Arsenal travel to South Wales for their upcoming Premier League Fixture against Swansea City, a team they failed to beat both at home and away during last year’s campaign. Bafatimbi Gomis scored the winning goal in both the fixtures, although the Gunners did manage to score in both the games.
Arsenal go into this game with a disappointing loss against Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup. Injuries to Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain have undoubtedly left Arsene Wenger a little short in his attacking options, especially on the right flank. While injuries to the English duo are in no way good news for Arsenal, out of favor striker Joel Campbell and top notch youth team player Alex Iwobi have as a consequence been offered a chance to show off their talents on nothing less than a silver platter. With Chamberlain out until the next international break and Theo Walcott until December, this is a chance for Joel Campbell to fill in and perform for the next few weeks. With several Arsenal players out for a few weeks, this may be one of the only moments where we see Campbell feature consecutively. Additionally, one can expect a few reserve team players on the Arsenal bench.
Arsenal go into this game with injuries to Aaron Ramsey, skipper Mikel Arteta, Chamberlain, David Ospina, Walcott and long term sidelined members Wilshere, Rosicky and Welbeck. That leaves Arsenal with a short first team squad.
For the Swans, things seem much better than their visitors on the injury front, and Gary Monk has an entirely fit squad to chose from. Winger Wayne Routledge has returned from injury, but is not expected to start ahead of Ecuadorian winger Montero or the newly recruited Andre Ayew.
Needless to say, the Swans are going to expect Arsenal to dominate the game and possession, with Cazorla and Coquelin orchestrating their game play. One can expect the Swans to play a pressing game and high up on the pitch. The home side will attempt at getting an early goal against the Gunners so as to demoralize them.
Visitors Arsenal can be expected to stick to their strategy of tiring out their opponents in the first half by letting them have the ball, marking the swans man to man. With Joel Campbell expected to start on the wing alongside Ozil in the centre and Alexis on the other end, the Gunners will seek to exploit the width available to them at the Liberty Stadium. Over all, one can expect this to be a game of two halves, in the event Arsenal stick to their most effective and favourite strategy.
Arsenal are unbeaten in 10 out of 11 away games , while the Swans have picked up a win in only one of their last 6 top flight games. Swansea are without a win in 3 home games, their worst home performance since last February.
Arsenal have not beaten Swansea in both their meetings (home and away) in their previous campaign, ever since former Gunner Fabianski joined the South Wales side. With this backdrop, one can expect an exciting and fast game; one that may see several dwells both on the wings and in the middle of the park.
Predicted Line ups:
Swansea City: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez,Williams, N.Taylor, Ki, Shelvey,Ayew, Sigurdsson,Montero, Gomis
Subs: Nordfeldt, Emnes, Britton,Amat, Tremmel, Tabanou, Routledge, Eder, Cork, Grimes, Rangel, Bartley
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Campbell, Ozil, Alexis,Giroud
Subs: Macey, Debuchy, Gibbs, Chambers, Gabriel, Flamini, Iwobi, Kamara,Benacer
CONFIRMED LINE-UP:
Arsenal : Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ozil, Campbell, Alexis, Giroud.
