Europa League R32: Östersunds FK v Arsenal | February 15, 2018 18:00 GMT | BT Sport

[hydrofluoric acid]

Joke Time

Cannibal : I've become a vegetarian
Other Cannibal: I just saw you eat that Ostersund fan
Cannibal : It's all right, he was a Swede.

I think you are one of the funniest person on this forum.

 

[YeahBee]

Why? It's a game between Ostersunds and Arsenal, it should be played in Ostersund.

It is a once in a lifetime thing almost

They should maximize the profit from it

And i am bitter i didn't get a ticket

 

[Rain Dance]

Will Arsenal Charity FC appear?

 

[<<reed>>]

 

[El Granit-Coq]

Time to bounce back.

 

[albakos]

This could be really tricky and playing in artificial grass will have a high risk of injuries.
This is the game of their lifetime, so they will undoubtedly have extreme motivation.

A mix of Europa team with first teamers is needed in first leg, so then we can finish them off at Emirates.

 

[field442]

This could be really tricky and playing in artificial grass will have a high risk of injuries.
This is the game of their lifetime, so they will undoubtedly have extreme motivation.

A mix of Europa team with first teamers is needed in first leg, so then we can finish them off at Emirates.

Four of the Europa team left in January. Anyway, we have nothing to play for in the league so this should get the focus of the first team. The only players I’d leave out are people like Wilshere and Welbeck, possibly Koscielny. The ones who get injured easily.

 

[Malky]

Don't see the issue with the 'plastic pitch', most pro's train on them now, I'm pretty certain we have them at the training ground at Arsenal. In all honesty I love playing on them! If I had a choice I would rather play on them every time over a torn up, heavy grass surface.
No doubt Wenger will have that, and the weather conditions, lined up as his pre-written excuse if the game goes tits up for us.

playing in artificial grass will have a high risk of injuries.

For what it's worth, that's a myth. Injuries on the surface only really occur because the player is wearing the wrong type of stud pattern on their boots.

 

[A_G]

I'm pretty certain we have them at the training ground at Arsenal.

Those are hybrid grass pitches, not the same thing as Ostersunds' pitch. It's not a myth that those cause more injuries, there have been studies done showing this.

 

[Rimaal]

I'm not expecting anything.

 

[Malky]

Those are hybrid grass pitches, not the same thing as Ostersunds' pitch. It's not a myth that those cause more injuries, there have been studies done showing this.

They're FIFA approved, there's tests that all pitches need to pass before they're considered playable at pro standard. When has one ever been removed because of the amount of injuries they cause? I've been playing on 3g/4g pitches three times a week for the best part of 10 years and I've never injured myself, or know of anyone who has been injured because of the pitch.
The only noticeable difference going from grass - astro grass is the ball has a different bounce on it, but that should take them around 2-3 minutes to get used to.
With the temperatures that they'll be playing in, it would be more dangerous playing on an actual grass surface than astro.

 

[IslingtonBornandbred]

I think the new style 3g/4g pitches aren't too bad in terms of the effect on the game but it's true that the ball has a difference bounce and it is a different feel to grass.

I personally know plenty of players who don't dislike playing on the artificial pitches but they definitely have more aches, pains and injuries compared to playing on grass.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...-us-women-artificial-turf-world-cup/17295011/

 

[al-Ustaadh]

I honestly see a draw or loss in this match given the weather conditions.

 

[HollandGooner]

Most likely result would be a draw, and we will finish them off at the Emirates.

 

[FreakySami]

Don't care if we don't get an amazing result here. Don't risk injuries. Use only those who are capable, then batter them at home

 

[Penn_]

Bellerin's one of the few I'd like to see rested. Only missed around 7 games for us this season.

 

[Mark Tobias]

They're FIFA approved

I've never been instilled with this much confidence before

 

[DanDare]

Difficult. Have to balance chance of injury, and testing players with the fact Europa is our only chance of redemption this season.

Carabao doesn’t cut it

 

[MkhiMagic]

Shouldn't it be UEFA approved? Fifa?!?!?

 

[Slartibartfast]

Modern artificial surfaces bear no more risk of injury than grass. They're completely different from the old, hard Astroturf surfaces that were laid over concrete (and from which the notion of increased injury risk stems). Modern surfaces feature fills (high-quality Terra XPS in the pitch this game will be played upon) that make them play similar to grass, but smoother. Here's a piece that was in The Guardian a few years ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-why-its-time-to-destigmatize-plastic-pitches

As for the weather, I just checked and it will be just below freezing, but not snowing. Also, I think I saw somewhere that this was a heated pitch. So I don't think things will be too bad.