Well our
president is alive as we can see from the pictures posted by Madam first
lady. Way to go ma, waaay to go! I hope a lot of our naija gunners in diaspora aren’t
affected by the new migrant rules being ‘‘Trumped’’ around in the states,
why people are surprised at these executive orders being Trumped out is beyond me. Those with
a bit of a brain about them could tell where this president was gonna go with
his policies. I am here back home enjoying the crunchy feel of the recession but as
long as arsenal is doing well, we can make it through these tough times…….lol. Sorry
about the political detour, it’s so difficult to isolate politics from our
everyday lives these days.
Arsenal
did a sterling job on their visit to Saint Mary’s for the first time in 3
years. 5 unreplied goals with Walcott grabbing a hat trick on his injury
comeback while Welbeck notched a brace in an all-round 5 star performance from
a very youthful yet experienced Arsenal side. A lot of people will excuse Claude
Puel, saying he fielded a half strength Southampton side but full credit to Arsenal
for getting the Job well and truly done despite the gunners making more
than 8 changes to the team that narrowly won Burnely at the emirates last week.
It also tells you the potential depth we have in this squad if well rotated by
the coaches. Arsenal is now billed to face Non-League side, Sutton United away
at Grander Green Lane in an FA Cup 5th round matchup. Other ties
include:
Wolves
Vs Chelsea.
Fulham
Vs Tottenham.
Burnley
Vs Lincoln City.
Blackburn
Vs Man United.
Huddersfield
Town Vs Man City.
Interesting
matchups out there and a lot of room for big guns to falter if they get
complacent against the so called minnows. What’s interesting to note is the
mere fact that the “smaller” teams are all at home so who knows? Before I leave
the FA cup, shout out to the trio of OX, Jeff and Maitiland-Niles who ran the
show against the saints in the middle of the park. Up front, Wellbz and Wally
may have grabbed the goals but Lucas Perez definitely knitted the front trio
quite nicely with his timings on passes and deftness of touch, definitely a
good player we got in him.
The EPL
is back on show in a midweek round of matches as Arsene continues his ban, while the title race begins to crank
up the heat. Arsenal have a date with Watford at the Emirates in a match that
has must win written all over it (yeah we know every match is). Liverpool welcome
Chelsea to Anfield in what might be a nail in the coffin for Liverpool’s dying title
hopes or ….. a race blown wide open for any of the top 4 sides. After losing
their last 3 home games to make just one win in their last 8 games, the signs aren’t
looking good for the Mersey siders. Still, should pool and Arsenal win, that cuts
down Chelsea’s lead at the top to 5 points with one third of the league games
still to play, lots of pressure on the blues and points to play for in there,
especially a date with Arsenal on the corner. There’s a caveat to all these if, buts, n maybe conjectures though….that is the BIG IF of both Pool and the
gunners winning so lets concentrate on our own game against Watford and go get
the much precious 3 points. Walter Mezzari's sides recent FA cup exit to lowly Milwall
side captures the poor form they are in with 0W 3D 2L in their last 5 league
games. Ighalo has failed to reenact last season's imperious goal scoring form with Isaac Success for all his "promising talent'' not any closer to becoming a success. Watford has lost their fair share on the road, some of those games have been close to be honest but this is the league
where fine margins go on to determine who bags the 3 points. That’s a warning to
the gunners too, we haven’t lost any games since 2017 which is a good thing but
we have to make a winning habit even when we don’t play well. Our performance over
the weekend looks like an outlier given a recent penchant for kicking off games
a bit lethargically but against the saints Arsenal took no prisoners as they
rolled back the years with such eye catching display. Consistency to do that
time and again, week in week out has been the bane of this team Can they Arsene
(Touchline ban or not) get his boiz to rise up to the occasion of consistency
as the league run hits the crescendo. Big questions there, a win against Watford
will go a mile or two in answering them positively, so COYG!! I believe the
star cast will come back for the game so expect some changes like the trio of
Ox Jeff and Niles going back to the bench despite their weekend performance,
while Ospina Holding and Gibbs will
likely make way for Cech, Koscielny and Monreal. The front three would be
interesting as Wenger is suddenly blessed with many options since Welbeck and
Walcott are back firing on all cylinders (Long may it continue) My predicted
line up for the game with a bit of tweak to the usual is below :
Subs: Ospina, Bellerin, Jeff, Iwobi, Ox, Welbeck, Giroud
So people, thats it from us for an early look at the game for Tuesday night, hoping the boiz keep their focus, stay compact get the goals the 3 points and a clean sheet, do enjoy the game wherever you are.......Ciaoo
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