Happy Friday to everybody. It’s a bit of a unique one, as there is no Premier League action to look forward to this weekend. While the FA Cup has been a bit of an opportunity for us in recent years, this season feels different given our standing at the top of the table. Of course we want to win every match we play, but candidly I would rather just play the backups and accept whatever happens. The schedule will be packed enough, so here’s a chance for the rest of the squad to do their thing against Oxford on Monday. I would expect the XI to look something like:
Turner
Tomiyasu-Holding-Gabriel-Tierney
Elneny-Sambi
Vieira
Marquinos-Nketiah-ESR
I’d personally prefer to see Saliba back there over Gabriel, as he clearly has rust he needs to shake off. It’s just a matter of Arteta’s comfort shifting Holding into the LCB role. ESR is also a toss up, as it’s tough to say if he’ll be ready. There’s no doubt he wouldn’t last more than 60-ish minutes, nor should he be pushed. A healthy ESR would be a massive boost towards a title push, as it’s easy to forget just how crucial he was to our team last season. Not long ago we laughed in disbelief at a £25m bid from Villa. If he’s deemed not ready then Martinelli seems the only option there. Arsenal and Adidas have announced an extension of their “No More Red” program, which will see us sporting the all-white kits that brought us absolutely no luck last season. Hopefully it works out better for us this time around. Fingers crossed.
Yesterday saw City take on Chelsea at the Bridge. While the hope was that Chelsea could at least nick a draw, they certainly weren’t helped by injuries. Just prior to the match it was reported that Mount wouldn’t be healthy enough to take part. Then only minutes into the match Sterling went out with a hamstring injury, followed by Pulisic being forced out after a tough tackle ten minutes later. It has to be said that Graham Potter is dealing with some incredibly desperate injury issues, with roughly 10 first teamers out. Still, the guys who were at his disposal to take the place of those three players with Ziyech, Auba and Chukwuemeka. The depth there vs. what we have is completely night and day, so they were still able to compete.
Unfortunately for us they couldn’t help us out and City are now back to five points behind us. Still, five points up on City after 17 matches is an absolute dream. Every point will undoubtedly matter immensely, which makes the Newcastle result that much more frustrating. It’s not a bad result by any means, but those two points could prove crucial. We need to be near-perfect to pull this off. We shall see.
Lastly, a quick word of appreciation for Jordan Nobbs, who announced yesterday that she’ll be joining Aston Villa after 12 years with Arsenal Women. To call her a club legend would be an immense understatement. The move is completely understandable, as she isn’t getting minutes for us and needs to stake a claim for the upcoming Women’s World Cup. She penned a wonderful Goodbye Letter that is worth the read. This club has clearly meant so much to her, just as she has meant so much to the club. Again, a true Arsenal legend.
That’s it for today. Have a great rest of your Friday.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for all the latest updates.
Absolute Arsenal 
Leave a comment