After balancing the tally to make it W 1 D 1 L 1, Arsenal travel to Newcastle upon Tyne before the ever boring Internationals sweep in. The fans will want us to add to nothing but the won column and anything other than a victory will leave all the Gooners feeling bitter for a long time. After grinding to a scoreless draw vs Liverpool, it is necessary to score a win to further postpone the inevitable “Arsenal in crisis” reports in the media.
Newcastle come on the back off a 0-0 draw away against United and will be confident of taking some something against Arsenal. Injuries which have struck at the heart of the Gunner’s central defence will lend some confidence to the Magpies hopes of securing a result whereas the way that Cech truly announced his arrival in triumphant style should give Arsenal’s hopes of getting the all important win a very necessary boost. We are just three games into the season but already, the must win games are coming in thick and fast.
We stand at a risk of conceding the title unimaginably early on in the season if we don’t start picking up the wins very soon. The thing that has been most worrisome to me about our performances is how we never seem to be in control of the games for prolonged period of times. It is a bothering trend and I hope we’ll set it right against Newcastle with a commanding performance. Olivier Giroud will be itching to start this game boasting a great scoring record against them. A decent shift put in by the team to get all three points will do the confidence of the team a world of good, who look out of place and out of ideas when things aren’t going their way on the pitch. All the ingredients are already there, they just need to start believing in themselves and show it out there on the pitch.
I believe OG will start up front flanked by Alexis and Ramsey. Coquelin will be protecting the back four and Cazorla will partner him in midfield. There has been talk that Kos has returned to training and I believe he’ll be given the nod to start alongside Gabriel in central defence. Monreal and Bellerin will be eager to supply the Frenchaman with some crosses from either flanks. Cech will take up his position in goal after his heroics against Liverpool.
It’ll be interesting to see if Wenger will be willing to sacrifice either of Cazorla or Ramsey to accommodate the fiery Ox in the team, or even Walcott. The Ox warrants a starting berth in this team after the performances he put in, but the question is how will Arsenal shape up with him in the team. Will Wenger take this gamble or will he persist with the team which started in the previous game week?
Expected team to start:
Goalkeeper: Cech
Defenders: Bellerin Kos Gabriel Monreal
Defensive Midfield: Cazorla Coq
Attacking Midfield: Ramsey Özil Alexis
Striker: Giroud
Score prediction: I’m going with 3-1 to the Arsenal.
I believe Arsenal’s great team chemistry will finally come to the fore with the pairing of the all action Koscielny and Gabriel proving to be a hit. Here’s hoping we have a great game of football. COYG!
