Flash Past - West Brom v Arsenal (EPL)

Another sunny day!

There is a weekend action waiting for us against West Brom at The Hawthorns. A fortnight ago, we played against the same club in COC which got us the win in a penalty shoot out. For now, lets flash past one season and look at our Premier league away game at the Hawthorns.

Lineup Then:

West Brom

Starting XI : Foster; Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell, Yacob, Brunt, Dorrans, Morrison, Thomas, Long

Subs : Myhill, Lukaku, Popov, Brown, Rosenberg, Fortune, Tamas

Arsenal

Starting XI : Fabianski, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Arteta, Ramsey, Rosicky, Cazorla, Gervinho, Giroud

Subs : Mannone, Vermaelen, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Podolski

Blast from the Past:

West Brom game is coming right after Swansea(A) just like last season if we can neglect the relegated club fixture[Reading(H)] between these two fixtures. Match ended with the scoreline 1-2. Thanks to Rosicky for his brace which actually won us the game. Good display in first half by Arsenal and in 2^nd started pretty well to score the 2^nd goal but West Brom didn’t give up so easily. They went for it and a long ball to Shane Long led to penalty because of a mistook tackle from Per Mertesacker. Arsenal were down to 10 men but the team held their fort to come out of Hawthorns with a win. Lukaku had a clear chance but he shot wide. It was Arsenal’s day!

Highlights of the match is available here..

Current Mood:

West Brom are not pushovers at all. They started the season pretty bad but they have upset the PL Champions, Manchester United, last week and positioned themselves 10^th in the table.

Arsenal are in a win of 10 game(home & away) run in all competitions and havent failed to score in last 16 games in all competitions. Also, they are in a run of 12 game away win. As the away run is terrific, Arsenal could have an upper hand in this.

Injury List:

West Brom

Zoltan Gera – Doubtful(Hamstring) ; Chris Brunt – Doubtful(Groin) ; Ben Foster – Injured (Right foot Stress fracture) ; Scott Sinclair – Doubtful(Hamstring)

Nicolas Anelka, Shane Long, Morrison could all return after missing the Manchester United fixture

Arsenal

Sagna – Doubtful(Hamstring) ; Cazorla – Injured(Ankle) ; Oxlade – Injured ; Walcott – Injured(Abdomen) ; Podolski – Injured; Diaby – Injured(Where not?)

Santi was expected to return this week but the date has been pushed to post International Break.

Predicted Lineup:

West Brom

They could retain the same side that beat Manchester United at Old trafford with a couple of changes. Morrison and Long coming on for Yacob and Anichebe

Arsenal

Arsenal deployed a 5 man midfield against Napoli and the tactic worked out very well. With our wingers, Walcott, Oxlade, Podolski, Cazorla, still in medical bed, we could see the repeat of the same squad with just few changes expected.

At least one of our CBs will rest and a chance for Vermaelen may be given. 

Talismen:

West Brom : With their confidence high on defeating the league champions, they will go for a win and the game will be more open. The Talisman for West Brom will be Sessegnon. He is the player to watch out for. Flamini was needed to hold off Hamsik in the Napoli game. Arsenal can again deploy Flamini to hold Sessegnon.

Arsenal : Ramsey on hot form in scoring and assisting goals in every match will be playing the key role in Arsenal team. He is sure to win a Arsenal’s player of the month and also Barclay’s.

Scoreline Prediction:

Arsenal have scored pretty early this season in 4 games out of 6 games they played so far. A quick start will get us the much needed win before the international break. I will go with 3-2 to the Gunners!

Come on you Gunners!

Hoping for the 3 points to go in the bag.. See ya!