Category: Arsenal Internationals News

Although there is the World Cup in Russia this summer, just for a change there are not many Arsenal players selected for the international squads, which may give the Gunners a good start for the beginning of next season but could make it a boring tournament for us in terms of seeing Arsenal players on the field.

So who will we see, and what are their chances of going all the way to the Final? I have just been looking at the prices to win the World Cup on netbet.co.uk and surprisingly Brazil are the 5/1 favourites. They usually are, but they may find the conditions in Russia a bit different to South America and in fact the last one was held in Brazil.

The winner 4 years ago was Germany with our Mesut Ozil. They are priced at 11/2 second favourites, and although he will probably be fit for the latter stages he is currently still nursing the back problem from the end of our season, and also has a new knee injury. I’m worried how much we will see of him if at all. Just so long as he comes back fit for the new season…

So I guess a lot of Arsenal fans will also be following England, who are 16/1, but our only player is Danny Welbeck, and he is unlikely to be in the starting XI. There is a little possibility that the Three Lions could be a value bet, but they have an awful record at Finals. Maybe Gareth Southgate could be ultra defensive and win every game on penalties? Hmm I doubt it!

Hector Bellerin didn’t make the Spain squad despite his hairdo and fashion style, but the no-nonsense Nacho Monreal will be there but they are probably too short a price at 6/1. I would rather back the European Champions Portugal who are 25/1. At least they have Ronaldo!

We will now have Granit Xhaka and Stephan Lichtsteiner in the Switzerland squad. It would be good to see our new signing in action and at 100/1 could be worth a Pound or two…

Who else have we got? Mohamed Elneny got injured at the end of the season but Egypt are hopefully he will recover in time as he is definitely one of their best players. Would you fancy a flutter at 150/1?

Or what about Iwobi? I think Nigeria has already won the competition for the most impressive shirts at the tournament, but at 200/1 it could be worth an interest. Their opponents would be too dazzled to fight back!

Our 8th and last contestant is David Ospina, who has been known to produce some some amazing heroics at international level. Colombia have some amazing players, so could be interesting at 33/1. Let’s be honest, we have seen many strange results in big competitions. Whose side will FIFA be supporting, maybe the home side Russia at 40/1….

Who will you be following?

Arsene Wenger made it clear that he still wanted to remain in management after parting ways with Arsenal after 22 years, but he also said that he would find it very hard to go to a different club in England and have to come to the Emirates as an opposing manager.

It is strange that he has given another interview to Bein Sports on the day that Zinedine Zidane has resigned from Real Madrid, despite winning the Champions League for the third time in a row, and Wenger also discussed that he had turned down the job at the Bernabeau on a number of occasions. Le Prof said: “Real Madrid I think I turned down two or three times you know,” he said. “It’s one of the teams I loved when I was a kid. I just felt that it was a very sensitive period for Arsenal Football Club.

“When we built the [Emirates] stadium the banks asked me to commit for five years. The first time I thought it was inside the five year and I thought I cannot do that, that would betray my club.”

But now the job is up for grasbs and there is no reason why Wenger couldn’t accept the challenge now, and he is looking for a job that will “test” him. “It is exciting because you will be tested again, that’s what I want again in my life basically I am a competitor who needs to be tested,” Wenger said. “I don’t know exactly what will happen now, but I am in front of an empty page and I will have to write the next chapter.”

Will that new chapter begin in the Spanish capital?

England and Wales take on Slovakia and Russia respectively tonight, as they seek to qualify in the best possible places for the knock-out rounds.

Get into the excitement of tonight’s match by listening to some classic England World Cup songs, which have got me raring for the coming encounter.

The Dragons come into tonight’s match needing to avoid defeat in order to seal a place in the top three, which is highly likely to be enough to seal a place in the next round, with four of the remaining five groups third-placed sides unlikely to all finish with a better points and goal difference.

Aaron Ramsey is set to play a key role in their side’s bid to seal promotion, which will be guaranteed by a win tonight.

England are also in action at the same time tonight, but their place in the top three is already confirmed at the moment, but could still drop out of the tournament with a loss. It is extremely unlikely that their current points tally would not be enough to qualify as one of the better placed third-placed teams.

The Three Lions will be aiming to win their match with Slovakia in order to cement their winning of the group, which would see them drawn against one of the four third-place finishers in the first knock-out round.

Jack Wilshere is set to make his first start of the tournament in place of Dele Alli or Wayne Rooney, with the pair set to be rested/dropped. He is expected to line up in a midfield three along with Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson, while Jamie Vardy is also expected to be promoted to the first-team tonight.

We only sing when we’rewinning!