- Sporting CP v Arsenal: the Arsenal line up, the premonitions, the prediction
- Sporting v Arsenal: not utterly confident but still hopeful
By Bulldog Drummond
If it is in the talking sprout then it is going to be negative, and so it is: “Gunners could match unwanted Champions League record in Portugal.” And what is that record I hear you cry?
Well it must be a big one as they say, “Arsenal are on the brink of a record they won’t want to achieve…”
“The Gunners are winless in their five away games in the Champions League, losing three and drawing two. In the last four, they have also failed to score. Only one English team have ever gone five games without finding the net and that was Man United in the 2004/05 season.”
Now the question really is, does this matter, or is this just put in to fill up space and make us feel bad? And the answer is yes both of those because basically very few people turn to TalkSport when they feel good. Listen (if you can) to any of their phone ins for a while and what you get are negatives.
There is an attempt to balance this up a bit with, “In their opening four Champions League fixtures, Arteta’s side have only managed to score three goals in total. However, they have only conceded one too, with entertaining games seemingly hard to come by in Europe this season.” but it is a bit feeble.
As for the team the sprout says “Arteta may make changes to his back line, with Tierney, Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko potentially coming in…. Riccardo Calafiori could be rested while Mikel Merino could also get a rest after playing 90 minutes at the weekend.”
The team they pick are
Raya
Kiwior Gabriel Saliba Timber
Rice Patey Odegaard
Martinelli Havertz Saka
Football London ponders whether Jorginho will keep his place in the line up noting that generally he only plays if Rice can’t and we all expect Rice to be back for this game. Jorginho has hinted that the latter could be the case after posting a matchday graphic on his Instagram story late on Monday night. Apparently this was something he did before the game against Nottingham Forest. So that’s the new game – seeing who has posted what and then using that in order to determine who is going to play. I suppose it keeps the journalists happy.
Mind you, even the BBC with all its resources is struggling to find something novel to say ahead of the match. They end up quoting Arteta as saying, “Be ruthless, be efficient in the opposition box and do what we have to do to take the three points away from here.”
They note of course, as does almost everyone that “Sporting beat Manchester City 4-1 in their final Champions League game under Ruben Amorim” but of course they have now got a new manager – and what sort of poisoned chalice is that? The club won the league for the 20th time last season with the second-highest number of points ever, and then the league winners’ manager (who could of course have his pick of any club in the world to go to) chooses to go to Manchester United. Something odd about that if you ask me.
So anyway, Arsenal’s opponents tonight are now managed by former reserve team coach Joao Pereira. Noting the side’s 17 wins and one draw in the last 18 games, Mikel Arteta is quoted as saying, “That is a great challenge that we have, to come here and make a statement and show we are capable against this kind of opponent. Be ourselves and win the game.”
Sports Mole are predicting a 2-2 draw tonight, making the interesting observation that “Had Arsenal been travelling to Sporting before the international break with no Odegaard in the ranks, Arteta’s men would no doubt have been at risk of sharing the same fate as Man City, but Saturday’s stellar success ought to be the catalyst for a Christmas renaissance.”
Their team prediction is
Raya;
Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori;
Odegaard, Partey, Rice;
Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
But they are being a bit cute today saying, “Only one Premier League side has ever gone scoreless in five straight away games in Europe’s premier tournament – Manchester United from 2004 to 2005 – and even an Amorim-less Sporting have every reason to believe that they can condemn Arsenal to that unwanted fate.”
Which is ok, we can let them believe everything they want to believe. But in the meantime we might note that Kai Havertz has scored seven, Bukayo Saka has scored five, Ethan Nwaneri (who might come on as a sub) has got four and Gabriel Martinelli three.
The Arsenal squad for the trip is
Neto, Raya, Setford; Calafiori, Gabriel, Heaven, Kiwior, Saliba, Tierney, Timber, Zinchenko; Havertz, Jorginho, Lewis-Skelly, Merino, Nwaneri, Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Jesus, Martinelli, Saka, Sterling and Trossard
So unless something big turns up this afternoon, that’s it from us. A staggering result might actually demand a further posting tonight, but if not, we’ll attempt to be back tomorrow morning.
Earlier reports:
- Sporting v Arsenal: the problem is, we find it hard to beat them
- Sporting v Arsenal: concerns that the new format is not working as it should
And the team is
Raya;
Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori;
Odegaard (c), Partey, Rice;
Saka, Havertz, Martinelli.
Subs: Neto, Setford, Tierney, Gabriel Jesus, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Trossard, Jorginho, Merino, Sterling, Lewis-Skelly, Nwaneri.
Well that was an enjoyable first half was it not. Brilliant.
HT 0-3. I doubt many of us expected that! The TV lot have actually been a little complimentary too. Towards the end of the first half though, I couldn’t help thinking the word came down from on high that they shouldn’t keep bigging Arsenal up and the tone switched to how Sporting were letting us play well rather than we were just completely outplaying them. Let’s see what the second half brings…
So, what did we learn tonight?
1) For starters, Polish referees are better than anything the PGMO has to offer (despite the inexplicable reason why the Sporting player didn’t get a second yellow for the penalty).
