing to notice is that the Olympiacos defenders now running about in from of us were massive. Clearly we weren’t going to get far just slinging crosses into the box. They also looked very well drilled and worked as a unit. We were working better in the second half, with Pepe featuring strongly on our right. Time and again he twisted and turned and squirmed his way into the box, time and time again he created space for a shot on his right foot, only to turn back again onto his left. There was one mazy run where I wasn’t sure if he beat five men, or the same man five times. Truly he is more one footed that little Jackie Wilshere and that’s saying something. He reminded me of that old Peter Cook and Dudley Moore joke about a one legged man auditioning for the part of Tarzan. “Your left leg I like. Your left leg is perfect for the part. I have nothing against your left leg. The trouble is, neither do you”.

Time and again Saka overlapped on the left, beat his man and put in a good cross/cut back, only to see one of the beanpoles cut it out. But we couldn’t work the goalkeeper. Then we conceded a corner, beanpole Cisse (who wouldn’t look undersized in the NBA) strolled in between the fullbacks and planted it into our net. Cue an explosion of noise from the lively 5000 travelling Greeks. Tie squared up.

53 minutes. Arsenal 0-1 Olympiacos (agg 1-1)

Time for subs. Torreira on for Ceballos. The crowd were calling for Martinelli for Laca but no dice. Arteta went with a change of formation, going to three at the back and swapping Hector for Joe Willock, a gutsy call. But nothing further looked like breaching the Greek defence. Extra time it was. Many of the crowd decided that 10pm on a freezing cold school night was long enough, but your correspondent, metaxa now long gone from his veins, soldiered on.

Nothing in the first period of extra time. Mustafi picked up what looked like a hammy and replaced by Sokratis. The departure of Mustafi, who had played well, was greeted with dismay. How times have changed! At last, Martinelli was brought on as the fourth sub (allowed in extra time under UEFA rules) for the ineffective Laca. He immediately made a difference with his direct running.

Then, finally, with seven minutes to go, Ozil put a ball into the box. It was deflected towards Auba, who scored with an outstanding, athletic overhead kick. Cue pandemonium on the pitch and on the terraces.

113 minutes. Arsenal 1-1 Olympiacos (agg 2-1)

When they resumed the clock showed 25 minutes of the 30 to be played. Surely we could hold out? But the bad old Arsenal came back to bite us again. Xhaka, out on the left,  dithered a bit and decided to play the ball back to Leno. The pass wasn’t the best, and Leno’s touch was heavy, forcing him to concede a corner instead of kicking the ball up field or into row Z. The whole of Greece went forward. We cleared the corner but only to the edge of the box, from whence another cross came in. We seemed to freeze a bit and El-Arabi slipped the ball in. Cue more pandemonium, but this time with a Hellenic accent.

119 minutes. Arsenal 1-2 Olympiacos  (agg 2-2)

There was just time for one more twist, this time the cruellest of all. We stormed forward, the ball bounced around in their box and suddenly there was Auba, on the six yard line, with only the keeper to beat. The man you want in the place you want him. The whole North Bank rose as one to salute him. But Auba screwed it wide with the goal gaping. He collapsed to the ground, aghast. The final whistle went.

FT Arsenal 1-2 Olympiacos. Agg 2-2 Olympiacos win on away goals.

Sometimes it needs a night’s sleep to put things in perspective. Walking away from the ground, poleaxed at what had just happened, only negative thoughts occurred, not helped by the negative comments from my fellow supporters on every side. Yet as I sat down at my laptop today, one thought filled my mind; what would Dave have said?

Yes, Leno and Auba made mistakes which cost us. But Leno and Auba have been our best players this season. I for one am not calling them out – they have won us countless games this season. Arteta maybe made mistakes in his subs. But he is a breath of fresh air and I believe will be a great manager. We were maybe getting carried away with three wins on the bounce. There is still much to be done with this team under their young manager. This summer we need to move some players on and bring in fresh blood to makes this Miquel’s team. Time for Edu and Sanlehi to do their stuff. Time to sign up some players (e.g. Saka and Martinelli) to fresh contracts as we build a new side around them.

