{"id":1890,"date":"2020-12-02T18:49:19","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T18:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1890"},"modified":"2020-12-04T08:37:54","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T08:37:54","slug":"fans-return-can-home-wins-come-back-too-please","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1890","title":{"rendered":"Fans Return! Can Home Wins Come Back Too Please?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Those were the days, my friend… (c) Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We could not be facing a more aptly named opponent in the Europa League tomorrow. After a dismal result against Wolves this game against Rapid Vienna cannot come fast enough!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With our league form in the toilet and our next league fixture, away at the spuds, to be played in an actual toilet, it is perhaps unsurprising that the fanbase are looking to Thursday evening to provide a chink of light. Perhaps even a ray of hope that we may be able to flush behind us the stinking mess that is our traditional November league form, pull up our britches, (wash our hands extremely carefully in hot, soapy water) and step boldly into December, a month of celebration and one in which we usually fare much better. Or is that just wishful thinking?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The malaise that has dragged us down in the league has not managed to creep into our Europa League results as, so far, we have run out winners four times from four. Of course, the standard of opposition has been much lower and our performances not uniformly brilliant by any stretch of the imagination but I dread to think how much worse we would all be feeling if qualification from our group were in doubt. As it is, it is already confirmed and only a single point is required from our final two games to confirm our status as group winners beyond doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, this game is in itself<\/em> not a priority for many fans who are already steeling themselves for the derby at the weekend. However, for all of us, and for 2000 Gooners in particular, it will be a supremely special match as The Emirates will see fans in attendance for the first time in 9 months! For those of us watching on TV I suspect that the pleasure of seeing and hearing fans in the stadium will add a huge amount to whatever the players on the pitch produce and I certainly hope they serve up fare worthy of those returning to cheer our boys on after such a long hiatus. It would be great to have a win to celebrate, rather than just a celebration that some of us were allowed back in to see us lose again\u2026 but I shall take my tongue out of my cheek for long enough to shout some support for our boys!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Arsenal are blazing the trail as ever, being the first Premier League team to welcome fans back since matches were cancelled and then restricted to empty stadiums. We shall all wait to see how the situation develops but as things finally appear to be heading in the right direction I am sure we all hope that this will be a landmark day for the club, and for all the fans both in the UK and around the globe, on our journey out of covid restrictions and back to having a full, safe stadium of fans for every game. And I am sure those in attendance tomorrow will do the club proud!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Mikel Arteta will continue to rotate players for this one, as he has in every European game so far. With qualification guaranteed, he may decide to give extra minutes to some of our academy players and I certainly hope he does, although I would temper this hope with my expectation that he will not give them as many minutes as I myself would be tempted to. I expect we will see ESR and Balogun again at some point. Depending on the match situation there may also be minutes for Miguel Azeez or Ben Cottrell but probably not both. Pepe will play, as he is ineligible in the league for two more games. I expect Xhaka to start and to look like he is playing at about his level. David Luiz would probably be included if not for his head injury but is rightly being rested and monitored to determine his availability at the weekend. Callum Chambers and Gabi Martinelli are both on the comeback trail but will fall short of readiness for this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is tough to call what the gaffer will do as it depends a lot on how he wants to setup on Sunday in the much more important of our two fixtures this week. I think he is going to go to a back three against spuds, with AMN or Saka as left wing back and Laca up top, so my predicted team for Rapid is based on this assumption. If I am wrong then the team may look very different. Mea Culpe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Cedric, Mustafi, Holding, AMN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xhaka, Ceballos,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Nketiah<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a few in that team with something to prove and I hope they are spurred on by the atmosphere that even a significantly reduced-capacity crowd will generate. ESR for Willock and Balogun for Eddie will be subs pencilled in already. I would like to see Balogun get thirty minutes, although Eddie also needs a performance, or even just a goal, so we will see who Arteta judges will get more value from the game-time? Joe and Reiss will both want to get back on the scoresheet. And I hope they both make it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rapid Vienna<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Err. Sorry folks, I have nothing for you. Think of this part of the preview as like the centre of our midfield. You would expect to see something there but instead you are greeted with the conspicuous absence of something. Just a lot of nothing. Nothing, pretending to be something, if you will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I should point out that I would usually make more effort to give you some idea of the opposition but I have just looked at their team from the last match and I don\u2019t recognise any of them- despite the fact that we played them a few weeks ago. I listened to that game on the radio and it was dull. So, so dull. So very dull that I am not going to find out more facts and stats about the players who inflicted it on us. We stumbled away from that match with a 2-1 victory that proved extremely useful to us. This time around, at home, (is that still a good thing?) we simply need to pass a bit more crisply and we should have the quality to win. If only I had not thought that in our last three outings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If our Icelandic keeper is reading then I offer him the advice not to kick his goal kicks to their forwards. That did not work out so well for Leno last time so I shouldn\u2019t try it again. That ought to stop them scoring. And if Pepe is reading then please put in another performance like the last one. That should get us a goal or two. Luvvly Jubbly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, and if Granit is reading then I should point out that crisp passes backwards do not count!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The holics\u2019 pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is unsurprisingly little value available in a matchup that the bookies think we are strong favourites in. Frankly, I would keep your hand in your pocket on this one unless you\u2019ve had a whisper in your shell from the Ghost of Christmas Future or some other knowing apparition. 2-0 (which would be my predicted scoreline) is priced at around 7s. However, in search of something interesting, and to make up for my lack of detailed scouting on the opposition (alright, my lack of any<\/em> scouting on the opposition) I did find that William Hill are offering 100\/1 against a Pepe hat-trick. Nketiah and even Balogun are offered at a quarter of that at 25\/1 so I reckon if you have a spare pound to lay on something a bit different then it is Pepe all the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wish everyone in the stadium a safe and enjoyable evening out and I hope the boys do you proud with a performance and a result. For those at home I hope you stay on the sofa, without the need to get behind it, that we continue our smooth progress in Europe and that we kick off December as we mean to continue it\u2026 with a WIN!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay safe Holics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COYG!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We could not be facing a more aptly named opponent in the Europa League tomorrow. After a dismal result against Wolves this game against Rapid Vienna cannot come fast enough! With our league form in the toilet and our next league fixture, away at the spuds, to be played in an actual toilet, it is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1890"}],"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\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1890"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1892,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1890\/revisions\/1892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}