ARSENAL LOOK TO CLOSE OUT BLOCK 4 IN STYLE
Arsenal head to the Stadium of Light today looking to break a clean sheet record and maintain dominance in the Premier League.
This is how we’re shaping up:
**Arsenal:**Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Rice, Eze, Saka, Trossard, Merino.
**Subs:**Arrizabalaga, White, Lewis-Skelly, Hincapie, Mosquera, Norgaard, Nwaneri, Dowman, Harriman-Annous.
As fans, we’re on edge… over the clean sheets. A bad day for us at the moment is a conceding a shot on target. My dad genuinely gets upset at the thought.
*fetches white leather glove and swipes it at you in 1920s dramatic fashion*
Get back to planet earth, friends… we are fussing over things that don’t matter. We’re worrying about normal things that happen in games. If we don’t return to reality, we’re going to really struggle with a bad moment.
The most important thing to happen today is for Arsenal to tap out of Block 4 of the season with maximum Premier League points. The run has been a good one. Nothing is easy in the Premier League, but this grouping of games was one you wanted to see Arsenal max out.
Sunderland are going to bother us today. Their home ground is fierce, their form is really strong, and there’s the Granit Xhaka story bubbling.
This Arsenal team, so far, hasn’t succumbed to any of that type of nonsense. We’re professional. We suss out our opponents like a boxer, then we smash them up. That’s what we need from Arsenal today.
Injuries have piled up, we heard rumblings that Noni was fit, alas, he was not. It would have been a much needed return to a forward line that has welcomed Mikel Merino back into that number 9 position he looks so damn good in. We are in form regardless of who plays there. Trossard, the 30-year-old Belgian, has four assists and three goals so far this season. His setup for Merino’s first goal was superb the other night.
Zubi is back in the mixer giving us legs and precision in midfield. Sunderland are like most of the teams that have come up… physical and very fast on the break. We’ve not really been bothered in transition this season, but at any point, something mad can happen, and the Arsenal aura of invincibility can pop. Confidence takes time to build, but my word, can it shatter fast… especially after a delicious run. Just look at Liverpool.
I’m hoping for a big game from Eze today, he’s been good, I’m waiting for him to have that game where you say, damn, this is the guy. He’ll have plenty of minutes on the ball today with Sunderland likely digging in deep to frustrate us.
Key to all these games: Patience. Don’t do anything dumb. Take the points in the games you are expected to.
If you’re a bit of a table lurker, then you will have noticed some nice subplots. If we can extend our lead today, we go ten points clear of third, which is incredible sauce at this stage of the season. United and Spurs drew in hilarious fashion. Richarlison killed the game in the 91st minute, celebrated like a whopper… then De Ligt did them dirty in the 96th minute. A draw was not good enough.
City play Liverpool tomorrow at the Etihad. Really, we’d like a Liverpool win. But I fear it’s going to be a City masterclass. Arne Slot doesn’t like quick balls over the top to fast strikers, and no team in the world does that tactic better than Pep G at the moment. I think Haaland is going to end Virgil tomorrow and we’re going to be looking at a two-horse race, because ten clear is quite a big number for Liverpool to make up.
Going into the international break on a high really is important. Two weeks, flying high, feeling unstoppable, is something I’m hoping for. BIG GAME.
I’ll be going live after the game today with Johnny, so if you want some podcast action, get yourself a subscription to Le Grove and be waiting for us after the game!
Ok, see you in the comments. x
Podcast## SUNDERLAND (A) | ON THE WHISTLE
Pedro
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12:01 PM
SUNDERLAND (A) | ON THE WHISTLE
We’re going live after the game with a huge ON THE WHISTLE — it’s the Granit Xhaka Derby.
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