UPDATED THE ARTICLE WITH THE CONFIRMED LINE-UP AT THE END
Arsenal take on Swansea at the Liberty Stadium this afternoon and will aim to take maximum points against The Swans who are currently in the relegation zone on 19th.
The last time these two clashed was in October 2016 where the North London club emerged victorious with a 3-2 scoreline.
Theo Walcott scored two goals that day with a third coming from Mesut Özil whilst Swansea had Gylfi Sigurdsson and Borja Baston on the scoreboard for themselves.
This isn’t a match I usually look forward to watching as The Swans have a penchant for giving Arsenal a run for their money. The last time we won home and away was as far back as 2013 when Rambo was on a rampage.
Sincerely speaking, that is the only time I remember us pulling that off. Considering we won the first fixture this season, one can only understand my skepticism.
Having gotten that out of my system and hoping I haven’t jinxed the matchup, let’s look at our possible lineup to take on Swansea City.
I would expect Petr Cech to be in goal as he has done so for this season, the partnership of Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscienly to return and Nacho Monreal at the left back position.
At the right back, however, with the injury to Hector Bellerin(ankle), I would expect to see Gabriel Paulista there. This invariably means that the attack from the right flank will be somewhat ineffective unless Lucas Perez starts and continues to have a wonderful streak of performances.
Not expecting Paulista to bomb forward and fling in crosses towards the in-form Giroud but I am confident that the defensive duties on that side will be very well covered.
Moving upfield, Granit Xhaka and Ramsey should continue the dance of becoming in sync with each other whilst right in front of them in the no-10 role should be Özil having returned match fit from his illness.
On the left wing, I expect to see Alexis Sanchez moved out wide there as Giroud’s hot prolific run continues at the top of the pile. The right flank as earlier mentioned will be Lucas Perez’s left to me but I suspect The Boss may rather go with Iwobi or Oxlade-Chamberlain. The absence of Theo Walcott will be sorely felt.
Arsenal Predicted Line-up: (GK)Cech, (RB)Paulista, (RCB)Mustafi, (LCB)Koscielny, (LB)Monreal, (DM)Xhaka, (CM)Ramsey, (CAM)Özil, (RW)Perez, (CF)Giroud, (LW)Sanchez
Formation 4-2-3-1, Prediction: Logically 2-2, Hopefully 0-2
CONFIRMED LINE-UP: Cech, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Gabriel, Ramsey, Xhaka, Alexis, Ozil, Iwobi, Giroud
The wait is over – here's how we line up against @SwansOfficial #SCFCvAFC pic.twitter.com/2xC1jvsYvD
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 14, 2017
