Can the Gunners stop Gomis from scoring again?
The disappointment from the Capital One Cup is now behind us and the manager has more or less finalized his options for the right flank with Joel Campbell and Alex Iwobi labeled as the replacements to use. As I discussed in yesterday’s post, I felt that Campbell was the best option because playing him there wouldn’t cause any disruption to the team tactically.
Swansea is a team that has bested Arsenal in recent times and they were the only team to do the ‘double’ over the Gunners last season. The head to head record between both sides is even equal with Swansea beating Arsenal six times, the Gunners winning six times and the spoils have been shared just twice. However, the Gunners have an edge as they had won nine of their last 11 away games and they have the best defensive record in the league with only eight goals conceded.
Swansea boss, Garry Monk, shared his thoughts on the game,
“Arsenal have an excellent squad, the bigger squads can afford injuries like that. That’s the difference, it would hit us harder if we had those injuries but they have the strength and resources to cope. They look like title contenders, they’ve had a fantastic start to the season. A lot has been made of them from January onward and the form they’ve been in, they are title contenders.
“The money they’ve spent on the squad and their form means they are title contenders.”
“We have played against them differently in all the games we’ve played against them. The home game here we went on the attack, played an open game and scored goals at the right time and showed character to come back. Down there we did change it tactically but we’ve achieved those results on different merits and different ways of playing.”
Arsenal Team News
Arsene Wenger has confirmed the absences of his English attacking duo, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, till after the international break, so he has a rather thin squad to work with. However, most of the first team regulars got breathers and should be fresh for today’s game.
There is also a quest to find the player that would score Arsenal’s 2,000th goal under Wenger. When he was asked about the potential player that would score the goal, Wenger nominated himself! What a classy dude.
Arsenal Injury / Suspension News
Jack Wilshere (ankle), Tomas Rosicky (knee), Danny Welbeck (knee), Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), Mikel Arteta (ankle), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring), Theo Walcott (calf)
Arsenal Predicted Lineup
Swansea Team News
With his team exiting from the Capital One in the third round, Garry Monk has a squad that has rested in the course of the week. He’s more or less expected to select the same squad that ended their five-game winless run in the League with a victory against Aston Villa.
Garry Monk’s side is without a win in three home league games (D2 L1); its worst run since last February (also three games). The club has never gone four without a victory at home under their current boss. But the manager would be looking to Bafetembi Gomis to get the goods once again for the Swans against the Gunners as he scored the match winners against Arsenal home and away last season. After scoring four goals in his first four games, Gomis has gone through six games without a goal and he would be hoping to rediscover the form that made the team sell Wilfried Bony would batting an eye lid.
Swansea Injury / Suspension News
There are no injuries for the Swansea squad.
Swansea Predicted Lineup
Team Form
Arsenal
- Last Five Games: W W W W L
- Last Result: Sheffield Wednesday 3 (Wallace 27?, Lucas Joao 40?, Hutchinson 51′) – Arsenal 0
- Leading Goalscorer: Alexis Sanchez (7)
Swansea
- Last Five Games: L L D L W
- Last Result: Aston Villa 1 (J. Ayew 62?) – Swansea 2 (Sigurdsson 68?, A. Ayew 87?)
- Leading Goalscorer: Batefembi Gomis (4)
Gooner Daily predicts 2 – 1 to the Arsenal
Sayonara.
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