Hello and how are you? Tuesday the 23rd of December sees the Mighty Cannon in action again, this time we host a Christmas bash at Ashburton Grove in our QF Carabao cup game against FA cup holders Crystal Palace. KO is at 8.pm UK time. Expected weather is 7° (feels like 0 to-1°). Partly cloudy and 19% chance of rain.
As the Gunners top domestic and euro leagues we now go in search of silverware. Of all the competitions that we can take part in the League Cup is the one we have the oddest relationship with, one certainly we’ve not really excelled in, at least in comparison to other clubs? It would be great of we could lift the Carabao cup and lighten up the Arsenal barracks. Palace come into this one having been trounced by Leeds, their league form has been dropping off a bit (but in touch with Europa League chances in 8th place), winless in three, with nine goals conceded, so I’m sure they are hoping to turn things around and go further in this competition. Previous meetings: 59 Arsenal wins: 36 Draws: 17 defeats.
Gabriel Magalhaes,Cristhian Mosquera, Max Dowman and Ben White are Christmas-crocked.But it will be sure interesting to see who Areteta picks.
For Palace, Ismaila Sarr, Daichi Kamada and Daniel Munoz will be absent and aren’t glad all over, neither are Rio Cardines, Cheick Doucoure, Caleb Kporha and Chadi Riad who will also be absent. Theres all sorts of speculation about Mateta (and his on-going knee injury) and Eddie being dropped, but to be honest I haven’t a clue, so we shall see.
Statto HQ stopped and looked up from creating extensive lists about the possiblities in advanced vectors and gave us the stats. The Arsenal are at 60.6% and Palace have been given 16.1 %. Well thats it, wishing everyone at PA a great and safe Christmas. And of course, COYG!
Mills
Top of the PL and CL at Christmas, no one, and I mean no Arsenal fam is unhappy with that. However, a good few are unhappy with our style of play. It’s slow and safe for the most part. Now, that wont matter a jot if it brings us silverware, but if it doesn’t, people will bemoan us not trying to score more than one goal in tight games. Our tendency to hang on has already cost us dear at Sunderland and and Villa then almost again against an awful Wolves team, it could have happened again at Everton. We are skating on thin ice. This is how Arteta wants us to play, control possession and be ultra solid in defence. we have to accept that, like it or not, but what I can’t accept is the players getting blamed for it.
Now, I’m not moaning, just pointing out that it’s our risk adverse manager insisting that the players follow his risk adverse instructions.
Anyway, I expect a good few changes tomorrow and a more open game that should lift us before we all dig into our Turkey and mince pies. Which I hope you all enjoy.
Pedantic George
Positively Arsenal 
Excellent write up lads and Happy Christmas to you and all positivers.
Difficult to know how Mikel will go as regards changes as this is an important game but the weight of the fixture list is massive.
A win with no injuries would be on my Christmas list and I think I’ve good this year COYG.
LikeLike
Kepa, Timber, Saliba, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Norgaard, Merino, Eze, Martinelli, Madueke, Jesus.
Subs: Raya, Salmon, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Nwaneri, Trossard, Saka, Gyokere
LikeLike
interesting stat from ITV, neither Myles Lewis-Skelly nor Ethan Nwaneri have started a league game this season.
LikeLike
HT: Arsenal 0-0 Crystal Palace
almost total domination, missed lots of half chances, and their keeper has brought off a few very good saves too, we really should be ahead here.
Martinelli been very lively, has their fullback in big trouble, but he went down injured in stoppage time, hopefully he is ok for the second half.
Jesus been lively too as has Madueke. Norgaard has controlled midfield. We need the breakthrough and then it could open up for us. Palace have parked the bus.
LikeLike
palace bring on two subs for the second half
LikeLike
Martinelli fit to start the second half.
LikeLike
we haven’t started the second half well
LikeLike
Trossard on for Martinelli
LikeLike
Odegaard on for Eze
Saka on for Madueke
LikeLike
an own goal makes it 1-0 to the Arsenal, the ball pinballed about in the six yard box at a corner and went in off a palace player
LikeLike
Rice on for Jesus
about 5 minutes plus stoppage time to play
LikeLike
9 minutes of stoppage time to be played, Arsenal must be ahead.
