Saturday 11th September sees us travel to the Emirates for a bottom of the table clash. Both teams will have used to the international break to re-group after the start of the season games has seen them take on tough opposition. With a number of players away on international break for both sides it will be interesting to see who starts this weekends match. Farke will be looking to integrate the 2 new signings of Kabak and Normann but with them both having signed and gone straight to international duty I find it unlucky that either will start, perhaps the injury to McLean on international duty may create an opening for Normann though as he should be up and running after featuring in at least 2 of the international games. Kabak on the other hand has had a disrupted pre-season and didn’t make a league start for Schalke before his move, only featuring for 45mins for Turkey in their international matches. Arsenal made one signing on deadline day, a new right back Tomiyasu who is likely to start. The Gunners will be without vice-captain Xhaka. With both teams desperate to kick start their Premier League campaign this could be an intriguing match.
Update: both Kabak and Normann trained with the team today so possible that they could play on Saturday
The Athletic's guess at the likely Arsenal starting XI: Leno Maitland-Niles*, White, Gabriel, Tierney Partey, Lokonga Pepe, Odegaard, Saka Aubameyang *Or Tomiyasu, subject to his getting his work permit in time. Smith-Rowe was sent home from the England camp due to illness and is almost certainly unavailable.
Apparently Arteta is like Guardiola and enjoys watching us play. Given his team are propping up the league at the moment, and are yet to score, I imagine it isn't our attacking play that he's enjoying at the moment
Sounds like McLean and Giannoulis could be doubts following injury chat during international duties. Not sure about Kabak's fitness but i'm keen to see him in action. Ahead of DF's press conference i'm expecting... but i'd like to see Dowell in the Rupp role. Expect we'll see more of Tzolis and Sargent off the bench.
I read recently that we are on a 23 game winless run against London teams . My heart says we will turn over a very poor Arsenal side lacking confidence my head says it will be an along came Norj situation
My guess at the line-up: Krul Aarons Hanley Gibson Williams Lees-Melou Gilmour Normann Cantwell Rashica Pukki
Flashback to an Arsenal match I'll never forget: https://www.alongcomenorwich.com/ar...ch-flashback-arsenal-2-4-norwich-city-1992-a/ When 2-0 down at halftime, Mike Walker's instruction to the players was to forget about damage limitation, go out and attack them! And boy did they.
Norwich City Norwich can equal the club record of losing four games from start of a league season, last set in 1938 in the second tier. They have lost 13 successive Premier League matches by an aggregate score of 34-2. The Canaries are winless in their last 23 top-flight fixtures played in London (D6, L17). Norwich have lost 41 of the past 42 Premier League games in which they conceding the opening goal, including each of the last 28
Straight from the BBC That conceding the opening goal stat is absolutely brutal. The 13 losses in a row with 34-2 aggregate is also pretty horrible.
What's happening with South American players and Covid? Are the countries still going to ban them this weekend?
Update from Farkes new conference: Zimmerman (ankle) and Gianoulis (back and neck) both definitely out for the weekends game, Sargent is a doubt due to a Hamstring issue. McLean was back in training today and will be monotored
There's a big premium in scoring the first goal, a fact often reiterated by Daniel Farke. The consensus of several studies using data from the EPL is that the probability of the team scoring the first goal going on to lose the game is as low as 12 to 13% (whether playing at home or away). Home teams scoring first go on to win in ca. 70% of cases, away teams in ca. 61%. If memory serves me, in 2019--2020 we scored first in 10 matches, going on to win 5, draw 3 and lose 2. So of our season's points total of 21, 18 came in games where we scored first.
Of course not, but if, having laid out your stall with regard to how you're going to play, you find yourself handing the opposition a huge advantage 70% of the time, you might reasonably conclude that you need to think again. We are about to find out whether this particular lesson has been learnt or not.
