Flash Past - Arsenal v Norwich [EPL]

Good morning Lads!

EPL is finally back after what felt like a decade. Yes, I am talking about the inter-lull and the next one is not very long away. My favorite national team, England have qualified for the 2014 World Cup and that's that. For now, lets concentrate on our game this weekend against the Canaries at the Emirates. Our last two games were both away from home and we are back to play at home this week. Let's rewind back a season and look at the interesting things that happened between the same sides.

Lineup Then:

Arsenal

Starting XI : Fabianski, Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Gibbs, Arteta, Wilshere, Ramsey, Cazorla, Gervinho, Giroud

Subs : Mannone, Jenkinson, Monreal, Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, Podolski

Norwich

Starting XI : Bunn, Martin, Bassong, Turner, Whittaker, Howson, Johnson, Tettey, Snodgrass, Kamara, Holt

Subs : Camp, Garrido, Bennett, Fox, Jackson, Becchio, Bennett

Blast from the Past:

Norwich were on the verge of doing a double over Arsenal after Turner scored a goal in the second half. Arsenal looked jaded until then and they picked up after that. Arsenal was lucky on that day.. Very much I would say. The strange comeback started with a penalty which was given by the linesman rather than referee for a push on Giroud. Arteta kept his cool and equalized in 85th minute from the resulting penalty. That spurred Arsenal to force up the field for a winner and it came after Ox’s low cross was tapped in by Giroud after 3 minutes. It was not over yet. This was followed by Poldi’s goal and Arsenal were lucky as the linesman failed to notice Walcott offside before he assisted Poldi. That is 3 goals under 6 minutes. All around, it was a mix of a bad first half, a decent second and bit of well deserved luck! And, the man of the match was none other than Aaron! J 

Highlights of the match is available here.

Current Mood:

Arsenal’s winning run of 10 games ended after a draw against west brom a couple of weeks ago but their run of 16 games without failing to score a goal is still on. After the recent international break, Arsenal have to build the momentum again, especially when the matches are lined up as Dortmund, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Liverpool, Dortmund, Man Utd.

Norwich gave a run for our money last season but this time around they are coming back to Emirates with a defeat against Chelsea and they are lurking at the relegation zone. That says it all.

Injury List:

Arsenal

Walcott(abdomen), Oxlade(knee), Podolski(hamstring), Diaby(knee)

Santi, Rosicky, Özil and Sagna are all considered fit after their respective knocks/injuries.

Norwich

Elliot Bennett(knee), Pilkington(doubtful), Elmander(doubtful)

Predicted Lineup:

Arsenal

We expected Walcott to return along with Cazorla but that isn't the case. He is still out for 2 more weeks, which means more playing time for Gnabry. He can replicate his performance against Swansea to help himself and the team. Cazorla will be starting after a long time and the last game that he played was before we signed Özil. I’m also one of those gooners who is waiting to see the Özil-Cazorla combination in the midfield and that could happen very much this weekend. All other positions will be filled with our usual starters, pushing Arteta back to bench. Vermalen, our original captain, has started feeling insecure about his first team chances and would like to start the match against Norwich. Wenger has the final say though.

Norwich

Can’t expect much of a change from the side that was defeated by Chelsea at home. Only possible couple of changes could be Whittaker replacing Olsson and Redmond stepping in for Pilkington

Key Players 

Arsenal : Giroud will be the key player. He scored 3 goals for France during the break and he will try to carry the same form for Arsenal as well. He hasn’t scored in the last 3 PL matches and he will want to end that drought. With services of Ramsey, Cazorla, Özil, Gnabry, he should be able to score at least 1 goal.

Norwich : If Giroud is the key man for Arsenal, Wolfswinkel will be the key player for the Canaries. Playing away from home against a bigger side would mean less chances to score goals, though Wolfswinkel can make the difference and score one to hurt Arsenal.

Scoreline Prediction:

I’m expecting a neat 3-0 win for Arsenal with an overall good performance from the Wenger's side.

Come on you Gunners!