Even Yorkshire\u2019s Ecky Thumpers might find it more surprising than a flat cap on a black pudding that Sheffield Utd are closer to T\u2019Top o\u2019 T\u2019League than T\u2019Arsenal in their first season back in the top tier. I most certainly do, and when my mind turns to reasons why, the phrase \u2018Good Ebening\u2019 pops quickly to the fore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saturday sees the men from Steel Town forge a path to London for their visit to the white-hot crucible that is Emirates Stadium. Mikal Arteta will need to be the \u2018best a man can be\u2019 to ensure that Arsenal are red-hot and razor sharp in readiness to blunt the Blades. Every Gunner will need to put his ore in, be primed for the cut and thrust, or face the prospect of being rolled over and hammered on the anvil as they were in Sheffield in October. It\u2019s the perfect day to disprove the notion that The Arsenal \u201cdon\u2019t like it up \u2018em\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arsenal may well be without both of our own men of steel after VAR kryptonite turned Superman Aubameyang\u2019s red cloak to card, and Torreira from Fray Bentos was tin canned at Palace. These two have been key contributors to the green shoots of recovery in our fortunes under Arteta and will represent a very big loss against an in-form outfit. Replacing them will be MA8\u2019s primary concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aubameyang, who has maintained a stainless steely potency, is banned for the next three games. Completely rejuvenated and played in his best DM position, Torreira has again become an important foil, blunting and parrying attacking thrusts which earlier in the season would have seen Arsenal cut wide open, skewered, left for dead and pointless. Torreira remains doubtful for Saturday and, with Kolasinac, will need a late fitness test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the exception of these three, it is likely that the rest of the team that started at Palace will do so again on Saturday. Arteta will hope that they can reproduce the quality shown in the first half-hour at Selhurst Park, this time with more than one goal as a reward. He\u2019ll be very aware of the Blades\u2019 metal and I expect will place emphasis on attack and energetic pressing in a home game he\u2019ll fancy he can win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lacazette and Pepe are likely to be joined up front by the very exciting young prospect that is Martinelli. He will be hoping he can grasp the silver lining opportunity to shine that the dark cloud over PEA presents. Should Kolasinac be unavailable, Saka will be a ready replacement and the only change from last weekend\u2019s back five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To win this one, Arsenal will need to withstand a physical midfield battle, and also contain the twin thistles of Fleck and McBurnie on the counter. Success here will be key to the outcome of the game. Absent Torreira, I think we\u2019ll see Xhaka and Gendouzi provide a midfield pivot with Mesut Ozil being asked to find some metal of his own and create openings for the front three. Dani Ceballos is nearing full fitness apparently, but unless he\u2019s shining really brightly in training, is only likely to feature from the bench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Sheffield United\u2019s success derives from a high-tempo, physical pressing game and a really well-drilled defensive set up, the Blades have been honed to a sharpness that can see them cut through the stoutest defence on the counter like a hot Sheffield steel knife through butter. It\u2019s absolutely critical that The Arsenal don\u2019t concede the first goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My cooling waters tell me that Arsenal will edge a 2-1 win after a hard fought, heavy metal contest. Punters should be mindful of the success rate of Goonerholic predictions should they choose to wager their hard earned pounds!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A recurrence of the away defeat in October is likely to make Mikel wilder than Wilder and the players should anticipate the blast furnace treatment rather than the meeker hair dryer if his desires for sustained pressure and total concentration aren\u2019t satisfied. I think they will be and so I\u2019m looking forward to hearing the opening chords of \u2018London Calling\u2019 booming loudly from the stadium speakers tomorrow. COYG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wherever in the world you\u2019re watching, enjoy the game, Holics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Even Yorkshire\u2019s Ecky Thumpers might find it more surprising than a flat cap on a black pudding that Sheffield Utd are closer to T\u2019Top o\u2019 T\u2019League than T\u2019Arsenal in their first season back in the top tier. I most certainly do, and when my mind turns to reasons why, the phrase \u2018Good Ebening\u2019 pops quickly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}