Tag: coquelin

Arsenal with just TWO changes for Basel in Champions League

There has been a lot of speculation about how many changes to the Arsenal starting line up Arsene Wenger will make for the second Champions League group match against the Swiss champions Basel tonight, even more so with Francis Coquelin reminding the Gunners boss of how injury problems have plagued the club in recent years.

Apart from having to replace the defensive midfielder though, with Granit Xhaka the obvious choice, I think we will see just one other change from the 11 players that started and did so well against Chelsea in the Premier League at the weekend. Arsenal do have an EPL match on Sunday to consider but after that is the international break and the trip to Burnley is a game we expect to win anyway.  ...........Read more

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First Premier League start for new Arsenal star Iwobi

Arsene Wenger must have luiked what he saw from the young Gunner Alex Iwobi whern he started ahead of more experienced Arsenal forwards like Theo Walcott and Joel Campbell against Barcelona on Wednesday night, because today the boss has handed the talented youngstrer his first ever start in the Premier League.

Perhaps Wenger is hoping that the exuberance and fearlessness of youth is better than the pressure that the older stars seem to be struggling to cope with. We certainly need to get at the home team and get them on the back foot, because if we don’t I can see Arsenal struggling, especially in the latter stages of the match when the players start to feel the effects of two games in the previous six days.  ...........Read more

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Will Arsenal’s secret plan for beating Barcelona really work?

Even though the seemingly never ending Arsenal injury curse has hit us once again and inflicted the Brazilian defender Gabriel with a hamstring problem that will keep him out of the Champions League clash with Barcelona, or at the least the first leg of it tonight at the Emirates Stadium, he is confident that his team mates will be able to do a job on the visiting team without him.

As reported by Metro this week the centre back has revealed that the Gunners have been working hard on a way to stop the free scoring Catalans, spearheaded by the most potent attacking front three in world football of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, from getting goals against Arsenal.  ...........Read more

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Ox is IN and Walcott’s OUT for Arsenal at Bournemouth

Theo Walcott has paid the price for his struggles in front of goal for Arsenal recently, as Arsene Wenger has dropped the England international to the subs bench for the trip to Bournemouth today, with the improving Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain coming in to play in the wide forward role on the right flank.

The Ox has not had a great season so far but he has looked a lot better in the last few weeks and now he has a great chance to force his way into the first team on a regular basis. Let’s just hope he grabs the chance with both hands because Arsenal are badly in need of some goals and a win today.  ...........Read more

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Arsenal team for Burnley in FA cup is VERY strong

Arsene Wenger is having to walk a fine line with his Arsenal team selection today. The Frenchman must balance the need to get through to the next round of the FA cup and stay on track for a record three trophy wins in a row, with the need to treat the Premier League title race as a priority.

He also needs to weigh up the benefits of playing a strong side against the desire to rest some key players like Mesut Ozil agead of the game against Southampton in the league on Tuesday. It is all about risk and reward really and the boss suggested in his press conference that because Arsenal really need a win after three games without one he would be leaning towards as strong a team as possible.  ...........Read more

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Flamini has MASSIVE job for Arsenal in Greece

While a lot of the talk and emphasis from Arsenal as we prepare for the crunch clash with Olympiacos in Greece tonight has been on the attacking side of our game, the Gunners cannot abandon the other side of the game. So it will be a big night for the back four and the keeper Petr Cech because an Olympiacos goal means we have to score at least three times.

But with all the focus on Arsenal creating and scoring goals against the Greek champions, I think the mist important position in our team is that of the defensive midfielder. I assume it will be Mathieu Flamini with Aaron Ramsey in the box-to-box role and it is vital that the Frenchman has a good game.  ...........Read more

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Will Bayer’s transfer U-turn see Arsenal sign Bender?

While some clubs with top quality defensive midfielders might be dreading the January transfer window, with Arsenal badly in need of cover for Francis Coquelin and Arsene Wenger sitting on a massive pile of cash for new signings, others may be rubbing their hands at the prospect of making some money off us.

One club that was previously in the former category is the Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen, as they has previously issued hands off warnings about their Germany international star Lars Bender. THey have him tied into a contract until 2019 so are under no real pressure to sell either.  ...........Read more

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La Liga star delivers INCREDIBLE Arsenal transfer snub

A lot of the talk about Arsenal right now is the injury crisis and what Arsene Wenger might to do to boost his squad when the winter transfer window opens in January. One of the priority pieces of transfer business that the Arsenal fans wanted to see done was for the boss to sign a striker but after the French defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin picked up a long term injury last weekend the priority is now clearly to find a replacement for him.  ...........Read more

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