Good morning positive and hopeful Gooners.

The team makes it’s way up the M6 to face Mikel’s mate Pep and his team of all stars. There is never a good time to play Manchester City, but now seems as good as any. They recently got an unexpected spanking from Leicester and are without their star playmaker, KDB and don’t appear to have a centre forward to field.

It looks like we can start Tierney, after breaking him our of Covid prison in Scotland and we also have Partey available for selection for the fist time. Given our success against then in the FA Cup semi final I expect us to play similar game, that means 5 at the back and the MF prioritising shielding, so Mikel might be tempted to play those that are used to the system and each other. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Xhaka and Elneney start the game. If we can come through the first half hour unscathed, recent history shows them to be vulnerable.

There is a lot of optimism surrounding our team, more than our level of play justifies me thinks, but if the players also feel this optimism then that will serve us well.

The only thing I’m sure of is that whoever Mikel starts, huge swaths of the fanbase will think he’s gotten it wrong, but a good result is the best answer to any critics.

Another thing I’m sure of is that they will attack us relentlessly, even more than normal, because the lack of KDB means we will see less of the ball, as the price of his creativity comes at him turning over possession a lot, he probably gives up the ball more than the rest of them put together, he’s a bit Sanchez like in that respect.

Lets just hope their new £130 million centre back pairing struggles to gel and Walker frequently falls asleep in the area Aubameyang patrols, it will be a test for Walker as he usually has a speed advantage, well he won’t have one today.

OK, people, enjoy the game and I’ll see you tomorrow.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS

Pedantic George.

Hello the remaining inhabitants of Positively Arsenal. I hope you are all well and coping with the stress of the transfer window, a trauma that appears to be dwarfing that insignificant little virus knocking about. Our poor fanbase is worrying itself to death about possible comings and goings, but the end is nigh, thank fook.

Anyway, to matters more pressing, at 2 pm on Sunday we take on Sheffield United at the home of football.

Now Arsenal are in either great shape or in a right old state, depending on which extreme side of the fence you have jumped down on. Results , of late ,have been decent although performances have been unspectacular. We are at the stage where this is about all we can hope for.

We played well against Fulham, although everyone does, but the games against West Ham and Liverpool were solid at best. I expect “solid” again on Sunday afternoon.

Sheffield have yet to score aa goal, let alone win a point, so we really should be winning this one. However, despite their lack of goals and points, they haven’t played half bad, we only overtook them in the table on the final day of the season, so on results over the distance, the teams are evenly matched. A bit of a worry is that we only managed one point against them last season.

As for our selection, your guess is s good as mine, but my best guess is Leno, Hector, Holding , Luiz, Tierney, AMN, Xhaka, Ceballos, Willian, Aubameyang and Lacazette.

Sheffield also play 3 at the back so I think it will be a rather dour affair, but if we get the points, that will sweeten it enough for now.

Enjoy the game and stay safe and well.

Pedantic George.

For the second time in a matter of days Arsenal make the long trip to Anfield to face Liverpool; this time for a spot in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. The Gunners lost to the Reds on Monday night in a Premier League clash, 3-1.

Good day one all.

In spite of improvements since Mikel Arteta’s arrival, Monday was a reminder that we still got a long way to go if we are to challenge for the Premier League title; which champions Liverpool are favourites to retain while we are hoping to get back into the top-four. I say this because in the face of defeat it is easy to lose perspective.

The last two seasons Liverpool got 97 and 99 points respectively, while Arsenal finished the last four outside the top-four. The last three seasons we averaged 63 points. It sucks but is the reality of where these teams are at the moment.

Unai Emery arrived as a quick fix to get us back to the Champions League spots, after finishing outside it in Arsène Wenger’s last two seasons, but all he did was rip the soul out of this team. Seasoned professionals were forced out, others froze out, a few others want out and most whom he signed are on their way out. That is the dung Mikel stepped into and the wreckage from which he has to start the rebuild in his first job in the hot seat. Then there are those in charge of the club who are not playing with a full deck, which force him to put on a brave face and just try to get on with it. So without a full season nor a pre-season, seems unfair to be aiming brickbats at him – in my opinion at least.

