USA: October 13 - 12:45pm @ FK Bodø/Glimt (Europa League) - Paramount+ CAN: October 13 - 12:45pm @ FK Bodø/Glimt (Europa League) - DAZN We roll into the next match in our jam packed October with a rematch against Bodø/Glimt. After finally climbing that hurdle known as 'not being able to score against Liverpool', we roll into European competition with our tails up and confidence high! Hopefully we see a bit of squad rotation, as we have a match against Leeds in 3 days after this match and then PSV 4 days after that. I think we see a bit of Sambi, a bit of Marquinhos, and hopefully we see Nketiah banging them in for fun. I am tipping a 3-1 Arsenal win, because at the moment we can't stop scoring (and we can't stop conceding either). COYG!
As has been typical, my DVR is also picking this match up on a Spanish channel, TUDN this time. It's likely to be a cold, wet affair. BUT it could be worse considering where it is. My weather app says it'll likely be in the low 40F's with rain and wind, making for a wind chill in the 20F's? That plus it being a plastic pitch, would seem to instruct Mikel to rotate liberally, at least as much as the reverse fixture.
Didn't know its a plastic pitch, that worries me regarding injuries. I end up with sore hammies whenever I have to play on them locally, and in the leagues out my way theres always a few ACLs done on them. Hopefully thats not the case. Do professionals ever speak out about the artificial pitches? When I see we are playing on them in pre-season games, I typically skip the matches.
Agree with your concern. When TH14 played for New York Red Bulls he basically never played on artificial turf, except maybe in playoffs? IDK if it was in his contract or just a verbal agreement he had with the club. It was explained as due to his chronic Achilles IIRC. I think there are other cases like this, which don't come to mind ATM. Also, when the WWC was to be played in Canada I recall the US Women's team objected vehemently. They also protested some match they had to play on old, rock-hard astroturf in Hawaii... again I can't recall if they got that game moved or not.
Xhaka, Martinelli and Gabriel have made 3 starts in a row, wonder if Arteta might rotate and start Saka, Saliba and Odegaard in this one? Let MO play in front of his fellow Norwegians?
Tough decisions. Lots of folks think this away match to Bode will be our toughest Europa match---even over PSV.
nothing earth-shaking but gabe jesus and zinchenko were missing from this training session (ahead of bodo/glimt). so, hopefully, he isn't even with the squad so arteta isn't tempted. maybe nelson gets full game so martinelli can get a break. cedric is back (and in this practice) so, hopefully, that moves tomi into LCB and gives big gabby a break. he looks like he could use it. heck, at this point, i'd accept a kid from the U21 just to keep our main people from breaking down. i really hope smith gets to start over xhaka but i cannot see it if the others do get their break.
so, "Bodo/Glimt ask their fans to not wear Arsenal-branded clothing during Europa League tie", per the athletic.
Wow. Strict. Sounds like they are seriously looking to beat us tomorrow and looking for every angle (12th man) that they can. No surprise really, except perhaps the public, dictatorial nature of the club's comment. So it's a 8K stadium IIRC, so do we know how many away tickets they allocated?
Mikel seemed in a very upbeat mood in today’s presser. There were lots of questions related to the pitch, but he wouldn’t admit if that induced him to leave certain players behind, e.g. Jesus. Also he said they did not practice at all on plastic this week… Huh? (maybe he’s just gonna rely on a few turf practices while in Bodo?) Some other injured players didn’t travel, but he’s not naming them yet. Last but not least, he said that he’s never been in a better dressing room than this one. And he sounded 100% honest. https://www.arsenal.com/mikel-artet...ence-full-transcript-europa-league-every-word
I was pretty close. Nelson gets the call over Maquinhos and White plays RB. Arsenal: Turner, White, Holding, Saliba, Tierney, Lokonga, Vieira, Odegaard, Saka, Nelson, Nketiah.— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) October 13, 2022
Pretty much what I expected too. I was stuck on who might come in for Saka and lo and behold it's Saka! Also I thought Cedric might start ahead of White. The fact that he doesn't, might say a few things about his fitness and/or standing within the team, plus Mikel's tendency to do balanced rotations... keeping 3-4 first picks in the XI
Think there is a good chance MO & Saka only get 45-60 mi, especially if we can go up early and hold. Would be very surprised if we don't see atleast 2 of Ibrahim, Smith, Marquinhos & Edwards.
I think that could be a very big IF. Something tells me we might be in for a tough one, and a point might be a decent result. They haven't lost a European tie at home in 14 games. I.e. Edwards (19YO) & Ibrahim (17YO) ?!
12' Bodo forced to make an early sub, when one of their MF stars clearly not fit for this match. Let's hope for a few more judgment errors on their part. They've looked occasionally dangerous so far.
oh, i like that a lot. old nketiah would have just blindly taken a garbage shot where, this time, he tried to beat his man and, when it didn't come off, he pulled it back for a secondary break. good, good.
Wow, players from both sides don't have their shooting boots on Pelligrino should've equalized one-on-one w/ Turner. Before that Eddie & Saka both had royal shanks. Quality needs to improve in that regard.