After a European away game, from which the team did not return until Friday afternoon, a trip to Leeds today will be an interesting challenge for Arsenal.
Last season we went there and won 4-1, and it came at one of the only points in the season where the fixture list got a little hectic. Still, you assume the players had a light session yesterday before traveling to Leeds, and it’s not ideal preparation for a Premier League away game. However, that’s how it is when you’re in Europe, and you have to be prepared for that.
It looks like Gabriel Jesus is with the team (if a random image on Twitter is any good), which is good news because he reportedly had some doubts. Everyone else went to Norway in the middle of the week, some of the key players started, but few of them had to do the full 90 minutes. So in terms of today’s team, I don’t see much different from the one that beat Liverpool, unless Mikel Arteta has another Tomiyasu/Tierney-style prankster up his sleeve.
The left rear is the only place I can see any doubt. Does Tomiyasu continue after he was assigned a very specific role against specific opposition last week, or does Tierney return? Either way, I’m comfortable with the decision. Two great players to choose from is never a big deal.
As for the opposition, Leeds are very much a bottom-half side of the table in almost every metric, not least of which is their place in the actual table. But there is one stat where they are top of the stack: tackles. They’ve made more tackles than any other team this season, and that will tell you a lot about what we’re going to face today. Since taking over, Jesse Marsch has put a real emphasis on making tackles, which might also tell you something about how much they don’t have the ball, but they do it with some intensity, and that’s something I’m sure the coach will have informed his players.
I hope that, at home, they will try to get out of the blocks quickly, pump up the crowd and try to unsettle us. Historically, away from home after a European match is more physically challenging and it can often take a while for a team to get going and find their rhythm. Leeds will be looking to take advantage of that if Arsenal’s level is initially not where it should be.
Arteta says:
With Jesse and the teams that have already played, he is very clear about what he wants to do: be a really intense team, a really dynamic team and a really good team when there are spaces to attack.
So, warned is prepared and all that, and hopefully the players can deal with what Leeds will try to do. In terms of the quality of the final third, we certainly have the advantage there, even if they do have some dangerous players, and if Gabriel Jesus can come into this one adequately rested and ready to go, I think he is the man who could make the difference. us today Fingers crossed.
As always, we’ll have the live blog for you and post-game stuff on Arseblog News, plus there’s a preview podcast for our Patreon members right now.
We will also be recording the podcast for you at a later date. James is out on vacation, but Andrew Allen will fill in for him. Watch for the call for questions later this afternoon.
For now, enjoy your Sunday and I’ll see you later for the game.
