{"id":7140,"date":"2022-12-24T05:44:16","date_gmt":"2022-12-24T05:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7140"},"modified":"2022-12-26T23:59:44","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T23:59:44","slug":"gunners-finally-to-resume-premier-league-table-dance-home-to-spammers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7140","title":{"rendered":"Gunners Finally to Resume Premier League Table Dance, Home to Spammers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1359229002\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:70.03367% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1359229002?et=AbqcsY9LToFwp4ypnu7Row&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=BFyymMSMfcYe4w9vze6uNI74nQia4vORBI1n8p7CAsQ=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\" width=\"594\" height=\"416\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>December 26, Monday, 8pm GMT, Emirates Stadium<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In their long-delayed 15th game of the Premier League season to be played on Boxing Day, six weeks after Arsenal defeated Wolves away thanks to a Martin \u00d8degaard double in their last game prior to the World Cup interregnum, the Gunners will at last resume their title chase at home against West Ham United.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What have the Arsenal players been doing all this time?&nbsp;&nbsp;Well, the ones who haven\u2019t been with their various national squads in Qatar spent part of the time playing in victorious friendlies against Lyon and Milan, two matches held 500-odd miles to the west of Qatar as part of the \u201cDubai Super Cup\u201d in the emirate of Dubai.&nbsp;&nbsp;Arsenal then continued what amounts to their second pre-season with a 2-0 home loss against Juventus on Saturday December 17, in another game I did not see. That game was followed this week by a behind-closed-doors friendly with Luton Town which ended 0-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But nearly all the players who were at the World Cup were back with Arsenal for those three friendlies, so there has been time, albeit brief in some cases, to get back into the rhythm of daily Arsenal training.&nbsp;&nbsp;But how will the team be able to refocus their physical and mental energies back to the task at hand, i.e., the weekly rigors of a Premier League title challenge?&nbsp;&nbsp;It\u2019s hard to say, but most of Arsenal\u2019s World Cup contingent have had at least two weeks since returning to the squad.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ben White, Matt Turner and Thomas Partey returned on December 11, and Granit Xhaka, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Bukayo Saka shortly thereafter.&nbsp;&nbsp;Only the return of French defender William Saliba, whose team played in the final, was delayed longer.&nbsp;&nbsp;According to Mikel Arteta in his pre-match presser, Saliba was expected to return Friday, three days prior to facing the Hammers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On December 3rd, the day after Gabriel Jes\u00fas\u2019 only World Cup start, we found out that he injured his right knee, and would have to return to London for surgery.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Brazil medical staff expected him at the time to be sidelined for at least three months, and I have seen nothing to contradict that estimate.&nbsp;&nbsp;What a jolt of bad news, potentially derailing our title hopes, and presumably sending Edu scrambling for reinforcements in the transfer market.&nbsp;&nbsp;In any case, the next chapter of our season will not include our iconic Brazilian striker.&nbsp;&nbsp;It\u2019s a big disappointment but such challenges were always going to occur during the length of a Premier League season, and especially considering that the first three months went off with nary a glitch.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The question is, how can Arsenal rise to this and the many other challenges ahead.&nbsp;&nbsp;We will begin to get some answers against the Hammers, but no doubt there will be plenty of surprises along the way.&nbsp;&nbsp;Speaking on Sky Sports on Monday, Arteta was expecting as much when he said: \u201cWe have the confidence that we are in the right path but as well we have the red lights and alarms there because what is coming in the second part of the season is something unprecedented and we need to be ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Hammers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As recently as the week before the World Cup there were people in the media, social or otherwise, saying that West Ham\u2019s first 15 matches (including nine losses but only four wins) were so poor that David Moyes deserved the sack.&nbsp;&nbsp;With no Premier League games played in the last 42 days, the East Londoners remain in 16th spot in the table entering this match but Moyes is still the Hammers\u2019 manager so at least the Spammers didn\u2019t hit the panic button and do away with their most successful manager in recent history as certain other clubs have done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In terms of reintegrating players back into the squad, West Ham enjoy one advantage over Arsenal because they had only three players in the latter stages of the tournament compared to the Gunners\u2019 five (Martinelli, Jes\u00fas, Turner, Ramsdale, Saka).