by Bulldog Drummond
Football London suggest that Zinchenko will be back in the squad although may not start. They also note that it may now be time for Tomiyasu to start a game rather than coming on as a substitute. Their other thought is that Despite producing arguably his best performance of the season against Fulham, Saka might be due for a rest even though he is playing so well.
Beyond that FoLo are one of a number of commentators who think that Emile Smith Rowe could start, perhaps with Gabriel Martinelli moving across to the right-hand side.
The BBC tell us that if Arsenal win, “it will be their 50th top-flight victory against Villa, who have won only 24 of 90 games between the two clubs. But curiously it seems that Villa have won at the current Arsenal Stadium four times – a number beaten only by Chelsea and Manchester City.
And they, like Untold, have wondered about four match-winning sequences in the league – and that includes Division One as well as the Premier League. On three of the four occasions, Arsenal have done that, they have then won the league. Only 11 clubs have actually started a Premier League season with five wins in a row. Although it should be noted that since Arsene Wenger left it is Unai Emery who has the best winning sequence that being of seven matches. More on that in a moment – but first the teams…
90 Min give us a predicted team of
Aaron Ramsdale
Takehiro Tomiyasu, William Saliba, Gabriel, Kieran Tierney
Albert Sambi Lokonga, Granit Xhaka
Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Emile Smith Rowe
Gabriel Jesus
Sports Mole however think it will be
Ramsdale;
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney;
Xhaka, Lokonga;
Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli;
Jesus
The Mighty Tips website may not be living up to its name as they have included Elneny in their lineup
Aaron Ramsdale
Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel, Kieran Tierney
Mohammed Elneny, Martin Odegaard, Granit Xhaka
Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli
Gabriel Jesus
Ramsdale;
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney;
Odegaard, Lokonga, Xhaka;
Saka, Jesus, Martinelli
… and that seems to cover more or less all the options.
After four league matches last season Arsenal had scored one goal and achieved one win. In the fifth game we won 1-0 away to Burnley.
However, perhaps we might, as suggested above, look back to the winning streak of 2018/19 where the club went on an 11-match winning run of nine Premier League victories, three Europa League games and a League Cup match.
| Date | Match | Res | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Aug 2018 | Arsenal v West Ham United | W | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 02 Sep 2018 | Cardiff City v Arsenal | W | 2-3 | Premier League |
| 15 Sep 2018 | Newcastle United v Arsenal | W | 1-2 | Premier League |
| 20 Sep 2018 | Arsenal v Vorskla Poltava | W | 4-2 | Europa League |
| 23 Sep 2018 | Arsenal v Everton | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 26 Sep 2018 | Arsenal v Brentford | W | 3-1 | League Cup |
| 29 Sep 2018 | Arsenal v Watford | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 04 Oct 2018 | FK Qarabağ Agdam v Arsenal | W | 0-3 | Europa League |
| 07 Oct 2018 | Fulham v Arsenal | W | 1-5 | Premier League |
| 22 Oct 2018 | Arsenal v Leicester City | W | 3-1 | Premier League |
| 25 Oct 2018 | Sporting Clube Portugal v Arsenal | W | 0-1 | UEFA Europa League |
The manager was Unai Emery. One year and one month after that victory over Sporting, he was sacked.
It’s a funny ol game.
Day by Day the videos – An Arsenal video for (almost) every day of the year in order.
Day by Day the stories– a key moment in Arsenal and footballing history for each day of the year (this series is still under construction – stories are listed from 1 December onward).
100 Years: the complete story of Arsenal’s promotion in 1919 which launched 100+ consecutive years in the top division.
Great reaction to the Villa goal. Perhaps Ramsdale could have done better…but the team picked him up and went down the other end and scored so…
GGG he was holding onto Ramsdale shouldn’t have been a goal
I wonder why all of these Premier League referees are unable to enforce the rules of football when Arsenal are playing. I wonder why the media turn a blind eye to it.
@seismic,
I watched the game on a german channel. They replayed the scene several times. And as much as I am pro Arsenal, what I was seing was the AV player holding his ground and Ramsdale his arms over him not being able to step in front of him. I did not see the AV player use his arms. No idea if there is any obstruction in this. Maybe someone can enlighten me.
As for 5 in 5, we’d need to check how many points we lost to these teams las year…which will give us a good idea of what we have gained this year. Cause winning most of our games against non top 6 teams is going to be strategic if we want to get to 4th.
Good to see that the team can react, can shift gears up when adversity strikes.
Saturday will be a more of a resiliency test.
If you look at the view from behind Ramsdale, you can see the Villa player has an arm wrapped around the Arsenal goalkeeper (just like in the loss to Brentford last season).
I think we should have been awarded two penalties. The foul on Saka by Mings was obvious.
I was going to have a beer later, but I didn’t want to upset the celebration police.
Speaking of the celebration police, I think Simon Jordan may be a little kinky with his fixation on butts.
Only three Arsenal players have scored more than two goals this season.
Arsenal now have the same number of points after 5 games as Sunderland managed to acquire in 38 games in 2005-2006. You may remember Arsenal’s game away to Sunderland that season, for the awful challenge on Abou Diaby by Dan Smith.
disgrace
In other news, Tuchel received at £20,000 fine for comments he made about Anthony Taylor after the Chelsea/Spurs match. He DIDN’T receive a suspension. Funny how that works.
Seismic was a bit like the studs tackle on odegard absolutely atrocious
WOO HOO , HOO ! Another 3 points – just 25 more and we’ll avoid relegation !
A great fightback , but we still have to learn to finish off the ( so called ) lesser teams more ruthlessly .
Up the Gunners !
It is clear that the officials have an agenda to follow and not awarding Arsenal penalties with the slightest of excuses is one item. The foul on Ramsdale is so obvious to the honest eye but disappears when seen by corrupt officials. The referee gave a foul against Jesus for holding a player behind him, and gestured in exactly the same way that Ramsdale was being held.
The assistants were blind to several fouls including throw ins with both feet over the line.