Sunday, 29 December 2019 Ashburton Grove USA TV: NBCSN 9am ET The last time I went over the pond to see my beloved team play was 9/24/16 for this very fixture. Twas very much of a lark… one of my old college friends told me she had a spare season ticket for Chelsea in 2 weeks… very out of character for me. Turned out to be a smart move… one of the most uplifting performances we’ve had in the last 5-10 years… 3-0 on goals by Sanchez, Walcott & Ozil. And luckily I got to be there. b From our current squad, only Xhaka, Bellerin, Ozil & Mustafi featured that day. (Sadly Arteta had already moved on) So maybe those same guys can have a part in channeling the performance from 3 years ago. OK maybe not Mustafi. But perhaps they could replicate from 2016: the pressure, the pace, the blitzkrieg counters, etc. Or at least parts of that. Because of fixture congestion this week, there was no pre-match presser, so no new team news that I know of. But we already knew Tierney & Kola are both out for some time, which means more LB improv, if not a back 3. Hector could be a close shout for the squad I figure. And Gab, Dani & Rob may not be far away. But I wouldn't bet on any of them in the XI. Chelsea are on a bit of a bad run of form of late (3 defeats in last 4 league matches), so maybe Mikel can use all of the above to motivate our guys to believe 110% that this will be OUR day! COYG!!!!
Weird thing is they have been good away from home and shit at home we have to play like we did bs Bournemouth and we can beat them let them rely on mount for creativity I’m guessing a draw but hopefully if a win
I'll accept a draw if the team plays well, shows some hustle, and we see signs that Arteta is putting guys in the right places to succeed. Would love to win, especially against a sugar-daddy club, but have to be realistic given the personnel on each side. Will be curious to see if Pepe gets the roll out. I suspect he could thrive against the Chelski D.
Two teams in desperate need of a win, coming off two days of rest, should make for an interesting Sunday morning kickoff.
Even though I am currently in the process of moving out of Towne Point for my new subsidized 1-bed/1-bath apartment over at Bishop Park ("Sporting Bishop Park" for football reasons), and that Chelski-lifer and one of my favorite music artists Paul Hardcastle will be watching I'm sure, I say if we can shut down Christian Pulisic (hey he ONLY scored a hat trick against BURNLEY last week, HA!!!) we have a pretty good chance of winning, so here's to 2-nil TO THE ARSENAL!!! COYF'n'G!!!
LOL Xhaka out due to illness. I'll bet the medicine he needs is only available in Berlin. Also, no Pulisic in the Chelsea squad due to a hamstring.
Playing on the front foot against Chelsea will the fullbacks pushed up and no Xhaka dropping into a back three.
Luiz wasn't a loan. IIRC someone (the FA or FIFA or UEFA) cracked down on these clauses in loan agreements.
This is a good illustration of how data tells you your eyes are wrong. I had been thinking that Arsenal were terrible at set pieces this season. Saw this tweet, which tells me that corners are the only reason we aren't in the drop zone: Arsenal have scored more goals from corners than any other team in the top flight this season - 7— Orbinho (@Orbinho) December 29, 2019
I was just about to say...Freddie is not on the bench, and they have a shot of him in the box watching with an earpiece