Be that as it may, Liverpool were where we are and Jurgen Klopp didn’t turn it around overnight, but it took patience, smart recruitment, trust from the fans and so much more.

Today they’re a machine, especially at home where they are practically invincible. They didn’t had it all their way the other night though, despite the 3-1 score, we caught their defense flat-footed a few times and, on another day, may have pinched a point. Alas, we live to fight another day.

Mikel has done well and really seem to enjoy these battles against the ‘big six’ in Cup games… and with Klopp expecting to make sweeping changes, who knows. Still, any trip to Anfield remains one of the toughest in English football and if we are to get the better of them, the Spaniard will be asking a lot more from his players than they showed the other night.

Team news

Mikel Arteta is expected to ring in the changes as well, however, they are not be as fancy as his German counterpart, as we are still limited due to injury concerns.

Cédric Soares and Sokratis (unless on his way out) are available, which can help ease said concerns, and this is an ideal opportunity for them to get some minutes under their belts.

Gabriel Magalhães, a surprise omission Monday, Dani Ceballos and Bukayo Saka are all expected back. Maybe Runar Alex Runarsson and William Saliba will finally make their competitive debuts.

Prediction

Arsenal have not beaten Liverpool on the road since September 2012 in all competitions but, all things considered, I wouldn’t bet against us. Cup games are refereed more evenly, which opens things a bit.

While the game may not live up that epic 5-5 showdown of last season, I doubt it will be short on entertainment. COYG!

— @LaboGoon

The Reds picked up where they left off in 2019/20 with two  straight league wins, whilst the Gunners followed up victory over  them for the Community Shield with back-to-back league wins of their own.

On the back of that Arsenal make the first of two long trips to Anfield this week for their much anticipated Premier League clash against champions Liverpool.

Good day one and all.

With two meetings these last two months already, these sides should know each other pretty well by now. And although the Gunners got the better of the Reds on both occasions, some argued that neither of those games were priority for Liverpool; as they already had the league title sewn up when they visited the Emirates and that the Community Shield nothing other than a “glorified friendly”.

Be that as it may, none of those matches were at Anfield where Jurgen Klopp’s side are on unbeaten league run stretching back to April 2017. However, they didn’t look quite as invincible when they hosted Leeds on opening day. The Peacocks came from behind three times, only to be undone by a late Mo Salah penalty that handed the Reds a 4-3 win – all four goals came from set-pieces.

If opposition fans thought maybe this is the season Liverpool are there for the taking, those were quickly put to rest when they made light work of Chelsea in a 2-0 victory last Sunday.

Mikel Arteta won’t doubt his side’s chances though. In his short managerial career he is already two for two over the Merseysiders. In fact, in Arsenal’s last nine matches (all competitions) we have beaten four of last season’s top-five: Liverpool (twice), Man City, Chelsea and most recently Leicester in a Carabao clash.

It’s still early days though to say whether that is proof that Arteta is the man to lead the Gunners back into the top-four, especially ahead of a very tricky league run of five matches against last season’s top-seven. But if we can come out the other side in good shape, well, I guess we can start feeling confident of our chances.

Despite Marcelo Bielsa not cc’d on that memo, a trip to Anfield remains a daunting task for any team and we haven’t won there in a really long time. But this Arteta’s Arsenal is a resolute bunch, that come a long way from that side that lost their heads in a 2-1 defeat at Brighton. And despite our personal feelings about the politics at Colney, these boys deserve our support each time they step on that field.

Team news

There’s no new injuries as Kieran Tierney, who pulling out in the warm-up ahead of last weekend’s win over West Ham is due back. So is David Luiz who could make his first league start of the season.

Eddie Nketiah came off the bench to score the winner against the Hammers and was on the scoresheet again in midweek, but it’s unlikely that he will start ahead of Alexandre Lacazette, who was on target in both our opening two league fixtures.

Prediction

Liverpool is amongst the top three teams in Europe, so we will be up against it, but we also don’t need to sell ourselves. We are on a pretty decent run and our recent wins against them should give us all a boost.

These clashes also aren’t exactly short on entertainment, with 20 goals scored in our last three visits up north, and this one could be no different. First real hurdle for both teams this season and I’m looking forward to it. COYG!

