By Bulldog Drummond
It’s all left to play for in Group B of the Europa League… well, not quite.
Arsenal need a single point from their last two games to win the group and Molde FK and Rapid Wien (not Wine as I saw in one outlet) are fighting it out tooth and nail, hand and claw, cheek by jowl, and any other old sayings you can think of, for second spot.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 12 |
| Molde FK | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 6 |
| SK Rapid Wien | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| Dundalk FC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 12 | -7 | 0 |
That 2-1 away victory at the start of the campaign was our first ever game against Rapid Wien, so we don’t have much history to report on that. But of course given that they can still qualify to keep their season alive (the league having been won before it even kicked off by the eternal winners Red Bull). So they are going to put everything into this game in the hope that our current bad run of form, and the fact that we don’t really have to bother will mean they can sneak a win.
Let’s move on to injuries and suspensions…
We are no longer top of the table in this regard, which as we have noted before includes suspensions as well as injuries
- Liverpool: 11 (this looks like carelessness)
- Aston Villa: 8
- Brighton and Hove Albion: 8
- Manchester United: 8
- Newcastle United: 8
- Arsenal: 6
- Burnley: 6
- Leeds United: 6
Everyone else, fewer than six. Here is our list
| Player | What’s wrong | Medical detail | Return date | Current status | Likely to play? |
| Gabriel Martinelli | Knee Injury | Meniscus Tear | 08/01/2021 | Back in training | Ruled Out |
| Nicolas Pepe | Suspended | Sending Off – Red Card | 14/12/2020 | None | Ruled Out |
| Sead Kolasinac | Other | Coronavirus Disease 2019 | 03/12/2020 | None | 100% |
| David Luiz | Other | Head injury | 29/11/2020 | Late Fitness Test | 75% |
| Calum Chambers | Other | Lacking Match Fitness | Currently Being Assessed | 25% | |
| Pablo Mari Villar | Other | Lacking Match Fitness | Currently Being Assessed | 50 |
The great news is that although Martinelli is ruled out, he is getting closer all the time. The very impressive Elneny is also available to play having presumably been found not to have coronavirus after all, so I would expect him to come back into the team, along with Pepe.
Here are Rapid’s recent games
| Date | Competition | Home Team | Away team | Score |
| 5/11/20 | Europa | Rapid Wien | Dundalk | 4 – 3 |
| 8/11/20 | League | Rapid Wien | Salzburg | 1 – 1 |
| 22/11/20 | League | Ried | Rapid Wien | 4 – 3 |
| 26/11/20 | Europa | Dundalk | Rapid Wien | 1 – 3 |
| 29/11/20 | League | Rapid Wien | Austria Wien | 1 – 1 |
They have scored 12 goals in those last five games and conceded 10, which suggests a fairly gung-ho up-and-at-em style of play, so we might get some jolly good old fashioned entertainment tonight in front of a packed stadium of 2000 people (no one in the upper tiers!)
The Austrian league is a one club league thanks to sponsorship with Salzburg winning the league year after year after year after…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salzburg | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 34 | 10 | 24 | 22 |
| 2 | LASK | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 20 |
| 3 | Rapid Wien | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 22 | 13 | 9 | 18 |
| 4 | Sturm Graz | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 15 |
As with all the leagues that allow free outside investment with no restraint there is no real competition any more except for the highly sponsored clubs. In this league there is one: Salzburg. Here is a list of their recent championships in Austria…
2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20
Which really makes one wonder what the point of it all is. I mean of course I would enjoy it if Arsenal won the league every year, but in the end it knocks out the point of league. There is in fact no competition – and what is the point of the other clubs competing against them?