2) Gyokeres may be OK against Portugese defenders (and John Stones :-)), but he’s no match for William Saliba.
3) Yes we are as good as we thought we were and it was the fixture list (and a few injuries) (and the PGMO) that was against us.
4) How F’in good is Martin?
5) How wonderful is it when the wheels come off the 115 City bandwagon? LMAO!
Mikey
4) How F’in good is Martin?
I heard or read someone say the other day that he’s the only player he’s ever known to get better whilst he’s out injured.
What a performance from Martin and all the lads.
Brilliant beyond anything I can imagine
I could have sat here making predictions all afternoon and early evening and I would not have predicted that result or that brilliance of performance. This is Arsenal back to their sub lime best.
So much brilliance, so much joy and nothing to grumble about. We have two home games and one away to come in this weird initial phase.
BBC sport has every one of our players with very high scores. It felt like that, not a single player who didn’t do their bit.
Yes, wasn’t the referee a breath of fresh air. He gave a card to Diamonde after a couple of minutes and that stopped the antics.
It wasn’t a good performance, it was a great one, up there with Inter away all those years ago. Sporting’s first defeat at home for 18 months.
But to give them credit, they looked like they would give us a very hard time if we hadn’t been at top level.
Referees in Europe may make occasional odd decisions and mistakes, but, unlike PGMOL, they appear to be fair and unbiased.
Just now on Sky, Coote being investigated that he discussed giving out a yellow card before the game took place.
What a brillant performance from the whole team including the subs. And what a great performance from the ref. We all know that penalty decision would never been given bij a PGMO ref. Not in a million years. He got that spot on. The only thing was how on earth did he not send Diamonde off? For the penalty foul and then for smashing his arm in the face of Martinelli…. Should have been second yellow cards. But maybe he just wanted to referee it according to the spirit of the game (it was a fair match all in all) unlike… some refs who think they have to apply the letter of the law when it comes to Arsenal. Odegaard is from another planet. He lifts the whole team to the next level. Just imagine having two such players at our dispoasal. Mind you let’s keep the pressure of Ethan and give him time to grow.
We must not underestimate Partey’s contribution last night – he tidied alot up and I don’t recall him giving a bad pass. Odegaard has the wonderful knack of being unable to be tackled. He and Saka created havoc. I have not seen a left back get a skinning like that in a long time/. I agree the refeeree’s only blemish was to allow Diamonde to remain on the field. In comparison to our Premier referees I am astonished why Ndidi did not see red Saturday. That spiteful, nasty assault on Palmer’s achilles could have finished his season. Then these referees have probably never played the game.
I believe the player causing the penalty was not sent off because off the double- jeopardy logic. Or maybe it is called differently but I do recall discussions that a penalty and a sending-off were double punishment and that the rule book had been adapted to avoid this . Maybe I am wrong but I have that recollection.
Apart from that this was one of the best games in years. What a team we have !
@ Chris
I believe the ‘double jeopardy’ rule only works in the case of a straight red card in certain circumstances. Diomande would/should have received a yellow card and the fact that it would have been his second yellow is irrelevant in terms of double jeopardy.
Mike and Chris
For what it is worth, as I understand it, the double jeopardy rule is for one thing, which was/is as I understand it as follows:
Normally, if a player makes a foul that prevents a goal scoring opportunity outside the box a free kick is awarded. If the foul is adjudged to of been cynical (deliberate), or accidental (an attempt to play the ball), makes no difference, and a red card is also issued.
If it happens in the penalty box a penalty is awarded. If the foul is deemed cynical a red card is also issued.
But this is where the Double Jeopardy rule comes in, if it does actually exist. If the foul was deemed accidental, ie, it was a legitimate attempt to play the ball, only a yellow card is issued.
It has no bearing on the issuing of a yellow card be it first or second.
@TonyAttwood,
This is the most effusive about a match you’ve ever been, ENJOY IT! Well, during the years I’ve been coming to the site, anyway.
I was very hopeful when I saw the team. This result no fluke. The performance emphasised what a difference injuries and unfair refereeing have made this season. With refereeing we have been on the receiving end of bad decisions all season It’s not only the PGMOL -if they could they would award the league title to Liverpool now. The Inter penalty awarded against us was also an example of blatantly biased refereeing. I hope this win gives us confidence that with a fair go and a fit first 11 we are a top side.
On a different topic.
Do we have anyone with Knowledge of how fixtures are done?
Arsenal seems to have a had difficult fixtures so far?
Are fixtures purely random?
I have knowledge gap on such matters.
Maina
If you are new here you may not of noticed but this has been covered on numerous occasions on here. If you look back over the last couple of weeks at least, there are a few articles about it.
To answer your specific question, the powers that be claim, I say claim, they try to make it ‘fair’, although how you, me, or them, judge what is fair and what isn’t may differ enormously.
The one thing it isn’t is random.
For a start Arsenal and Spurs are never both at home. Similarly the 2 Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham clubs.
I believe there are other factors taken into consideration as well. Oddly enough, fans aren’t one of them.