LikeLike
pathetic, 1-1, their first shot on target in the game, a freekick headed on and no one marking the runner and he fire home
LikeLike
FT: Arsenal 1-1 Crystal Palace
a game we should have had over and done with by half time is now gong to penalties, we took the lead from an own goal and in stoppage time they scored from their only shot on target all game.
LikeLike
Penalties
Odegaard: 1-0
mateta: 1-1
Rice: 2-1
devenny: 2-2
Saka: 3-2
Hughes: 3-3
Trossard: 4-3
sosa: 4-4
Merino: 5-4
lerma: 5-5
sudden death now
Calafiori: 6-5
wharton: 6-6
Timber: 7-6
uche: 7-7
Saliba: 8-7
Lequa: 8-7 — kepa saves the penalty from the palace lad who scored the own goal in the game, not a good night for him
LikeLike
we now face Chelsea in a two legged semi final in january
LikeLike
Well that was a Christmas cracker!
Certaintly no lack of creativity and with a bit more luck and clinical edge we could of been 5-0 up at half time, pure joy to watch.
We know Jesus isn’t an onion bag striker but on his return he was both busy and quick and didn’t fall into his previous bag of coming to deep.
Our (b) side took on a near full strength Palace side and wiped the floor with them. Yes Palace made changes and made a massive improvement in the second half but they still couldn’t hurt us.
Unfortunately for all experienced players entering the field neither they nor our manager could manage the last minutes of tgf game.
For all the talk of control, the last few games has shown little of it. Mikel said in his post match presser that finishing games off with tgd attack was the problem and a lot of the media agree with him.
However all teams go through periods where they just can’t get out of the grasp of the opposition and on those occasions seeing out a game is a must. We have, under Mikel, locked the door against very good sides and never looked like conceding but this current squad seem to make a lot of strange decisions in the dying embers of games.
If we can blend the creativity of the first half, XG of 4.67, and the steel of previous patches, we can win the league this season.
LikeLike
The first half performance yesterday was very good, free flowing attacking football, creating chances, putting in crosses (although our striker was not there for them), generally being adventures, Eze trying 50 yard cross field passes to Madueke, with Martinelli and Madueke looking to charge forward at every opportunity, but it did mean Crystal Palace nearly caught us on the break twice. They messed up two very good breakaway chances, So what happened in the second half.
Arteta ball happened.
Despite what the commentators and lee dixon and ian wright et al had to say about Palace upping their game after being over ran in the first half. That is not what happened at all. What we seen in the second half was not a tactical change by Palace, it was a tactical change by Arsenal. We got the control that Arteta so loves, the pundits were wrong about arsenal being pinned back, the fact was Arsenal dropped back ten to twenty yards, with Madueke for example now receiving the ball midway between the half way line and our penalty area, when in the first half it was always in their half.
The tactics as we seen in so many of our games was that we were happy enough for Palace to have more of the ball, but with no where to go with it, no penetration, no Kepa saves to be made. Bread and butter defending, Norgaard and Merino solid and safe and instead of Madueke and Martinelli being the outlet for rampaging attacks, it was Timber and MLS that found themselves up the pitch.
Crystal Palace didn’t have even a stiff of a breakaway in the second half. Arteta was much less animated, he was as happy as a pig in shit, we had CONTROL. We didn’t have the goals, we didn’t have the truck load of chances we had in the first half, but they hadn’t a look in at our goal. Our goal came as so many of the goals we rely upon game, via a deadball. Palace got theirs the same way, it was the only way they were every going to get at our goal in the second half. Arteta makes Bertie Mee and George Graham teams look like prime Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels teams.
Next time you are watching Arsenal play and you are not overly enamoured with our lack of flair, just sit back and appreciate the CONTROL, otherwise it will do your nut in.
LikeLiked by 1 person
New post is up
LikeLike