In the meantime we have two competitions left to focus on, starting with the F.A.Cup against Portsmouth on Monday night. Then 11 more premier league games, with top four the ultimate target. Let’s get behind the team. We knew there would be bumps in the road. That’s life.

Posted in Match Report | 39 Drinks »

A glimmer of Europa League glory

Feb 26th, 2020 by

Image courtesy of arsenal.com

Having decided it was high time to watch my first Europa League match of the season, last Thursday I drove across the Mississippi River from St. Paul, Minnesota’s capital, to the city of Minneapolis, the state’s commercial hub and home of Brit’s Pub, the local mecca of televised football and ultimate resource for those whose cable packages do not include Europa League games. I thought the expedition might give me a bit better background for writing this preview but as the atmosphere was a bit noisy and distracting, in truth the only useful knowledge gained was confirmation of my conviction that Brit’s offers the tastiest pint of Guinness and the best cooked plate of fish and chips available hereabouts. The founder of this fine establishment, who sadly passed away last year, was a proud supporter of Burnley FC, but word has it he has been forgiven his trespass. Two pints of Guinness consumed, one for each half of the game, I drove back across the River pondering what tack to take in the preview, and opted for the classical approach.

In the first leg, Olympiacos started quickly, and went close twice in the opening minutes, but as the game developed Arsenal slowly seized control of the midfield, and with ten minutes remaining Alexandre Lacazette scored the only goal of the match, tapping in Bukayo Saka’s lovely cross. Arsenal’s task on Thursday evening is to maintain or improve that slim advantage.

Despite the relatively low prestige of Europa League encounters compared to the Champions League standard to which Arsenal were accustomed for 19 seasons ending in 2017, there is ample precedent to consider between these two sides. Arsenal faced Olympiakos over eight legs in the Champions League group stages in 2009/10, 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2015/16. The first six matches resulted in home wins, but in 2015/16 Arsenal lost 2-3 at home only to recover 3-0 in Greece. In three of those four years, Arsenal eliminated their Greek opponents so Olympiakos will be seeking revenge, perhaps drawing upon the divine aid of Nemesis, the ancient Greek goddess of retribution. Either way, Arsenal must be on their guard in this knock-out round not to commit an act of hubris, or to entertain any arrogant ideas that the match could be decided before a ball is kicked. Arsenal defeated Everton in a home league fixture on Sunday afternoon, their third consecutive victory in all competitions, and do not play again until Monday night when they face Portsmouth away in a fifth round FA Cup tie.

Arsenal won both of their previous Europa League round of 32 ties, in different circumstances. In 2017/18 they won the first leg 3-0 away against Östersunds before losing 1-2 at home. Last season they lost 1-0 in Belarus at BATE Borisov but recovered to win the home leg 3-0. Arsenal began this, their third straight Europa League group stage campaign, with three straight wins but then faltered, needing a late comeback at Standard Liège in the last match to qualify as group winners.

Olympiakos sit top of the Greek Super League, undefeated after 25 matches, last having played Sunday when they defeated second placed PAOK Thessaloniki, who trail Olympiakos by five points in the table. They entered this year’s Europa League knockout stage after being eliminated from their Champions League group where they finished third behind Bayern Munich and another club from north London. This is Olympiakos’ seventh appearance in the Europa League round of 32. They have won just two of their previous six ties at this juncture – against Rubin Kazan in 2011/12 and Osmanlispor in 2016/17 – and have yet to progress beyond the round of 16.

Pedro Martins, the coach of Olympiakos, became the club’s fifth Portuguese boss in six years in April 2018, following Leonardo Jardim, Vítor Pereira, Marco Silva and Paulo Bento. Martins had not previously worked outside his homeland before moving to Greece, but he has outlasted most of his recent predecessors at the club. If and when Jose Mourinho is sacked, the self-instigating rumour mill suggests Olympiakos could be interested in making him the next Portuguese boss in line, and Mourinho may need the job having fallen so far.

