By Bulldog Drummond
The injury list today seems to be full of slightly doubtful injuries
| The man | How’s he doing? | When’s he back | For Chelsea? |
| N Monreal | Hamstring Injury | January 24, 2018 | Late Fitness Test |
| A Ramsey | Illness | January 24, 2018 | Late Fitness Test |
| D Welbeck | Muscular Injury | January 30, 2018 | Slight Doubt |
| O Giroud | Hamstring Injury | January 30, 2018 | Slight Doubt |
| S Cazorla | Plantaris Injury | No Return Date | No |
I would suspect that with Welbeck and Giroud both being given dates of 30 January for their return they will not be risked against Chelsea even if ready. As for Henrikh Mkhitaryan – he is an Arsenal man, but also a cup-tied Arsenal man so he can’t be selected. Which is probably a good thing – he’ll need a little while to get used to a very different style of play.
So we could see Ramsey back, in which case I suspect Jack will get a rest to avoid overplaying him and risk getting another injury. Nacho Monreal is said to be facing a late test having had to come off early against Palace. So it might well be that he won’t be risked either.
Olivier Giroud was described by the boss as a ‘fraction short’ while Danny Welbeck is coming back from the muscle strain which forced him out for the Palace game.
As for Aubameyang well there is something below, but no, he won’t play.
Chelsea have been on a long, long, long unbeaten run in various competitions…
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 12 Dec 2017 | Huddersfield Town v Chelsea | W | 1-3 | Premier League |
| 16 Dec 2017 | Chelsea v Southampton | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 20 Dec 2017 | Chelsea v AFC Bournemouth | W | 2-1 | League Cup |
| 23 Dec 2017 | Everton v Chelsea | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 26 Dec 2017 | Chelsea v Brighton and Hove | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 30 Dec 2017 | Chelsea v Stoke City | W | 5-0 | Premier League |
| 03 Jan 2018 | Arsenal v Chelsea | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 06 Jan 2018 | Norwich City v Chelsea | D | 0-0 | FA Cup |
| 09 Jan 2018 | Portsmouth v Chelsea | W | 1-2 | League Trophy |
| 10 Jan 2018 | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | League Cup |
| 13 Jan 2018 | Chelsea v Leicester City | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 17 Jan 2018 | Chelsea v Norwich City | W | 1-1 | FA Cup (5-3) |
| 20 Jan 2018 | Brighton and Hove v Chelsea | W | 0-4 | Premier League |
13 games unbeaten with just five draws during that run. Our 13 is not quite so good…
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Competition |
| 07 Dec 2017 | Arsenal v FC BATE Borisov | W | 6-0 | Europa League |
| 10 Dec 2017 | Southampton v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 13 Dec 2017 | West Ham United v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | Premier League |
| 16 Dec 2017 | Arsenal v Newcastle United | W | 1-0 | Premier League |
| 19 Dec 2017 | Arsenal v West Ham United | W | 1-0 | League Cup |
| 22 Dec 2017 | Arsenal v Liverpool | D | 3-3 | Premier League |
| 28 Dec 2017 | Crystal Palace v Arsenal | W | 2-3 | Premier League |
| 31 Dec 2017 | West Bromwich Albion v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 03 Jan 2018 | Arsenal v Chelsea | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 07 Jan 2018 | Nottingham Forest v Arsenal | L | 4-2 | FA Cup |
| 10 Jan 2018 | Chelsea v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | League Cup |
| 14 Jan 2018 | AFC Bournemouth v Arsenal | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 20 Jan 2018 | Arsenal v Crystal Palace | W | 4-1 | Premier League |
In the last eight games we have scored sixteen goals, the perfect two goals a game record. In the last eight Chelsea have scored fourteen. We are just a fraction ahead of them.
So yes, we have had two defeats, and they have happened recently, but taking the same total – 13 games – we have won five, drawn six, and lost the two. But it is always possible that Arsenal has now turned the corner, and with the Alexis issue sorted out, and with the thought of another player coming into the team in the next few days, hopefully everyone who gets a chance will be 100% motivated.
