3-0 Beto hatter
Arteta will of course be the dickhead he is and play a 'strong' team
When he should of course play as many kids.and reserves as possible
This is as nothing a game as a nothing game can be
Let's look forward to a Saka injury as a result of his starting this game and being played for 95 minutes
I want us to finish 2nd plus I think we are a confidence team and a win in this game creates confidence for the Real Madrid tie
My hope is that White is fit so that we neither have to play Kiwior or Partey in defence
But it’s not that I don’t see where you’re coming from, we could put out the strongest team and still lose. But If we beat Everton and Villa beat Forest, Brentford get a result against Chelsea and United against City (stranger things have happened) that I think secures 2nd.
Also there’s an argument that with Gabriel’s injury we might want to try and play with the defence that we will have to use at the Emirates on Tuesday.
Starting Saka I would agree would be a bad idea, and resting Martinelli, Rice and even Odegaard might not be a bad idea.
Think this could be grim but hopefully I’m wrong.
Couldn't give a stuff about being second compared to trying to give Real some kind of game with the best team we can field
Plus if a team which has challenged for the title two years running, beaten Citeh 5-1 this season and made the QFs of the CL isn't already confident then there's something seriously wrong
Rather interesting and worrying stat, the last time we won at Goodison Park after having played against them at home first and only drawing that game was the 1987/1988 season
The last two times we’ve played Everton at home first and drew, we lost (1-0 in 2007, a game I was at, and 3-0 in 2014)
We’ve also played Everton at Goodison park four times previously on a Saturday lunchtime.
Winning 1 - 2016
Drawing 1 - 2019
Losing 2 - 2006 and 2023
I pretty much hope it is, as a result of our playing kids and reserves to keep the first team ready for TuesdayOriginally Posted by Marc Overmars
That’s fair enough, but the fact is Arsenal are and to a large degree always have been a confidence team. We can go on winning runs, but when the chips are down it’s hard to know when the next good result is coming from.
That said, the last time we played Real Madrid. The first leg was sandwiched between a defeat to Liverpool 1-0 the previous week and a 1-0 defeat to Blackburn the following week.
I’d like the prestige of beating Real Madrid, but I’m of the opinion that we won’t be winning the champions league this season no matter what we do. Take away the PSV tie and we have scored six in our last six (4 of those goals from Mikel Merino). I’d love to be wrong, but I don’t think we have either the available players or the quality of coach.
That said, I think anyone prioritising the Real Madrid tie over any remaining league fixtures is probably not wrong to do so. The last time we won a European trophy it was in part by sacrificing the league campaign somewhat.
Case in point, first Arsenal game I ever went to was when I was 10. It was during the Cup Winners Cup season (the one where we beat Parma, not the one where Nayim lobbed Seaman) and it was a home game against West Ham. No David Seaman (Vince Bartram in goal) - Bould, Wright and Merson played but no Lee Dixon, no Tony Adams, no Alan Smith and we lost 2-0
It’s academic, as I agree with you that Arteta won’t rotate but there’s precedent for it and maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we were in a time where we could put out a reserve team and still be reasonably confident of getting a good result, bit like how our weakened team beat Liverpool’s weakened team 6-3 at Anfield (ridiculous game but thoroughly enjoyable) and then went on to beat spurs over two legs
Oh and yeah obvs this is our last ever game at Goodison Park. Not really relevant to anything but still.
I’ve seen the new stadium from a distance, I think it’s going to be an absolute nightmare in terms of traffic, crowd control etc. Then again, Liverpool has a far bigger base of support than Everton and whilst there’s a lot of traffic on match days to and from the city centre…it’s not actually as bad as might be assumed. It’s just that with Vauxhall, the access to and from the ground is narrow largely because of a bloody great stone wall
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Merino, Rice, Nwaneri, Trossard, Sterling.
Subs: Neto, Timber, Tierney, Zinchenko, Partey, Gower, Odegaard, Martinelli, Saka.
So I’d say that’s quite a significantly weakened team
Enough to say that’s a guaranteed loss, no way that side is scoring goals
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