Olympiakos’ biggest attacking threats are 33 year old Moroccan centre-forward Youssef El-Arabi, who has scored 22 goals, and 35 year old French attacking midfielder Matthieu Valbuena, who looked dangerous in the away leg and has added eight goals and eighteen assists in all competitions. The age of those players makes me wonder if the Greek side will be able to maintain an effective attacking threat late in the game when legs are tiring, but they also feature the more youthful 26 year old Greek international left-winger Georgios Masouras, who has contributed six goals and four assists. Konstantinos Tsimikas, a 23 year old Greek international left-back, and Omar Abdellaoui, a 28 year old Norwegian right-back, have been constants in the Olympiakos defence, but after 25 minutes of the first half in the first leg, centre-back Ruben Semedo, another important player in their defensive setup, received a yellow card that will cause him to miss the second leg. The Olympiakos midfield workhorses include 22 year old Guinea international Mady Camara, 28 year old Brazilian defensive midfielder Guilherme, and 26 year old Greek international Andreas Bouchalakis.

Team selection

In the away leg at Piraeus, Sokratis Papastathopolous played in place of the injured Hector Bellerin at right back. Bellerin did not travel to Greece as a precaution over a groin issue, while Sokratis suffered a knee problem himself late in that game. Bellerin played against Everton on Sunday, and Sokratis was available on the bench, so Mikel Arteta is likely to call on Sokratis against Olympiakos if he is healthy. Otherwise, if he wants to rest Bellerin, Arteta could recall Ainsley Maitland-Niles for the first time since 18 January when Arsenal drew at home with Sheffield United. The rest of the back four should remain unchanged with Shkodran Mustafi, David Luiz and Bukayo Saka all keeping their places.

In Greece the Gunners were without Mesut Özil who was attending the birth of his first child, and as a result the team lacked some coordination in attack but Özil should be available on Thursday. The midfield trio of Özil, Granit Xhaka, and Dani Ceballos, which was so effective in the last two league games against Newcastle and Everton, should be able to keep on clicking against Olympiakos, but in the away leg Arteta started Matteo Guendouzi and Joe Willock, who could both play important roles at some point, as could Lucas Torreira who has not played more than 45 minutes since the Chelsea game on 21 January. Up front, Alexandre Lacazette, who scored the key late goal in the away leg, should lead the line with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe stretching defenders on his flanks.

Mustafi and Xhaka are the only two Arsenal players who must avoid accumulating another yellow card in this game in order to avoid missing the next Europa League contest, so Arteta could alter his team selection or substitutions with that issue in mind.

The ‘holics pound

Arsenal playing at the Emirates is almost invariably a decent bet for a home win of any sort, and most of the week I have been tempted to back a Homer of a 4-1 win to straighten the arc of Arsenal’s Europa League odyssey as they march on to the round of 16 ties on the 12th and 19th of March. Indeed, Arsenal have made a habit of late goals in the Europa League this term, scoring in the final 15 minutes of all but two games, which suggests the shine of a 4-1 scoreline beckons like the lure of a distant lighthouse on a Mediterranean shore. But in the last couple of days I have feared I might have been guilty of hubris for predicting an overly optimistic result, so have an alternative result ready for you, complete with hints of classic Greek tragedy: Olympiakos to open the scoring and make nerves jangle until 10 minutes from time when a bit of déjà vu plays out as Lacazette connects with a Saka cross to put the Gunners through despite only managing a home draw in the second leg. In the full light of day, this result may be more realistic considering Arsenal have not won four matches on the bounce since October, and are playing their fourth match in two weeks’ time.

If Arsenal do manage to go through, no other Greek Super League clubs will remain in the competition but in the next round there is still a small chance of facing Greek opposition in the form of APOEL (Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia) if the Cypriots can overcome FC Basel on Thursday despite having lost the home leg 0-3. Odds on the likelihood of that eventuality are available at your local Greek take-away window, I am quite sure. Personally I wouldn’t mind that or any other draw but do hope UEFA will not throw us to Wolves.

Have a good one, ‘holics, wherever you may be to watch the game.

Posted in Match Preview | 86 Drinks »

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