Arsenal have done their usual generous thing with the prices, which I suspect very few people in the media or on the bloggettas will mention. £20 ticket upstairs, £10 downstairs, with a £10 tickets upstairs also available to the elderly (providing they can climb the stairs).
Of course we had one correspondent telling us that these were special deals for season ticket holders, but such fake news type assertions really need to be a little more clever to be believed, especially when writing to a blog run mostly by season ticket holders.
There will be more on the forthcoming match, anon. But just in case you can’t wait for more transfer news, try this one for size
“Aubameyang confirmed!’ Arsenal fans go nuts after image suggests £53m transfer has been done”
He won’t play tomorrow though.
- The future of football: can the growth go on forever?
- How on earth are we going to fit all these guys in the team at once?
- Why do Arsenal fans criticise Arsenal players so much?
The latest post from our series on Henry Norris at the Arsenal
Today’s Anniversaries
When will the Mkhitaryan welcome article will be on?
I very much doubt we will rest Wilshere for a semi- final with a free weekend following . I suspect we will pick the team we played on Saturday unless Monreal is ruled out
We have a free weekend following so I suspect Wilshere will play a semi- final. My bet would be Saturday’s team unless Monreal is ruled out
Mkhitaryan apparently can’t wear #7 in Europa League (according to Arsenal.com). Maybe look at thos ewho followed in Gordie Howe’s footsteps, take #77.
A late goal blitz has ensured a win for our U23s against their Bayern Munich counterparts tonight at Borehamwood.
We reached halftime two goals to the good courtesy of Dragomir (min30 and Reine-Adelaide (37j. Goals from Awoudja (48) and Wreidl (60) seemed to leave the game destined to end as a draw.
Our youngsters had other ideas and a three goal salvo in six minutes sealed our win. Ösen-Tutu started the blitz in Min 76, Reine-Adelaide got his second of the game a minute later and Smith-Rowe added our fifth in min82.
A great win and one which keeps us top of our group.
Tomorrow being the 5th time that Chelsea are going to play against Arsenal in all competitions this season during which there was no winner no vanquished in their last 4 meetings at regulation time but a victor in Arsenal does emerged in their 1st meeting when the Gunners beat Chelsea after extra time to lift the Charity Shield at Wembley on the opening day of this season. The Gunners will tomorrow beat the Blues by 2 undisputed goals to nil in the Carabao Cup 2nd leg semi-final match at the Ems within regulation time or after extra time if the game boils down to that but the match will not go to penalty shoot out.
My Arsenal 3-2-4-1 starts and 7 substitutes for the match are as below:
Starts:
Ospina BFG Chambers Maitland Ramsey
Nelson Nketiah.
On the Aubameyang transfer to Arsenal from Dortmund this window. I want the transfer concluded in the next 3 days so that Auba will start training with the first team squad in readiness to be started by Le Boss in our away match to Swansea City in PL next Tuesday night. Arsenal are reported to have tabled a £45m bidding fee to Dortmund to sign Auba but Dortmund are said to be holding out for £60m and want a replacement for Auba before they’ll let him leave. And Giroud is reported to be the player Dortmund are eyeing as replacement for Auba. In this case, Arsenal should strike a compromise with Dortmund by dividing into two the £15m difference in the bidding fee of the £45m they’ve submitted and the asking fee which Dortmund are demanding and submit £52.5m transfer bidding fee to Dortmund which to me they should accept. But if they insist on taking Giroud on loan till the end of the season, Arsenal should allow them to take Giroud but on condition that they’ll be paying Giroud his Arsenal wages and bonuses till the end of the season.
Tomorrow being the 5th time that Chelsea are going to play against Arsenal in all competitions this season during which there was no winner no vanquished in their last 4 meetings at regulation time but a victor in Arsenal does emerged in their 1st meeting when the Gunners beat Chelsea after extra time to lift the Charity Shield at Wembley on the opening day of this season. The Gunners will tomorrow beat the Blues by 2 undisputed goals to nil in the Carabao Cup 2nd leg semi-final match at the Ems within regulation time or after extra time if the game boils down to that but the match will not go to penalty shoot out.
