Arsenal will host West Bromwich Albion tonight at the Emirates in a rare Thursday night English Premier League match-day. The Gunners have an 18-year streak of qualifying for the Champions League and to keep that streak on, Wenger’s side will have to finish in the top four, they need to win more and more matches.
Back-to-back draws in London derbies have already made it clear that Arsenal’s title hopes are almost dead, and their current point drops have allowed Manchester City to climb to the third place, despite City’s draw at Newcastle.
That change of fortune and winning ways must start with a convincing victory over West Brom tonight.
Expected Line-Up for Arsenal:
Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin is ruled out with a knee injury, although Santi Cazorla, who was suffering from Achilles injury and Tomas Rosicky, who was out with a thigh injury, are both back in the squad. Both Cazorla and Rosicky have started to train, which is a big boost for the squad. But Mathieu Flamini is still a small doubt as he picked up a knock and will have to go through a late fitness test, ahead of the Brom game.
Goalkeeper:
Petr Cech will be the man with the gloves for the Gunners. After a disappointing show from David Ospina in the West Ham game, Cech will surely be retaining his place again as he had a good game against Crystal Palace, unfortunate to concede late in the game.
Right Back:
Hector Bellerin, with his mind-blowing speed and acceleration, can be pretty useful while tracking back. The ex-la masia player is a must stop fast counter attacks from West Brom.
Centre Backs:
There will be some changes made in the pair after back to back disappointing performances. Mertesacker is likely to start in place of Gabriel, who has been very poor recently.
Left Back:
Monreal is an example of a perfect modern day full-back, who has a brilliant understanding of the game and his position, which is very important in the Brom game, as they like to defend deep, so overlapping runs will be pretty important.
Defensive midfield:
As usual Coquelin and Elneny will play in the midfield, Both of these are the key to the Gunners defensive and attacking movements. They have grown a good understanding between them, which will get better with time.
Attacking Midfield:
Just like the previous match, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, and Alex Iwobi will play in the Arsenal attacking midfield, with Iwobi and Sanchez out wide and Ozil operating centrally, which provides mobility and creativeness to be Gunners midfield. Facing these three together will surely trouble Pullis’s defence.
Centre Forward:
Giroud vs Welbeck, it will surely be tough for Arsene Wenger to select only one out of these as Pulis is a defensive mastermind and Brom have a strong and steady defense, who defend deep. Welbeck’s movement and runs inside the box have been pretty good recently, but finishing has been awful. Arsenal will need someone who has strength up front to score past Foster, but Giroud’s current 11 goalless league games may even make Arsene play Welbeck.
Here is how both the sides are going to line-up:
