WIN Premier League: Arsenal 2 - 1 Brighton | Saturday 27th December | KO: 15:00 GMT

Predicted Lineup



Prediction
Arsenal 2-0 Brighton

 

[MD3 Gunner]

Cala being super crazy again. Against Everton he injured Hincapie

 

[Heavy Duty Rom]

Which is problematic. Eze and Nwaneri get us a goal off the bench.

Hmmm not sure. Nwaneri maybe. Eze is a bit of a liability in terms of workrate, winning dwelling on the ball.

 

[RunTheTrap]

Hmmm not sure. Nwaneri maybe. Eze is a bit of a liability in terms of workrate, winning dwelling on the ball.

And Merino isn't? I'd bring on one of Eze or Nwaneri instead of Jesus if we want to score another goal.

 

[Gooner Zig]

Saka got into lots of good positions because Ødegaard sliced them open at will today.

Saka is never "the problem" because Saka is just always very good, his floor level is so high.
He is a world-class player though and he isn't performing at that level at the moment.
It hurts our attack.

Gyokeres is a much bigger issue of course but no point beating a dead horse.

I want to put Saka's performance today in context for you and others. From a historical comparison, games with:
- 7+ shots
- 4+ chances created
- 15+ box touches
are typically produced by peak Salah, KdB, Neymar - that's the company that this performance lives in. So the idea that he's not operating at a world class level is nonsense to be blunt. 7 shots + 16 box touches is elite process. I will say that he should have made one of those shots count, let there be no debate about that.

 

[Batman]

That one in the first half, he should have scored. Top left, curled it in, instead he sort of just side curled it low but straight at their keeper. Another time, he should have disguised a shot and passed it to someone who was running on the outside of him, think it may have been Ødegaard (but could be wrong), who would have had a better chance of shooting or passing across the box for someone to try and tap in. Instead Saka shot and got a corner.

He is doing ok, but not the explosive Saka we have seen previously scoring key goals IMO.

None of our players are this though lol.

Which is a fault of recruitment and management team at this point, but Saka is our main player (main attacker at least) so until someone steps up to prove his otherwise (which they won't imo) he has to try and force it.

I'll reply to both of these posts simultaneously as my answer is basically the same for both.

I think his decision making is letting him down a bit. I understand that there's an element of wanting to assert yourself as the main man in attack and that we don't exactly have anyone above him in the pecking order in that sense but he's not a good enough finisher IMO that any shot he wants to take is a good shot and part of what has brought him to the level he's at has been not forcing things and instead making the correct decision based upon what the situation dictated.

He's already the main man, he doesn't have to ultimately perform worse trying to force things to take a title he already has and I feel that there has been a bit too much greed this season which has resulted in some attacks that should have amounted to more dying with an ill-advised shot on his behalf. There's a fine line that I just think he was treading better previously. Trossard is also guilty of this at times, including today when he seemed more concerned with toying with the fullback than making the correct play on quite a few occasions.

This is why while @Gooner Zig is correct that his theoretical output could and should have been pretty good today, and we can look at other people not doing their jobs and putting away the chances he creates, he also has to know what his strengths are and the fact is that he is a better creator than finisher and should be looking to impact the game more that way, particularly when a shot is clearly not on and then he's also got to score sitters like the one he didn't finish that should have ended the game. It doesn't make sense that you don't polish off the easy chances and then you think you should be eyeing up impossible ones when your best asset is your ability to deliver great crosses.

 

[Kysus]

I want to put Saka's performance today in context for you and others. From a historical comparison, games with:
- 7+ shots
- 4+ chances created
- 15+ box touches
are typically produced by peak Salah, KdB, Neymar - that's the company that this performance lives in. So the idea that he's not operating at a world class level is nonsense to be blunt. 7 shots + 16 box touches is elite process. I will say that he should have made one of those shots count, let there be no debate about that.

Stats need context

The context:
Brighton presses high and leave themselves exposed at times.
This, coupled with a great performance by Ødegaard, allowed Saka to get into dangerous situations time and time again.
In those situations Saka underperformed(for his standard)

 

[teamsoutheast]

For that saka last chance, the one v one , I find it odd no one ran with him to give a 2 vs 1, absolutely should have scored tho, and why was he so slow, he’s as slow as Jesus at this point.

A fit Havertz would have been alongside him for that one.

 

[teamsoutheast]

Either of Saka or Ødegaard get MOTM today. They were both very good. Gyokeres for me just needs time to gel with the wide forwards. I hope him and Saka can form some sort of partnership in their link play going forward. Gyokeres seems too isolated from Saka and maybe needs to get closer to him and try to anticipate his play more. Need more near post runs from him than far post ones.

 

[Gooner Zig]

Stats need context

The context:
Brighton presses high and leave themselves exposed at times.
This, coupled with a great performance by Ødegaard, allowed Saka to get into dangerous situations time and time again.
In those situations Saka underperformed(for his standard)

I agree Saka underperformed in front of goal but let's not confuse process with outcomes. Of course you need both and Saka will be gutted he didn't score. He still had to put himself in these situations and he had multiple dangerous crosses which should have resulted in goals from teammates.

 

[Big Poppa]

We lean towards holding the score for a little too long whenever we face any reverse in momentum with a 1 goal margin. I like that we aren’t aloof about the game state but we’ve an immaculate defensive record only when we play proactive football. We have a poor one when we get sucked into defending out of fear.

 

[DanDare]

For that saka last chance, the one v one , I find it odd no one ran with him to give a 2 vs 1, absolutely should have scored tho, and why was he so slow, he’s as slow as Jesus at this point.

It was a bad touch that made him seem slow. Something Martinrlli is actually the best at is dribbling at speed, knocking the ball the right amount in front of him.

Weird because Sakas touch out of the air is immaculate

 

[Mudi]

Stats need context

The context:
Brighton presses high and leave themselves exposed at times.
This, coupled with a great performance by Ødegaard, allowed Saka to get into dangerous situations time and time again.
In those situations Saka underperformed(for his standard)

Saka could have a hatrick of assists if Martinelli and Gyo could have finished their chances ...

 

[razörist]

For me it has gotten so bad that I don’t trust them in front of goal in any situation. The Buendia goal, we wouldn’t have scored that. The brighton rebound goal today, we probably blast it over.

From the first minute it started, Gyokeres through on goal, goalkeeper caught in no man’s land and Gyokeres couldn’t have played a better pass back to the goalkeeper if he tried. Surely you should expect him to score that at least? I was really afraid of this when we signed him, you simply have so little time in the PL before somebody is on you. Scoring goals here is not the same as in other leagues.

 

[Heavy Duty Rom]

And Merino isn't? I'd bring on one of Eze or Nwaneri instead of Jesus if we want to score another goal.

No, Merino is at least tactically aware, and gets his foot in, wins second balls, wins aerial duels, presses well. Come on man, I know you like Eze, but be real.

 

[bergholt]

Very few of our good players are in form.

Raya - in great form
Rice - in great form
Zubimendi - in good form

Trossard - form is dropping off
Saka - not dominating
Saliba - not dominating
Ødegaard - his first good game in months
Martinelli - usual ups and downs

Gyokeres - still not fully acclimatised
Eze - still not fully acclimatised
Madueke - not sure what the manager wants from him
Gabriel - just back from injury

Timber - injured
Calafiori - injured
Havertz - injured

Given that it's pretty ridiculous that we're still top of the PL, top of the CL, semis of the League Cup.

 

[Gooner Zig]

I'm watching a clip of all our attacks and **** me Lewis Dunk alone blocked about 7-8 shots, some of which were very dangerous. Prick saved Brighton from getting completely embarrassed.

 

[Gooner Zig]

That shove on Jesus at the end there, that *should* be a penalty imo. It's enough force to completely push Jesus out the way for what would have been a clear headed opportunity.

 

[viktor]

I'm watching a clip of all our attacks and **** me Lewis Dunk alone blocked about 7-8 shots, some of which were very dangerous. Prick saved Brighton from getting completely embarrassed.

here own goals stats about him but suddenly lewis dunk put good performance against us,

 

[Kuroske]

That shove on Jesus at the end there, that *should* be a penalty imo. It's enough force to completely push Jesus out the way for what would have been a clear headed opportunity.

I was surprised no player runned to the referee to complain. We should do that more to force a VAR or atleast to have it more on replay. We missed Gabriel attitude on those situations.

 

[Riou]

We need Gabriel, Saliba, Rice and Zubimendi to not get injured for any significant period now...we don't have the attack to win the title, so we need that core to stay fit as defensively that can get us over the line.

Gonna be very tough end of season if we want trophies, but doable of things go our way.