Morning all.
We go again later this afternoon when we take on Fulham at home. Ordinarily, between two Champions League semi-finals, a manager might think of rotation if he’s lucky enough to be able to do that. But with the Premier League title on the line, and fitness issues to contend with, I don’t know that there’s much scope for Mikel Arteta to do that.
There’s no Kai Havertz, but he is pushing for inclusion for Tuesday; Jurrien Timber remains sidelined with a groin problem that was only going to keep him out for a few days, so that’s obviously a concern; while Martin Odegaard is a bit of a doubt with reports that his withdrawal in Madrid were due to discomfort in his knee. So, options are a bit limited, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple of changes today.
Cristhian Mosquera at right-back and Riccardo Calafiori on the other side must be candidates to add some fresh legs to a side that gave a lot against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday. I wonder too if Bukayo Saka might be fit enough to start to give him some minutes, and there’s the possibility of Leandro Trossard coming in on the other side. Although his recent form has been poor, I can’t help but think there’s an ongoing injury we’re managing with him that has restricted his playing time of late, so it might well depend on that.
In a game we absolutely have to win though, the midfield options are not ideal. I think the reality of our situation is that we’re going to ask Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi to dig deep for another few weeks. I touched on the Christian Norgaard situation in yesterday’s blog, and it would be a big surprise to me if he started. The fact there’s a doubt over Odegaard, and that Eze wasn’t risked from the start in Europe means we have to be careful there too. There might well be a pre-game discussion about the possibility of Myles Lewis-Skelly being used there, but again, it’s not something we’ve seen from the start at all this season, and with the stakes so high it’s going to be a risk to try it now.
Even if the personnel in midfield aren’t changed, perhaps the configuration might give us something extra. I thought Rice in the deeper role was really effective the other night, and while it might have been specific to the opposition, I do think this is something we need to consider more between now and the end of the season. For me, this is his best position, it should allow us to get more players ahead of the ball and hopefully there are positive knock-on effects for our attacking play.
As for Fulham, we know they’re a good side with tricky players who have given us problems in the past. They’re still fighting for a European finish, so there’s something for them to play for today. Whether that’s a good thing we’ll have to wait and see. I think they’ll be organised and hard-working as ever, but a draw really isn’t any good for them in that pursuit so I don’t see them coming to park the bus. Can we take advantage of that while keeping them at arm’s length?
As for the switch in focus from Europe to the Premier League, that’s something the manager touched on in his press conference, saying:
We know that we can only focus on one game and that game has enough difficulties and challenges that thinking in a different way is not going to be helpful at all.
The players’ reaction immediately after Atletico is, now it is Fulham, now it is Fulham, now it is Fulham, immediately in the dressing room. They know that and they will have time to prepare for Atletico Madrid. Just focus on Fulham and we will take care of the rest afterwards.
With Man City not playing until Monday evening, today is a chance to go 6 points clear at the top. They’ll have the games in hand, of course, but even applying that little bit of pressure is dependent on our winning this game in first place. Let’s just do that before we worry about permutations. It’s a tough one, but there are rarely easy ways to win a title, and let’s hope we can do the business today.
Right, let’s leave it there this morning. As ever, we’ll have live blog coverage for you, all the post-game stuff on Arseblog News, and there’s a preview podcast on Patreon if you need something to listen to in the meantime.
Also, good luck to Arsenal Women who take on Lyon this afternoon in their Champions League semi-final second leg, with a 2-1 lead from the first game. Tim has a preview for you here, and as ever, we’ll have you covered on Arseblog News for all the post-match stuff there too.
For now, have a good one, and I’ll catch you later. Come on you reds!