Thus far in the Europa League Arsenal have used (including substitutions) 25 players
| No. | Name | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernd Leno | 2 |
| 2 | Héctor Bellerín | 0(1) |
| 3 | Kieran Tierney | 0(4) |
| 6 | Gabriel | 1 |
| 7 | Bukayo Saka | 1(1) |
| 8 | Dani Ceballos | 2(1) |
| 9 | Alexandre Lacazette | 2 |
| 12 | Willian | 1(1) |
| 13 | Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson | 2 |
| 14 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | 0(1) |
| 15 | Ainsley Maitland-Niles | 3 |
| 16 | Rob Holding | 0(1) |
| 17 | Cédric Soares | 3(1) |
| 18 | Thomas Partey | 1 |
| 19 | Nicolas Pépé | 4 |
| 20 | Shkodran Mustafi | 3 |
| 23 | David Luiz | 3 |
| 24 | Reiss Nelson | 2(1) |
| 25 | Mohamed Elneny | 2(1) |
| 28 | Joe Willock | 3(1) |
| 30 | Eddie Nketiah | 4 |
| 31 | Sead Kolašinac | 3 |
| 32 | Emile Smith Rowe | 0(1) |
| 34 | Granit Xhaka | 3 |
| 38 | Folarin Balogun | 0(2) |
Given that the competition for Arsenal is all but over, we might now see a few more youngsters getting a run out tonight. And given the way the first team is failing to score goals in the league the forwards might feel somewhat encouraged.
Up next, the suggested team lineup from the blogs and media.
I note that Arsenals’ seven injured players include the ‘Luiz brothers’ who are due back on different dates lol.
Always good of you to point out my errors. Well actually not mine, but I didn’t proof it properly. And I see you have a new email address too.
2 Luiz’s comming back? Blimey. And I thought concussion only made you SEE double !
Arsenal as us Gooners know are having a winning run in the Europa League Cup competition this season as the Gunners have won all the four group stage B games that they’ve played and are on top of the group table.
And I don’t see any exceptions to this their winning run happening tonight at the Ems when they host Rapid Wien in matchday no.5 game in the competition. .But a continuation in their winning run by beating Wien in the match if not handsomely but narrowly to carry the day is what I’ve foreseen will happen in the match. Even as it’s thought that Wien could put up a stubborn resistant in the game against Arsenal to steal a win. Thus, actualizing their ambition of qualifying for the knockout stages of the competition. And they could also may not mind getting a draw game result in the match.
To be forewarned is said is to be forearm. Therefore, Arsenal having been forewarned of Rapid Wien mission ambition to win the match or get a point in it, should forearm themselves very well in readiness for the match encounter against Rapid Wien tonight.
So that the Gunners will not be caught unawares in the game when playing in the match. And thank God! Arsenal are Gunners. And this should make their work of defeating Wien in the match encounter possible. But provided their battle commander selected a strong Gunners team for the match battle and line them up in an array that will undo Wien in the match fight. Masking Arsenal to thereby collect all the three points in the game that will be at stake for collection in the match at the end of it.
It is needless for me to go into which Gunners I think Mikel Arteta the Arsenal first team top competitions game playing battle commander should select, start in the match and benched to come on in it. For, I believe he knows his onions very well in this regard.
Both Arteta and the Gunners who will play in tonight’s match against Wien and those who will sit on the bench to come on to play in it, including the senior and youth senior team Gunners who are left out of the match as well as us Gooners too owe the Arsenal team against Wien tonight our total support and commitments to see Arsenal beat the could be hard fighting Wien team in the match.
Which if Arsenal succeeded in beating Wien as they ought to succeed doing so will go a long way to position Arsenal in confidence boosting that the Gunners now need as a necessary necessity to have in place in themselves ahead of their playing at away against Tottenham Hotspur in the PL this coming Sunday in a Arsenal MUST win match in the first of the two NLD matches of this season’s campaign in the PL after unexpectedly fell to a defeat at home to Wolves in the PL last Sunday. .
@ Tony
I saw my comment went into moderation but it was from my usual email address???
On the matter of Liverpool injuries, Virgil Van Dyke was certainly “careless”, by going into the Everton penalty area and close enough to England’s current goalkeeper to become the victim of his two-footed assault.