My Arsenal 3-2-4-1 starts and 7 substitutes for the match are as below:
Starts:
Ospina
…………………..Mustafi……………………
……Koscielny……………..Holding……..
Bellerin………………………….Kolasinac
…Oezil…Wilshere…Xhaka…ElNeny….
………………….Lacazette…………………..
Bench:
Cech BFG Chambers Maitland Ramsey
Nelson Nketiah.
Sorry for the omission of my starts and and for wrongly having Ospina on my bench in my first posting. it’s a mistake due to my hurrying.
On the Aubameyang transfer to Arsenal from Dortmund this window. I want the transfer concluded in the next 3 days so that Auba will start training with the first team squad in readiness to be started by Le Boss in our away match to Swansea City in PL next Tuesday night. Arsenal are reported to have tabled a £45m bidding fee to Dortmund to sign Auba but Dortmund are said to be holding out for £60m and want a replacement for Auba before they’ll let him leave. And Giroud is reported to be the player Dortmund are eyeing as replacement for Auba. In this case, Arsenal should strike a compromise with Dortmund by dividing into two the £15m difference in the bidding fee of the £45m they’ve submitted and the asking fee which Dortmund are demanding and submit £52.5m transfer bidding fee to Dortmund which to me they should accept. But if they insist on taking Giroud on loan till the end of the season, Arsenal should allow them to take Giroud but on condition that they’ll be paying Giroud his Arsenal wages and bonuses till the end of the season.
Phil Neville is an improvement over Mark Sampson for England Women’s manager????????
I think a lot of Arsenal women are going to be coming back from England duty injured.
Copied and pasted from the telegraph.. loving the new Wenger?
?
““You celebrate some teams who have not been in a final for 25 years and yet you kill us even though we have won the FA Cup three times in the last four years. We have to live with that.”
The names of those supposed favoured clubs were not mentioned but, while 25 years might have been something of an exaggeration, we can speculate that Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur were not far from his thinking. Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino are both still waiting for their first trophy in English football and Wenger remains confident that Arsenal can still overhaul a five point Premier League gap to Liverpool in fourth.”
As a matter of fact, having played 24 PL games thus far this season, Arsenal who are currently on 42 points in the table should make it mandatory on themselves to win their remaining 14 PL matches left this season for a collection of 42 points which will bring their total points collection tally at the end this season to 84 points total to thereby be in pole position to guarantee themselves of one of the 4 the places allotted for CL qualification next season.
In this their quests, if their signings of striker Aubameyang from Dortmund and likely that of the CHB Jonny Evans from WBA this window come to fruition, it will enable Arsenal reinforce their striking and defending departments with these 2 quality player signings which has become imperative for Arsenal to do if they are to attain the collection of the 42 points they’ve set in their minds now to collect in their next 24 EPL games.
Wenger and chrome plated Porsche?? Maybe not the right combination! Pictures from Dortmund training ground shows Aubameyang packing up his car with boxes.Arsene says it might not be close but it looks like, ITS ON. I am really excited because contrary to what other says, most of the top clubs in the world play with 4-5 attacking players the biggest difference is that they generally have a DM who plays like Elneny did against Palace. I actually wouldn’t be surprised to see Mhkitaryan score more goals for Arsenal because the problem for Iwobi is that he is getting into position to score goals but he cocks up his finishing, I think Mhkitaryan would score a bit more.
Add Aubameyang in the mix and top 4 will be ours again. Great times ahead.
About Aubameyang, this has been dragging on and on and on….. With pics of Ivan and co in Dortmund. Atleast now the boo boys will stop blaming Mr Wenger for the delayed or failed transfers.
“Stan Kroenke shows he’s gunning for Alisher Usmanov as Arsenal owner buys 22 more shares in club.” DM.
