Bodo/Glimt v Arsenal: the build up and the team

 

 

• 13 October: Arsenal smash the world transfer record
• Bodo/Glimt: heading for the return match – artifical turf and public scandal

By Bulldog Drummond

Looking forward to the early evening game SportsMole have done their homework and found that Bodo/Glimt have just gone eight games in each of which they have conceded at least one goal, alongside 16 consecutive home games in which they have scored.

This has allowed them to win their last 14 home games in European competition which means they are only just one victory away from Barcelona’s run which ended in 2017 which is rather amazing.

Arsenal’s season thus far has been a run of two halves: five consecutive wins up to the Manchester United defeat, and then five consecutive wins after the Manchester United defeat.   In the opening run Arsenal scored 13 goals and conceded four.   In the run after the Manchester United game they scored 14 and conceded four – a fractional improvement – but effectively one can say, Arsenal are (thus far at least) consistent.

So overall that gives the club 27 goals for and eight against in the Premier League and Europa League matches. Or to put it another way, 2.46 goals for, and 0.73 against in each game.   That suggests a result of Bodo/Glint 1 Arsenal 2.

And indeed that is what SportsMole offers, without bothering with all the adding up and dividing malarky.  

Their team pick for tonight is

Turner;

Cedric, Holding, Tomiyasu, Tierney;

Vieira, Lokonga;

Marquinhos, Vieira, Nelson;

Nketiah

The Evening Standard predict 0-2 to the Arsenal, but refrain from the pesky task of predicting who is going to play other than to say, “Arteta has the likes of Nketiah, Vieira, Marquinhos, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Reiss Nelson primed to come into the starting XI.”

“The likes of” indeed.  What sort of way is that to talk about the players of the most successful team in the Premier League this season?

Sofascore, who I do not think we have cited before probably because I didn’t know they were there, have given us a team selection

Turner;

Tomiyasu, Holding, Gabriel Magalhaes, Tierney;

Vieira, Lokonga, Xhaka,

Marquinhos,Nketiah, Nelson;

They also calculate the average ages for us.  For Bodo it is 26.5 for Arsenal it is 24.6 years.  So we are as ever, the kiddies.

The Daily Mirror has done a bit of a featurette on Martin Odegaard which tells us that, “The dozens of young fans gathered outside in cold temperatures before yesterday’s pre-match press conference suggested everyone wants to see the star who made his debut for Stromsgodset aged only 13 – and signed for Real Madrid aged 16.”

The Mirror then in relation to our Martin, quotes the manager in all seriousness as saying, “I don’t know what role he will play… Probably on the pitch at some stage.”  Nice one Mr A.

I suspect our Martin like to have a few minutes in front of some members of his nation so he might pop up as a sub with ten minutes to go, all being well.

90min have an interesting take on the game asking, “Where are Bodo/Glimt vs Arsenal playing?” and they answer their own question with the statement, “Location: Bodo, Norway.”  I am really glad we have got that sorted.

But they do redeem themselves by not only giving us a team sheet but also a bench.

Turner;

Cedric, Holding, Tomiyasu, Tierney;

Xhaka, Lokonga;

Marquinhos, Vieira, Nelson;

Nketiah.

Bench: Ramsdale, Hein, Saliba, White, Gabriel, Partey, Smith, Cirjan, Saka, Odegaard, Nelson.

Talk Sport join in with the predictions giving us 1-3 to the Arsenal.   And they do have a spot of info that hasn’t been picked up in the other sites I have seen, to the effect that “Arsenal are unbeaten away to Norwegian teams in Europe (W2 D1), most recently beating Molde 3-0 in this competition in 2020-21 with goals from Nicolas Pépé, Reiss Nelson and Folarin Balogun.”

And also, “Eddie Nketiah has scored in four consecutive starts in the UEFA Europa League for Arsenal. If he starts and scores in this game, he will become the first Englishman to score in five starts in a row in the competition.”

Pain in the Arsenal tell us that Bodo “is just 90km from the centre of the Arctic Circle, so the temperature will no doubt be rather cold.”  I found that rather doubtful so I checked with the Distance.to website (one might say it is a goto website, ho ho) and it confirms that it is 2526km from the north pole which iss, the last time I looked, the centre of the arctic circle.  But an error of 2436km is nothing.    Arsenal, in case you are interested, is 4277km from the north pole.

So there we have it.  Keep warm, if you are there.   As you may gather, I am not. 

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