- Mansfield v Arsenal: the referee and the issue of cards
- Mansfield v Arsenal: AFC against a team doing well in recovery mode
By Tony Attwood
And so in a very disjointed round of the FA Cup we have seen Liverpool beat Wolverhampton (not exactly a shock) and now today have three games, starting with ours at 1215, follwoed by Wrexham v Chelsea and then Newcastle and Manchester City. That old thing of playing the games at the same time has long since gone, it would seem.
As for our opponents today, probably the most famous thing about them is their manager, who is, as you will of course know, the son of Brian Clough. The current Clough in management played for England and of course Nottingham Forest (he played for them over 400 times) and was generally referred to by his father when manager as “our number 9”. He is the second-highest goal scorer in the history of Nottingham Forest. He later played for Liverpool and Manchester City. He went on to become player-manager of Burton and then manager.
As for the team, with this game following the last league game so quickly, and with it being against lower league opposition, there can be no doubt that the Arsenal XI will not bear much relationship to that normally seen in league games.
It is hard to say exactly who will play, but Riccardo Calafiori is due a game, and it appears that 16-year-old Marli Salmon has recovered from an injury and so should at least be on the bench and possibly get a run out in the second half – even if he doesn’t start.
Kai Havertz is having an on/off spell as he tries to maintain full fitness but ought also to get a run out at the very least, although he could actually start. Max Dowman might also get an appearance with Martinelli being given another start as opposed to a game as a substitute.
Putting all this together, and taking into account those who didn’t play in the last game, MSN gives us a possible lineup of…..
.
.
Kepa;
White, Mosquera, Salmon, Calafiori;
Norgaard, Eze, Havertz;
Madueke, Jesus, Martinelli
which, despite the number of changes, still looks rather promising for such a match.
.
Football London, however, is sure that White is still out injured, and they give us a line-up of
Kepa;
Salmon, Mosquera, Calafiori, Washington;
Norgaard, Havertz, Dowman;
Madueke, Jesus, Martinelli
So at least the forward line is similar to the last one we quoted!
The point about this game is that it is not just a chance to give some players a rest and introduce a few youngsters and reserves, it is also a chance to see how players can adjust and adapt to very different and perhaps rather difficult conditions. The ground of course, is very small, and the number of Arsenal fans will be tiny – it all makes a difference
Looking at matters a different way, SI come up with
Arrizabalaga
Salmon Mosquera Calafiori Lewis-Skelly
Havertz Norgaard Eze
Madueke Jesus Martinelli
Of course, with a game like this, no one really knows what the boss will do, nor indeed how well players have been recovering from injury or need to be protected. But it is still very encouraging that it seems quite likely that such a strong team can be put out.
Meanwhile, the media who love to get things wrong are now firmly saying that Arsenal will win the league, which of itself can be rather worrying, although they are still going around quoting non-existent super-computers. But let’s try and forget about that and enjoy this one at lunch time. (Which does raise the question – does one have lunch before the game, after the game or at half time? It all seems a bit confusing).