— @LaboGoon

Arsenal head to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester City in the Carabao Cup. The winner will go on to play either Lincoln City or Liverpool next week in the quarter-finals.

Good day one all.

With two wins from their two Premier League games, both Arsenal and Leicester have met early expectations. In matches this past weekend though, the Gunners left it late to shake off a plucky West Ham side, while the Foxes came from behind in victory over Burnley.

Attention now shift to the domestic cup with the chance to continue that positive momentum ahead of testing league fixtures for both sides this weekend. However, escaping defeat at Leicester is not something Arsenal have done a lot of in recent years; having lost each of our last three trips up there in all competitions.

Even so, we have progressed past the third-round of this competition in 1 of the last 17 seasons. Mikel Arteta already won two trophies in his nine months in charge, but it remains to be seen just how seriously he will take this match, especially with a trip to Liverpool a matter of days away.

Likewise, Brendan Rodgers’ side got a difficult jaunt of their own to Man City. So if him and Mikel ring in the changes as expected, this could come down to which side got the better squad depth and how well they gel together with playing time in such short supply.

Team news

Eddie Nketiah is likely to profit from rotation, and join Bukayo Saka and Nicolas Pépé in a front three.

One would assume Mesut Özil is a possible option in behind, but he hasn’t had a look in post-lockdown and that is unlikely to change.

We still got so many defenders still in the treatment room, that David Luiz could be the only one coming in. Cédric is carrying an injury and it’s unlikely Kieran Tierney, who was withdrawn 10 minutes before West Ham to mess with that particular gameplan, will be risked ahead of the Anfield trip.

In goal, new boy Runar Alex Runarsson could be in line for a swift debut.

Prediction

On paper, a bit of tricky encounter for the Gunners, considering three straight defeats from our last three trips to the KP. However, with mass rotation anticipated both sides, it should be expected for our depth to carry us through. COYG!

— @LaboGoon

Arsenal go in search of three more points when they host West Ham United at the Emirates Stadium in a Premier League clash this afternoon; with the Hammers yet to get off the mark after being well beaten by Newcastle in their opener.

Good day one and all.

Mikel Arteta will be a reasonably happy man with the Gunners for carrying their positive momentum at the end of last season into 2020/21. He would be particularly pleased with summer recruits Willian and Gabriel Magalhães, who were both imperious on debut in an overall good team performance at Craven Cottage last Saturday.

Of course, the caveat will be “yeah, but it was only Fulham”. Well, there’s no doubt that sterner tests await and only time will tell whether Gabriel is going to give us that defensive solidity we’ve missed in recent years. But also, we can only play what is in front of us and this fixture today is another we are expected to do well in; considering we’ve beaten the Hammers in 10 of their last 11 visits to the Emirates.

David Moyes’ side bounced back from their opening day disappointment with a 3-0 win over Charlton Athletic in an EFL Cup tie in midweek. However, that would have done very little to get a fickle fanbase onside.

West Ham always seem like they are just a few bad results away from total mayhem. And with a tough fixture run against six sides that finished in last season’s top eight in their upcoming six games… if they don’t find their bearings soon, it could be a long and arduous season on the horizon.

Be that as it may, Moyes has been here before and really pulled it out of the bag at the closing stages of last season to avoid relegation. However, the Gunners are in good nick, so we can expect a very subdued approach from the visitors, who will take whatever points they can get in the next six matches.

Team news

Arsenal got no new injuries concerns from their last match. Granit Xhaka who had a bit of a scare after suffering a knock is available, so is David Luiz who sat out the opener due to neck spams.

With the new arrivals we now got a good balance to rotate players, though with a week’s rest and still so early in the season that is unlikely to happen. Which only adds to the problem of having such a big squad as it will impact the playing time of several big names.

The big news this week was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang extending his Emirates stay. Getting this done was Mikel’s number one priority heading into the off-season and with “da ting” now signed… great things is expected of our captain who has scored eight goals in his last six matches in all competitions.

Predictions

The Gunners are still on an unbeaten league run at the Emirates in 2020 and based on the current contrasting forms of these two sides, I cannot see that run ending today.

Not going to predict a score but will say that we can expect more magic from our wide men who are looking sharp. COYG!

— @LaboGoon