Previews: A (Possibly) Thrilling End to a Great Year

By James Bailey

We are still a few weeks away from the end of the year, but there is no doubt that it has been a great year for the team. Arsenal has been performing well in matches and the team is looking at what could be a thrilling Christmas league position. There are several matches scheduled for December and we are anticipating some victories.

The Football League Cup Quarter-final

The team will start December with a Football League Cup Quarter-Final match against Southampton. While it is too early to tell, the boys will be looking for an opportunity to even the score with Southampton. The last time the two teams met, Arsenal won the match by 2 goals to 1. That said, we have won only four out of the last 10 matches against Southampton.

The next Football League Cup match is scheduled for December 1^st. The result of this match will most likely influence the way the team plays – and the morale of the players – entering December.  Arsenal have never won the League Cup under Wenger… maybe now that he is putting out much stronger teams than in the past, this could be his year.

A Champions League Match

There will be a Premier League match against West Ham on December 4^th, but the match Untold is concerned about the most is the Champions League Group Stage match against FC Basel. FC Basel have won their last 5 Champions League matches against Premier League teams, proving that they are a strong team and one to watch out for.

But this time round they are bottom of the Group A league table and are fighting Ludogorets for a place in the Europa League.

Of course by the time we get to the game Arsenal will have played PSG and the bottom two will have played each other.  If Ludogorets have won it is going to be pretty well all over for Basel, so they might feel dispirited, but if Basel have won they will know they could well be on the way if they can just get a draw against Arsenal.

Except that if Basel are already out they might have nothing to lose.  Arsenal cannot take this one lightly if they are still in with a solid chance of winning the group.

We already know that Bellerin is out for the month, and again much depends on exactly who fits in a right back and how well he plays.  Plus there is the mystery of Santi Cazola’s Achilles.   There is, at least as I write this, absolutely no information when he is coming back.  His return in December (if not before) could be just the boost Arsenal need.

This particular match will be a challenge for the team. It will be interesting to see whether Arsenal can score a win and be that much closer to winning the Champions League. If Arsenal win the group, they could get the feeling that this is going to be their season in this competition too – with the League Cup being an early foretaste of playing in finals.

Top Premier League Matches

I’m sure a lot of Arsenal fans are getting their football betting apps ready for December’s line of Premier League matches. Aside from the aforementioned match against West Ham on December 4^th, the team will also be playing against Stoke City (December 10^th), Everton (December 14^th), Manchester City (December 18^th) and ending the year with a match against West Brom (December 26^th).

Manchester City is perhaps the toughest challenge on this list. Last season, Arsenal edged Manchester City by only one goal, settling with a draw away and winning 2-1 at home. Both teams have improved and we are now only one position away from Manchester City in the Premier League standings.

Everton and Stoke City are not to be taken lightly either. These two teams have proven to be surprising at times, taking down giants and scoring 3 league points when we least expect them to. Everton is only a couple of places down with 5 wins so far, while Stoke City is now 12^th in the league standings unbeaten in their last six games. Not too long ago Stoke were looking dead and buried.

The last match with West Brom will be a thrilling one to watch. You can expect a lot of great action throughout the match and perhaps a few goals to close the year on a high note. Winning the last match would help the team stay motivated as we enter 2017.

Nevertheless, December is looking good for the team and all Arsenal fans. There are some challenging matches that will certainly turn into thrilling ones to watch. There are a lot of opportunities to score victories too.

For example, both Everton and West Brom have only won one game of their last six up to the international break, and if that run continues for either club they could be getting quite desperate by the time we play them in December.

More importantly, there are still a lot of opportunities to watch the team do what they do best on the field before we enter 2017.