Monday 22 January 2023 Ashburton Grove USA TV: NBC 11:30am ET What are the odds of us being where we are??! We sit ATOP the Prem... after 18 games... with a 5pt lead... and 1 game in hand Our best-ever first-half of a season Having lost this season’s transformational, talismanic CF for months We’ve got the 2nd best defense, after only... Newcastle +28 GD... only 2 fewer than he mighty(?) Citeh Citeh showed 45' of life today but have dropped 15pts (we’ve dropped just 7pts) Pool & Chelsea sit 9th & 10th... a full 19pts behind us A month ago I was pinching myself, but no more! It’s real now. And so, Sunday is the biggest match of the season so far, where the 2 strongest teams on current form face off. OK, OK, that’s enough magnanimous credit... we should wipe the floor of that ManUre! They had to play midweek at Palace where they dropped 2 points in injury time, while losing Casemiro to suspension. No presser, no team news from Mikel yet, maybe tomorrow.. But nearly everyone was present in today’s training video https://www.arsenal.com/news/inside-training-gearing-man-united, EXCEPT for Saka & Xhaka who hopefully were just given a day off to rest a knock or weary legs. And to answer one question about odds? The bookies clearly see us winning Sunday, 2X more likely to do so than the Mancs are. Time to walk through another door that’s ajar!
Kudos goes to @cooper7d7 for sharing the latest FA fines imposed on the Arsenal for various post match transgressions against Oxford and Newcastle. Not only are we top of the league, but we're also the badboys of English football!!!
Time for payback after the bullshit that happened on their dung heap, time to get the W, teach them a lesson and restore our gap at the top. 3-1 to The Arsenal!
A huge swing match that will greatly shape the back half of the season and, I suspect, how each team addresses their Europa League campaigns. Arsenal need this. More importantly, I hope they're wanting to work for it, and have been training through the week with a zeal to punish ManU. Arsenal need to press hard, I feel, especially with Casemiro absent. ManU's defense is built around minimizing errors but it's hardly a stout wall. If Arsenal can make them work all the harder to defend, then Rashford should see a minimum of decent service. I think Nketiah should play without fear, too. He's gonna be bodied up and bodied hard, but if he rides it out early he's strong enough to push back and keep United wary. If he gets his movement right the rest of the Arsenal attackers have plenty of verve to unwind the Devil's defense. Really want this one, less so for the petty payback and moreso to stamp the season so far. Win this one and a big chunk of remaining doubts will not just be removed but forcefully so. COYG!
They are going to sit deep and hit on the counter like they did last time. Get the feeling they will know we are a better team then they are on our pitch. If we didn't learn from the last time we played, we will get hit by some bullshit counters by Bruno and Rashford. We really need to give this mob a solid slap for last time though. And I think our form, gameplay and players see us get a 3-1 win.
For those who want to seriously binge some Arse footy tomorrow, directly after the men's match, is the women's match at Brighton 1:45pm on Paramount+. They should be even heavier favorites than the men to win tomorrow, but it's pretty much the same must-win to keep challenging at the top.
Lots of dropped points today, do the business tomorrow and it will start really looking like a two horse race.
Gabriel, Saliba & Saka sit on 4 yellows. The first two earned yellows in the reverse fixture. If all three can avoid a booking tomorrow, the threshold resets after this game, from 5 to 10 cards for the second half of the season. However, the HR is Anthony Taylor. He averages 3.71 yellows per game, and has given Arsenal 2.33 per game, in 3 games this season. Pray.
Also, no new injuries as per Mikel's presser yesterday, though he literally touched wood when he said that! Part 1 Part 2 There may be other parts, but these are what I foundh
I think Trossard will be the only over 28 player we sign for the next 2 years. I feel that in the summer window we will get players who are 25 or under, especially with us being linked with Rice. But its smart business. If we are buying early to mid 20s in the summer, and then if we need a top up in winter bringing in an experienced player who can come in and immediately impact is the best way to go.
I fully expect Fred to be asked to man mark Odegard like he did against De Bruyne. Zinchenko will have a big part to play in this game I think but they can't sleep on Partey either. It's going to be very tight so it's vital we score first and in the first half. 1-0 prediction COYG
Can't see us getting anything from the game today. The refs have a chance to insert United into the middle of the title race and take us down a peg. They are going to go out of their way to make sure United win this.
And McTominay it is in MF. Maybe he'll just pick up one or two yellows. p.s. Weghorst starts up top. Saliba & Gabriel are gonna have to body him up.