{"id":1832,"date":"2020-11-25T17:42:30","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T17:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1832"},"modified":"2020-12-05T14:52:37","modified_gmt":"2020-12-05T14:52:37","slug":"the-arsenal-vs-the-norsemen-the-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1832","title":{"rendered":"The Arsenal vs. The Norsemen \u2013 The Return"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
This is what we do when we score, in case you\u2019d forgotten.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Remember, Remember the 5th<\/sup> of November? A few short weeks\nago on that very day we welcomed Molde FK to The Arsenal on the back of an\nenjoyable victory at Man United. You might even say a roseate glow gleamed\nacross the golden Goonerverse as we sailed serenely through seas of sunken Solskjaers.\nHow I miss those days. Now, on the back of some woeful finishing, we haven\u2019t\nscored since and choppy waters threaten to engulf us in another season of\nmediocrity. A short jaunt across the water to take the spoils in Norway may be\njust the order in the circumstances. On that halcyon bonfire night when we last\nbothered the scorer, we knocked in four with OG chipping in two plus one apiece\nfrom Pepe and Joe Willock to round off what was in the end a comfortable enough\n4-1 win after conceding a slapdash goal for the Norwegians opener. What to make\nof the return leg? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molde FK<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Molde FK may possibly be a different matter at home and will no\ndoubt strive vikingly to provide a wholehearted test on a chilly November night\nin Norway there is no reason I can see that the game should not be won. Well,\nno reason other than the aforementioned inability to stick the ball in the net\nof course. Most of you will have seen the first leg, and my commiserations if\nyou didn\u2019t as it was a veritable bonanza of goals in these net-straitened\ntimes, and so will know that Molde are what they are \u2013 not a bad side, but not\nat a PL Level. They will be without their first choice striker, Ohi Omoijuanfo,\nwho is apparently unwell – Leke James will attempt to plug the gap. Apart from\nthat I think we can expect a similar line-up and approach to the first match. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A twenty strong squad has travelled to Norway with the usual mix of\nyoungsters and first team squad members to the fore. I believe our starting XI\nwill fairly similar too though Runarsson may start this time \u2013 I hope so to be\nhonest as the more games we can give him the readier he may be if shove comes\nto injury for Leno again. I expect we will continue with a four-man defence as\nI do not see Mikel abandoning the switch after one game and will suggest this\nXI accordingly. I believe Cedric must be fit and ready to start by now, if not\nthen questions really must be asked as to why we gave him a contract. I also\nassume AMN will fill-in as left back given that Kola is hors de combat, Saka\nnursing a knock and KT due a rest. The new father of a bouncing baby girl David\nLuiz (congrats David) will I think form the CB partnership with Mus. I don\u2019t to\nbe honest know if Calum has travelled but it would be nice to see him get a few\nminutes at some point if he is indeed in-country. There are three youngsters\nready to join the party, Folarin Balogun who has already played a few minutes\nin this competition plus two midfielders Ben Cottrell and Miguel Azeez. With\nElneny and Partey both out and Xhaka and Dani having a tough game at Leeds we\nmay well see a youngster as we are certainly short in midfield. In the\ncircumstances AMN is a little unlucky really that a left-back shortage should\nhave arisen at exactly the same time. It seems likeliest though that Joe\nWillock will partner one of Dani or Xhaka. Joe was excellent in the last tie\nagainst Molde, his performance enough I think to earn him a starting spot at\nLeeds after our Villa woes and Thomas Partey\u2019s injury. Encouragement perhaps\nfor other members of the Europa gang \u2013 perform well and you can get a chance in\nthe PL. Apart from the obviously absent Elneny and Kola it is reported that\nSaka, Willian and Partey have also been left at home to nurse any knocks,\ntweaks, twinges, pulls or strains. The good news to leaven those losses is that\nSaka is expected fit for the weekend, which is a welcome smidgen of good\nfortune. With Willian and Saka out and Joe W required elsewhere I have some\nreal hope that ESR will start for the first time in a wee while. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up front, Pepe is available to start after making a fulsome apology as\nbelow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c Yesterday I have let my team down at a crucial time of the game and there are no excuses for my behavior\u201d <\/em>and going on to say \u201cI am deeply sorry and would like to apologise to the fans, my team-mates, my coach and everybody at the club\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Well said sir, that\u2019s enough for me and other than making a mental note\nof the name of the second-rate ham from Leeds the matter is now forgotten. The\nother starting forwards are a little trickier \u2013 in general I would think Laca\nstarts with Nelson out wide. However, that means no place for Eddie, who also\nhad a good first leg against Molde. I hope MA will not solve the problem by\nstarting Eddie wide as having seen him play out wide twice now I think the\nmiddle to be place for him. Mikel may well choose to shoehorn both Eddie and\nLaca into the side; regardless, I would make a tentative stab at the starting\nXI below<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Runarsson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soares, Mus, Luiz, AMN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe W, Xhaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pepe, ESR, Nelson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacazette<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Holic Pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do not see how we can fail to score again! Unduly optimistic given\nsome of our league performances this season but we have scored nine in three\ngames so far in the Europa and so the Holic Pound is pinned firmly on 2-0 to\nThe Arsenal. Available at around 9 or 10-1 it represents fair value for a game\nin which I expect it to be fairly tight until around the hour mark after which\nI think our class should start to show. Early redemption for Pepe perhaps as\nwell, he should certainly be motivated for this game. Unless of course Mikel\ndecides further punishment in order I would expect Pepe to be looking for a\ngoal to brighten his days. Let\u2019s hope he gets one or even two to brighten our\ndays too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best of luck to Gooners everywhere and I hope we all enjoy the game!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Remember, Remember the 5th of November? A few short weeks ago on that very day we welcomed Molde FK to The Arsenal on the back of an enjoyable victory at Man United. You might even say a roseate glow gleamed across the golden Goonerverse as we sailed serenely through seas of sunken Solskjaers. How I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"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\/1832"}],"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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1832"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1838,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1832\/revisions\/1838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}