Finally back to domestic football and the Arsenal have a tasty fixture to come as the champions visit North London. To be fair, although mot Gooners blow at their cheeks at the prospect of an international break, this particular spate did hold more interest for Gunners than is often the case, with four of our English players on show across the two matches.
It would be fair to say that the star of the show was our newest addition in Danny Welbeck but we also witnessed some positive signs from Jack Wilshere and indeed debutant Calum Chambers.
It’s hard to look past Welbeck’s contribution to England, given that there have been roughly 592,985,339,875 articles covering his two-goal display against Switzerland ever since, and he will be the centre of attention once more this weekend.
Moving from Old Trafford to the Emirates on deadline day, the striker has whetted the appetites of many Arsenal fans who were underwhelmed by his signing, and are now praying that he can display the same kind of form in an Arsenal shirt that he showed with Three Lions on his chest. He may just prove to be the missing piece of Arsene Wenger’s attacking puzzle.
The boss does have some decisions to make before taking to the field against Manchester City, with his extensive squad of talent posing a nice problem.
For example, does Le Prof bring back El Capitan, Mikel Arteta, following his recent injury spell, or does he opt to allow Wilshere to keep his little run of momentum going in the middle of the park? And what happens to this double pivot if Aaron Ramsey is fit to play?
The Welshman declared himself “alright” for the encounter against the champions, but Wenger may not be willing to take a risk with his prized possession.
Let’s say that Rambo does indeed start at N7, does this mean that we’ll see a mouth-watering trio in behind our main striker? Santi Cazorla on the left, Alexis Sanchez on the right and Mesut Ozil in the hole is certainly a sentence that excites me, and would surely more than test out how good City’s defence really is.
And talking of the supporting cast, will Danny Welbeck be throw straight in for a full debut? He’s certainly capable of doing just that, and is familiar with a number of his compatriots already in the squad. However, while he has been subjected to a fair amount of abuse over the past number of weeks, Yaya Sanogo has also been in the goals for his country, scoring three times in two games. Will Wenger stick to what he knows, or throw caution to the wind? I feel it may be the latter.
Our defence near enough picks itself. Wojciech Szczesny will have Mathieu Debuchy, Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker in front of him, although question marks remain over who will be on the left.
He’s had his ups and downs, but Nacho Monreal has been more than decent so far this season when filling the void left by the injured Kieran Gibbs. Gibbs is clearly first choice, but Wenger has another decision to make in terms of just how fit the player really is. Will it be an Englishman, or a Spaniard at left-back?
Manchester City also have some decisions to make. Stevan Jovetic and Fernando have both been ruled out of the trip to the Emirates, which could force City into a change of formation.
With Sergio Aguero struggling for fitness, does he start alone up top, or does Edin Dzeko come in to partner the Argentine away from home?
Frank Lampard and Eliaquim Mangala are both in the squad, and could make their debuts, while we wait to see whether a certain French right-back with a dodgy haircut will feature. No, not Debuchy, Bacary Sagna I meant.
Either way, I cannot wait to plonk myself in front of the television, seeing as that I cannot get to the ground, and watch the whole spectacle unfold on BT Sport.
Don’t have BT? Well, Gunners Town understands that BT is currently offering to pay the cost of cancelling your current broadband contract when you switch your broadband and home phone to BT.
For a short time only, BT will buy out your current deal giving you access to BT Sport which comes free with BT broadband. This will allow football fans to watch live Barclays Premier League games and top European football leagues, including the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1.
The only way to get this limited offer, Gunners Town understands, is to call the following number 0800 0280048.
Arsenal fan or not, you won’t want to miss what is going to be one of the games of the season at the Emirates.
Gunners Town is a premier Arsenal blogging platform for passionate and knowledgeable Gooners. Established in 2012, the site has garnered over 5 million views.
hmmmm what a piece,i must admitted that u really hit d nail on the wall.its guna na be really mouth-watering battle,but i’m not writing wenger bringing in campbell to replace carzola @the later part of the game!its guna na be a good day for the gunners!