&nbsp;&nbsp;England midfielder Declan Rice and Brazil forward Lucas Paquet\u00e1 are the two most prominent West Ham players who remained with their national teams until the knockout rounds.&nbsp;&nbsp;But Nayef Aguerd, the Hammers\u2019 Moroccan defender who appeared in only four league matches for them before he featured in Morocco\u2019s steadfast defence until injuring his thigh in their triumph over Spain, will probably miss this match.&nbsp;&nbsp;On Tuesday it was reported that the Hammers could be forced to play without Michail Antonio and Gianluca Scamacca, their only two strikers, so they might not be able to put as much pressure on the Arsenal defenders as a result.&nbsp;&nbsp;The expected makeshift striker, Jarrod Bowen, will try to ramp up the pressure as much as he can, but his absence from the West Ham midfield could also leave that area weakened.&nbsp; Defender Kurt Zouma will miss out due to knee surgery, so old hand Angelo Ogbonna may come on in his place.&nbsp; But no matter who plays for them, the Hammers are facing a relegation scrap, so Arsenal cannot expect an easy three points in this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal XI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Excepting the injured Gabriel Jes\u00fas, some of the players who didn\u2019t play much at the World Cup should be prime suspects to feature against the Hammers.&nbsp;&nbsp;Many of that group were first choice prior to the World Cup anyway, but in the case of White (sent home early), Ramsdale (spent the tournament on the bench), and Zinchenko, Tierney and \u00d8degaard (countries did not qualify), they should be well rested and have extra motivation to get right back into the first team.&nbsp;&nbsp;But Zinchenko and Tomiyasu may not quite be ready to play 90 minutes according to recent reports, while Smith Rowe (I was hoping he would be ready by now!) and Nelson are both sidelined with injuries.&nbsp; Based largely on which players featured in our friendlies against Lyon, Milan and Juventus, the team should look something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Ramsdale<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">White&nbsp;&nbsp;Holding&nbsp;&nbsp;Gabriel&nbsp;&nbsp;Tierney<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Partey<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">\u00d8degaard&nbsp;&nbsp;Xhaka&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Saka&nbsp;&nbsp;Nketiah&nbsp;&nbsp;Martinelli<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Man with the whistle (MWTW)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michael Oliver, need I say more?&nbsp;&nbsp;Quite possibly, but I certainly oughtn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The \u2018holic pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the above-mentioned MWTW doesn\u2019t mess things up too badly like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, we could look up at the end of the day and see an 8-point gap has opened up between ourselves and Manchester City, who do not play until Wednesday, at Leeds.&nbsp;&nbsp;What with Gabriel Jes\u00fas being out for a while, I can think of no better scenario than for his replacement, Eddie Nketiah, to bring home the bacon with a briskly dispatched first half brace, and our defence to see it out calmly from there: Arsenal 2 West Ham 0.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That\u2019s my prediction, and I\u2019m sticking to it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keeping that positivity flowing, I wouldn\u2019t be too surprised to see Eddie take things up a notch now that he will be surrounded by a cast of first-teamers, rather than the bench-warmers that we have become used to seeing him play with in his Europa League and Carling Cup starting opportunities.&nbsp;&nbsp;So bring it on young man, there\u2019s no time like the present to flower before our very eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enjoy the game, \u2018holics, and the long-awaited return of our Arsenal-focused routines.&nbsp; And Merry Christmas to everyone who&#8217;s celebrating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images December 26, Monday, 8pm GMT, Emirates Stadium In their long-delayed 15th game of the Premier League season to be played on Boxing Day, six weeks after Arsenal defeated Wolves away thanks to a Martin \u00d8degaard double in their last game prior to the World Cup interregnum, the Gunners will at last [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"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\/7140"}],"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\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7140"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7169,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7140\/revisions\/7169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}