Arsenal vs Leicester (16/17)

Team news:
Leicester: Leicester City midfielder Nampalys Mendy will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his ankle. Foxes captain Wes Morgan (hamstring) and striker Islam Slimani (groin) will also miss the trip to Emirates Stadium.\

Arsenal: Cazorla (plantaris), Mustafi (thigh) will miss the game. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could be available despite a minor foot problem.

NEW SYSTEM, NEW DAWN

That miserable night at Crystal Palace may turn out to be a watershed. It provoked a reaction from the fans, a response from the players and a tactical tweak that ushered in a 3-4-3 formation for wins over Middlesbrough and Manchester City.

“I’m surprised how quickly we adapted to the system,” admitted Wenger. “We worked on it in training but we had limited time. As well, I think it gave us a bit more security in a period where we need a bit more certainty and more clarity with our defending.
 
“Maybe as well the new system suits well some individual players to express their qualities and gives them some freedom to go forward. Overall, I feel until now it’s worked well. What’s more important is the team spirit and that’s why I insist that we have to transfer that into the Premier League.”

The insurance policy of a back three paid out at Wembley with defenders on hand to mop up dangerous situations inside the box and deal with runners in behind like Leroy Sane. But inevitably there has to be a sacrifice elsewhere when you adjust your system.

“We sacrifice a little bit possession because we played a little bit deeper,” explained the boss.

“Basically, it is similar to our [usual] system, just one player moves back into central defence. That means of course you have to play a little bit deeper sometimes. I feel the more we get used to it, the more we can play high up, because you can pressure higher up. Your full backs can push in very early. But we have been a bit more cautious because we really played under big pressure to win the games.”

DOES POSSESSION MATTER?

The stats bear out Wenger’s point about conceding possession - Man City enjoyed almost 70 per cent of the ball at Wembley. But, as we found at West Brom and Palace recently, possession isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

“Maybe [possession is less important] because the teams are very well organised to defend, and as well because some teams open up to attack,” said the manager. “The teams who defend have the quality when they go forward, with pace and individual quality to make a difference when the space is there.

“That has changed in the Premier League. All the teams have the quality to make a difference when you open up.”


The average position of both sides at Wembley - (Arsenal - white, Manchester City - black)

THE FLUIDITY OF 3-4-3

The analytics also demonstrate that a 3-4-3 formation demands a great deal from the wide players.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Nacho Monreal have risen to the challenge - they even combined for the equaliser at Wembley on Sunday - and Wenger thinks their complimentary styles allows fluidity in the new system.

“First, their target is of course to give us width and that allows us to know that we have two players on the line. They have the quality to go forward so that when you give them a bit more of an offensive role they can express that with freedom.

“One is a full-back, the other one is more a midfielder… and the advantage of the system we play at the moment is that it’s easy to transform during the game into a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1, because Gabriel can move to right back, Nacho can come back to left back, so it’s a bit adaptable. Many times we play with Chamberlain forward and Nacho a bit more defensive, so it’s adaptable to our usual system.

“But yes, the wide players produce of course more work. There is more work demanded as well from people who play, like Ozil and Alexis, but there is as well more freedom for Xhaka and Ramsey because they have a bit of cover behind them.”

Read more: http://www.arsenal.com/match/report/1617/pre/first-team/-afcvlcfc-all-you-need-to-know

Quite confident about this one actually

2-2

I think we either win 2-1 or lose 2-1.

We cant not lose this game especially since we got the London Derby on the weekend.

Wenger is apparently going to use Monreal as LCB. No idea which of Holding or Gabriel are being rested/dropped. Assume it will be Holding but I hope not.

Gibbs at LWB should be interesting.

Arsenal: Cech, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Bellerin, Xhaka, Coquelin, Gibbs, Ozil, Alexis, Walcott

Subs: Martinez, Ramsey, Elneny, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Iwobi, Welbeck, Giroud

Walcott will play up front?

That team does not inspire me

But Alexis-Walcott should be a pacy duo up

I'm presuming Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ramsey are being rested and Holding is injured.

But I'm not quite sure why Coquelin is preferred over Elneny, especially at home against Leicester

Wenger has won few games his ego is sky high again and will do as he wants, His favorites will play again.

Need to bin Coquelin asap

Coquelin, Alexis and Walcott all been shocking. Coquelin is being a liability again (seriously, no Elneny, who can do everything Coq does but better?). Alexis gives the ball away every time he touches it. Walcott is just having a nothing game. No movement off the ball or creativity on it.

Everyone else has been good. Xhaka is running the game, Ozil looks on it but just needs the movement in front of him.

LADSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSs

what a win lmaooooo

Eff it, get these points however we can. Leicester parked it and we played 120 minutes on Sunday. Not surprising it was a crap game.

What result benefits us the most tomorrow?

A draw surely?

Although I rather City lose.

We did work that win much more than we needed to but ultimately deserved with our performance.

Leicester parked it for 95 minutes and then got butthurt after they finally conceded.

Pretty much the perfect win imo

We need City to win as much as it pains me to say it. Man Utd are our rival for the 4th place alongside Liverpool, we basically need both of them to really f it up. We also play Man Utd so if they lose, it'll be in our hands to overtake them when we play them at the Emirates.

Something a little different about today's match, even though a lot of the same problems with lack of penetration (and a few bad individual performances) persisted: I still had the feeling that somehow Arsenal would pull it off.

Also this was Alexis' biggest wtf match in an Arsenal shirt

Is 3-4-3 working?

We seem to be moving the ball a lot better from defence. Monreal and Gabriel played some excellent passes last night. We had a nice diamond back there with Xhaka dropping into the distributor role as well.

It needs work up front though. Apart from crosses from our wing backs we weren't making many chances - same against Boro and City. We need a lot more movement from our front three and support from the midfield.

It works for our defense at least and unlock Monreal. Not sure how we gonna fix the midfield & attack since they're still not mobile enough to play 3-4-3. At least we're solid at the back though and it's important for Spurs & Chelsea games.