I was having a discussion the other day with Arsenal-loving friends when the spectre of gridiron football arose. It led to a remembrance of great quarterbacks and their receiver pairings (Montana to Rice, Bradshaw to Swann), and that led me to the team I most enjoyed behind my hometown Rams, when I could still stand gridiron football: the Oakland Raiders of the 1970s. The Raiders were very successful, winning a Super Bowl and getting to the semi-finals a number of times, all behind the strong arm of Kenny “Snake” Stabler. But while Montana and Bradshaw had their favorite targets, Snake had three future Hall-of-Fame receivers to throw to: Fred Belitnikoff, Dave Casper, and Cliff Branch. This is an Arsenal blog, right? We’ll get there. Thinking of them brought me to their owner, a combination of something needing more than a moist towelette to wipe off and a strong will to win, one Allen Davis. Davis instilled in his team grit, heart, and the idea of never backing down (including by pushing the rules as far as they could be pushed), encapsulated in his mantra “Just win, baby.”
Brighton visits Arsenal for a late afternoon kickoff this coming Sunday, bringing their hopes of European football. We last saw Brighton at theirs on the ultimate day of 2022, where they were very good. I re-watched the highlights the other night, and it was weird seeing Trossard against us; he has slotted in so well it’d make you feel like he was always Arsenal. Though the match ended Arsenal 4-2 Brighton, they really should have had a 3rd goal through Mitoma with a minute plus stoppage left in the game. He was deemed offside, disappointing the Seagulls crowd and players alike who’d hoped for a twist in the tail.
The Seagulls
Since December’s game Brighton has maintained a solid season’s charge towards the upper third of the table, joining us Sunday in 8th place, two points and THREE big games in hand on Spurs (ha!) in 6th. If they get 12 points from their last 15 (our win excluded from that total) they could, with the right results, end up in third place, though likely the best they’ll do is 5th, earning them Europa League football. Needless to say, they’ll be arriving to ours Sunday looking to start a streak of winning out, after their 5-1 destruction by Everton last Monday.
And it has been that kind of run-in for them. They’ve been very up and down the last two months, beating teams you’d expect them to beat, like Chelsea and Wolves, or teams you might not (United)…but losing to teams you’d expect them to slaughter, like Everton, Forest, and Spurs (ha!). So it is a bit of a question as to which Brighton team will show up. I am thinking they will come in hard and fast, angry and still feeling the bruises, inside and out, from Everton’s thrashing.
Fortunately for Arsenal the Seagulls will be missing some of their stars who have gotten them this far. While one of the goal scorers in the reverse fixture, the tyro Ferguson, is expected to start after regaining some fitness on Monday, it looks like they will be without March, Webster, Veltman, Lallana, and Lamptey. Let’s just say their manager, Roberto di Zerbi, will have a selection headache in defense, and to a degree in midfield, as he shuffles players around to fill in for the absences.
With Ferguson, Mitoma (who scored their second in December, and is someone Arsenal might want to be looking at for the squad, he’s really good), and Welbeck they have plenty of firepower ahead of Caicedo and MacAllister, though it’s possible Caicedo will have to be pushed into one of the back four positions. So I really have no clue how they will line up, but Ben White will have to be on his twinkle toes to blunt Mitoma’s influence.
The Arsenal
We were greeted this midweek with the news that both Saliba and Zinchenko might not feature again this season, though after the performances by Kiwior and Tierney up in the Northeast we can be glad of the depth of our squad (something not many of us have been saying all year, eh?). No one else is coming off the defeat of the Magpies with a knock, so excepting those two, and long-term sufferers Mo’Neny and Tomi, Mikel Arteta will have a full squad from which to choose.
I’m hard pressed to see us start with anything but this lineup on the field:
Ramsdale
White — Kiwior — Gabriel — Tierney
Partey — Mø — Xhaka
Saka — Jesús — Martinelli
The defense pretty much picks itself. I think Partey starts for the excellent Jorghino, who can come in early if Partey is struggling, but otherwise gets some rest after two strong games against Chelsea and Newcastle. If not Martinelli Trossard can play in front of Xhaka, and if push came to shove Mikel could start Nelson for Saka, saving the latter’s legs for a late appearance, if necessary.
Our performance against the Barcodes was outstanding, though our defense took chances less profligate teams might make us pay for. Ramsdale’s heroics were absolutely needed, and I hope they won’t be needed again on Sunday. Tierney at the back should give us more solidity across the line, as he won’t be going walkabout much in midfield. Of course, that will leave us a bit lighter than usual in midfield; hopefully we will be able to manage that battle with graft and energy.
There are three games left in Arsenal’s season. We have achived so much more than we could have hoped for at the start of the year: assured of Champions League football, we are in second place in the table, a point behind the-expensively-assembled-€itzens-of-(allegedly)-Off-Balance-Sheet-FC (™Lonestar Gooner), the latter with their game in hand. We have no room left for error, complacency, or sloppiness. If we are to win the league we must hope for the Oil-slickers to drop points, and we must win out. So, just win, baby.