Excellent news. Usminov will hold out for the best price & then join Moshiri at Everton. I am happy we have something took look forward to be optimistic about. I think Sven is doing a great job. The net spend for January is going to be modest with all the outgoings. But in return, we have regenerated the playing roster. We are getting more bang for buck using the same relatively tiny transfer kitty.
We’re in the right direction and with the Mikhi and Aubameyang’s arival will ensure us the top 4 will be ours again.
Great times ahead.
“Stan Kroenke shows he’s gunning for Alisher Usmanov as Arsenal owner buys 22 more shares in club.” DM.
The man that build’s a finacial portfolio but has little regard for on the field success.
Still to parody Tony’s other site , He’s sitting in his easy chair and aint going no-where.
Stan increasing his share is good news? What planet did he come from, where’s Buck Rodgers, that Green Duck or the guy with boomerang hammer! 22 shares are pittance anyway. But it’s a preemptively move, which means he’s worried. Which is good for investment and internal policy.
Also if Wenger gets it right, we will actually be held perfectly with two shareholders who won’t budge. This was how we were set up, to avoid shennnanigans such as the appointment of administrators.
Bulldog, as Wenger says there are some question marks surrounding Mikhi’s confidence. But given that he has come out, suggesting that not only were his dreams fulfilled but the move comes as answer to jos prayers after hell at United.
I change my opinion prior to an opening game (as with Alexis) so much as to say, there will be no transition period for either Aubameyang or Mikhi, the latter won’t have to adjust as we play his style of footlball.
Hence why as with Mesut, Wenger has detailed the fact that he went for them prior to their respective moves to the Giants. When Aubameyang arrives, expect goals, Lacazette is a fox, Pierre is an other worldly beast, quite literally Ridley Scott, when Andrei has earned his stripes ITV will be Alien v Predator and occasionally Alien with Predator.
Aubameyang may not know it, but he was born to wear 14 at Arsenal.
Hector needs to earn the soon to be vacant 2. 4 Vieria/Cesc soon to be available, those positions are vacantly entirely. The number of a CB.
6 could go to Elneny, will he give all, he will if he can!
5 Mustarfi has to earn, or it goes to the newcomer.
3 Sead or a newcomer?
12 & 23 should become available shortly as well.
Wenger out; are you mad fam!
Alexis has thrown Thierry under a bus, well I did say Alexis had gone off the rails, also Henry should stop taking.
Belgian qualified well, didn’t they, Lukaku suddenly learned how to be efficient and then they qualified and he stopped being efficient.
They fear us, but Alexis yes Henry should be coach here as he loves the club. I’m sad for you, little one. Do the basics and move, China would suit you, then MLS close to home, go take all their money.
Once a goner, always a goner! You just became part of a quad, like the bricks that built The Emriates, the true home of football The Ampatheatre!
Time to go Supernova
Also Aubameyang is going smoothly and timeuosly, Ze Germans know what they are selling, and are incredulous, Aubameyang is willing to accept the fines to force through a move to one specific club, because they are dragging their feet trying to make a small fortune from him and he and Reus are both like, this is enough. Difference is Reus is such a good guy and at his boyhood club, he won’t do it, so Pierre is doing it for them both.
Suarez, Aubameyang Alexis aren’t bad guys, they are smart and due to age aren’t in the position to wait, and even Phil went early. The players are people as well as assets and there for your entertainment. I like what Suarez did, he bit two assholes, Aubameyang knows if the fee isn’t stupid, he can go to Real after killing the Premier league and still pop to Italy after if he likes, or France.
Alexis had to choose and he chose right, last contract, he had to max out, if have done the same thing, I’d probably play rubbishy and then move straight back though, forcing United to pay the wage difference.
Alexis if you’re reading this. Although Reus down the left is near identical, perhaps more efficient.
Somebody I might have to ask my brother for one, but someone screenshot FIFA Alexis stats now and same need for FM18 I want to catch them bias against us, as well.
Dwain Kaye – “But given that he has come out, suggesting that not only were his dreams fulfilled” Literally every player that signs for a new club says that they’ve always dreamed of playing for said club (even though he probably said the exact same thing when he signed for Man U not too long ago).