Title Hopes Fade & Chelsea Preview

     Okay so while the global village that is the world continues to debate the recent executive orders from the Blue house we here at anaijagunner say, lets move on shall we? After all it is what t is, if the USA wants to play that way then play that way with them or sit back at  home. On the Arsenal front, let’s just say, I am all with our keeper, Cech when he says

“We owe ourselves a performance” after the midweek farce against Watford. That was just unacceptable, a minimum of a draw was the worst we should have gotten but when you keep sitting on your fanny taking your time to get ya engines fired up in a game in this unforgiving league, then, its bound to catch up with you some day and it duly did catch up with us in midweek. Arsenal had hitherto spent so many GOOJF cards this season for so long (Man United, Ludogorets, Bournemouth) it’s a wonder we haven’t come up short much earlier. After the euphoria of thrashing Southampton at St Mary’s one would have expected the return of the rested and supposedly fresh all-star cast for the midweek game against Watford  would bring about a much needed 3 points especially with Chelsea dropping 2 points….Gawd, I forgot, it can only be arsenal….blow hot this minute, blow cold the next. Fantastic in this game, attritional in the next. It can only be ARSENAL! When you make a habit of handing a two goal cushion to the opposition in the first 15 minutes of the game, you should be prepared to be at the end of a loss, plain and simple! Arsenal just blew the League as far as I am concerned, others will mock that statement that we were never in the hunt in the first place. Spurs are looking more like the biggest threat to Chelsea strolling to the title…..what a shame. What this means is that, there is that possibility of Totts finishing above the gunners for the first time in Wenger’s reign, ouch…..definitely not the way Le’boss would wanted to bow out.

I would quit whining about all the spilt milk points now. This weekend is crunch time and lots of people have been talking tough. Arsenal travel down to the bridge in a London derby of severe consequences.  If Arsenal can win Chelsea then maybe just a vert itsy bitsy tiny maybe there just might be a chance to claw back the deficit…… a very very very slim glimmer of hope there. Chelsea has the upper hand with 8 wins in the last 10 matches and as many goals scored with just a few conceded. The momentum is definitely with the boiz from Stamford Bridge as they have turned a corner after being on the receiving end of a 3-0 thrashing back in September at the emirates. How times have changed………deep sigh. Having said that, everyone now knows this is a must win game for the gunners while the hosts can afford to play not to lose, having lost our game in midweek, we inadvertently boxed ourselves into this corner and the boiz need to give a response. Arsene caps it al here;

Look, for me it was always [a must-win game],” said Arsène Wenger, who wants that gap cut as quickly as possible. “But I think what is important is that I can say it is a must-win game but for us what is important is to respond in a very strong, united way, straightaway after what happened on Tuesday night.

“We can’t focus too much on the consequences of the game. Do we win? Do we lose? Football is like that, you can win or lose but make absolutely sure you put every ingredient in to win the game. We have shown that we can beat them in the first game, so let’s just do it again.”

Ah yes, the first game. That 3-0 victory over Chelsea in September remains the high water mark of our season - but it was a turning point for our London rivals.

Read more at http://www.arsenal.com/match/report/1617/pre/first-team/chelsea-v-arsenal-video-stats-es#HeAQWMBrEImIu3eS.99

There you have it, the boss knows the fans know, I just hope the players know. What Arsenal is grabbing at is a fast fading glimmer of hope, and they can decide to make it a reality by playing Chelsea of the park with some stunning ruthlessness…. Dr jeklyll or be the soft centered weaklings who play victim all the time…..Mr Hyde. How the gunners will keep Costa Hazard Willian and Pedro quiet again will depend on which arsenal shows up at Saturdays possible league champions decider, remains to be seen. Dr Jekyll  or Mr Hyde ?? BIG question that only 90 plus minutes of time can tell. My Predicted line up is below:

Subs:  Ospina, Holding, Welbeck, Perez, Jeff, "Giroud" , Gabriel, Niles

We look a bit short yet again in the middle with Ramsey picking up a knock but if we avoid any silly errors and stay very disciplined in both attack and defence, then we may have a chance against Chelsea. The Chelsea back line for me is still suspect against a rasping attack like ours, lets get at them from the blast of the whistle. No time for dulling on this one, do enjoy the game wherever you are......Ciaoo

5th Round Draws & Watford Preview

    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 5^th 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