It’s another Premier League trip to the Midlands today as we take on Leicester City.
After a crazy match at Villa Park last week, I think Mikel Arteta will be looking for more control of his team today. That might come via improved performance, but he might as well make a change or two to make that easier.
In his press conference yesterday, he was hopeful that Thomas Partey would be available, and if he is fit and there is no risk of aggravating anything, he would choose him today over Jorginho. The January signing did well last week (as Lewis pointed out in his tactics column), but Partey gives us a little more, even if he’s never shot Emi Martinez in the back of the head.
He also talked about Fabio Vieira and how much he’s pushing to get started:
“It’s starting to give me big headaches because I see every day what he’s capable of doing. He’s a tremendous player, now he understands exactly what we want and he’s physically fit to compete at the right level in this league.
“He brings qualities that we don’t have in the squad. With many desires to give him more minutes”.
Whether an away game is the right time remains to be seen, but even though he has been pretty consistent with his team selection this season, Arteta likes an occasional surprise. We saw more of this when the team itself wasn’t as established as it is now, but with the likes of Vieira, Emile Smith Rowe, Leandro Trossard and Jorginho adding depth to the team, he gives them options to do something that perhaps the opposition won’t expect.
As for today’s opponents, Leicester have been, it’s fair to say, erratic this season. I saw them last week against Man Utd and they were sensational in the early part of the game, and if David de Gea hadn’t made some brilliant saves it could have been a very different game. They then went on and lost 3-0.
There is quality in their attack, but the midfield is not what it used to be, and defensively it is a very varied bag. Having talked about increased efficiency in the final third before Villa’s game, Arteta will be eager to beat that drum again. Regardless of who starts, we have the players to cause this Leicester backline a lot of trouble.
As I told Phil on the Patreon preview podcast, these are the matches you have to win if you’re a serious title contender. Which isn’t taking anything for granted, but having crawled out of a hole last weekend and with a little help from Nottingham Forest, we have to take things back on our feet.
Fingers crossed!
—
On the other hand, the draw for the round of 16 of the Europa League took place yesterday, and we will face Sporting Lisbon. We last played them in this competition in the 2018 group stage, and a Danny Welbeck goal gave us a 1-0 win after a 0-0 draw at home.
This is the type of match where you can start Vieira, Smith Rowe, etc., and maybe by then you can start facilitating Gabriel Jesus back into action. I know some people aren’t in the Europa League this season and I understand why, but it could well be useful for us. There is also a reunion with Héctor Bellerín, who never had the opportunity to say goodbye properly, so it could be nice.
—
William Saliba did a great interview with the official site, and after the promising news about Bukayo Saka’s contract, there were some very encouraging quotes from him about his future. He says:
I want to win as much as possible here and put the club back on top. I want to win all the titles.
Hopefully his future is figured out as well, but when you see players like Saka, Martinelli and Big Gabriel (his defensive partner) commit to new deals, it should influence your decision making. He’s making all the right noises, now get him a pen!
—
Right, that’s your lot for this morning. As always, we’ll have live blog coverage of the game today, which isn’t on TV in the UK, as well as all post-game material on Arseblog News.
See you later for the game. Let’s go Arsenal!
