Arsenal finally got back to winning
ways in midweek after putting 3 unreplied goals past the hapless hammers. Not
to take anything away from performance by an Özil inspired gunners, but West Ham
were totally at sea in their second half display, after being very stoic and
compact in the first half, coupled with the terrible refereeing too from Martin
Atkinson who refused to give at least one of the blatant penalty calls. The win
got the gunners up to 5th temporarily before this weekend’s round of fixtures
and results. Can we build on this win with a consistent run….that's the question?
The
Arsenal train stops with a visit to the eagles at Selhurst Park as the gunners
keep a date with Crystal Palace. It seems such a long long time, the HFB aka
Oliver Giroud scored that beauty of a goal, with the scorpion kick. It was in
the reverse fixture back in January, then, the gunners were still in the
running for 3 trophies, at least hypothetically if not realistically…abi?
Anyway fast forward a couple months down 2017 and here we are, in 6th
position, seven points off the top four places, in the annual scrap for top
four. That is the gunners’ quest yet again having fallen by the way side in the
Champions league (no surprises there) and the Premier league contention, again
no surprises there. This past weekend fixture results have put the heat back on
the gunners, with Tottenham starring in a 4-0 win, while Liverpool and Man
united picked up 3points too. The onus is on us now to go ahead and match them
with a win on Monday, we are hoping the win over the hammers in midweek is a
return to winning ways.
Big Sam
and his boiz have had a fairly good run of form recently wining four straight
games shocking Chelsea at home while at it before surprisingly losing to Southampton
at home in midweek. Anyway such is the league these days, you can’t afford to underestimate
any team especially one in a relegation scrap and coached by Sam Allardyce. Arsenal
have it all to do if they are to attain the “Holy Grail” of top 4 this year. A
must win match it is. Head to Head history is in favour of us though, whatever
that counts for as the eagles have failed to beat the gunners at home since
1979. Now whether that is a sign of things to come is no guarantee but we can
hope that Arsenal will somehow look back at the fiasco that was the visit to
West Brom at the Hawthorns and learn from it or else, Arsene wenger should just
forget about top four and possibly any contract extension. Let’s face it, this team
(or more like group of players) has so far underperformed this season with too
many lows than highs, the least you will expect is to finish the season
strongly on a high. Looking at the team sheets for both clubs its obvious who
has more quality players but the important thing is to knit them together to
play like a team. This is not to trivialize the threat the likes of Benteke and
an inform Zaha/Puncheon/Townsend can pose on their day…definitely not. If you
place them side by side our Walcott, Welbz Sanchez and Özil then you get my
drift. Having said that, we know how difficult games aren’t won by names or won
on paper, so it’s up to the gunners to prove their mettle. I hope the defensive
pairing of Mustafi and Gabby can handle the aerial threat of Benteke and his
physicality. The midfield will also have to be on their toes to cut out the
supply line that feeds Puncheon and Zaha. All in all, it would be nice to keep
a second clean sheet in a row for young Martinez. My predicted line up will be
as follows: Subs: Macey, Holding, Jeff, Ramsey, Gibbs, Giroud, Oxlade, Iwobi
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| Image Credits: The Uk Guardian Online |
The
above team should be able to do the job of getting the much needed 3points, no
one said it was gonna be a cake walk though. Whatever team goes out there, lets
get behind the boiz, we can iron out our issues with the club management later. Dont forget to follow us on this blog and like our FB page here https://web.facebook.com/anaijagunner/. Thats it from us, do enjoy the game whereever you maybe.....Ciaooo
