Gunners team strength looking strong
The shocking weekend of football is over, as it witnessed some of the biggest shockers of all time. Barcelona losing to newly promoted, homeless Hercules at Camp Nou. AC Milan’s formidable and most strong attack, with the likes of Ronaldinho, Ibrahimovic, Alexandre Pato and Robinho, failed to find a single goal against the newly promoted Casena. Above all that Ibracadabra failed to convert a penalty, which is very rare.
But it was a weekend that went very well from an Arsenal perspective. Arsenal continued an unbeaten start of the season as Gunners defeated Bolton ruthlessly with four goals. It was Arsenal’s third win in their first four fixtures. The only game Arsenal has failed to convert into victory was the opening day draw against Liverpool. Arsenal is currently sitting on second position below Chelsea and above Manchester United.
Premier League title holders, Chelsea may have a 100% record but so far they have beaten such four teams which finished in the second half of the Premier League table last season, with Everton being the only exception. So there would be no doubt that they are topping the table.
Arsenal will play six games in nineteen days before the next international break. One of the biggest games in that time period would be against Chelsea on October 1st at Stamford Bridge. This game could prove to be the league decider and it would be a test for Gunners as they have always failed to perform well against the top four.
Arsenal’s next league fixture is at Stadium of light against Sunderland. But before that Arsenal have Champion League fixtures with Braga in midweek. After Sunderland’s away match, it will be West Brom visiting Emirates. Those league games are dissected by a Carling Cup trip to The Spurs and a Champions league visit to Belgrade to play Partizan.
These nineteen days are going to be a very busy time for the Gunners. It's also going to be a testing time for Arsenal’s squad strength which is already injury-prone. One of the most important players for Arsenal at the moment is Chamakh, as he is the only player available who can play the role of the pivotal striker. Chamakh was very impressive this weekend as he led the line very well, held up the ball when needed, and laid it off to other players expertly. Whenever the need arose, Chamakh efficiently laid the ball off to other players with his first touch and got Arsenal breaking very quickly like he did in the incident where Cahill got sent off.
Somehow, if Chamakh is not available, the next option would seem to be the talented Mexican Carlos Vela. Although, he is a very skilful player, he is totally different to Chamakh. The Mexican performed really well in the last minutes when he scored against Bolton. It was a goal that sealed the victory for the Gunners. Carlos Vela didn’t chip the goalkeeper which was quite a surprise when he was played in by Cesc Fabregas, but he showed both Arshavin and Chamakh, who had missed similar opportunities earlier, exactly what to do.
Hopefully Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger will play what he sees as his strongest possible side against Braga tomorrow. Gunners fans will see the return of Sagna and Clichy in the full back positions, who were rested in the league game. No doubt if Vermaelen is fit, then he will be starting for Arsenal too.
Moreover, the knock Diaby took on Saturday against Bolton, it is doubtful that he will be available. It means that either Jack Wilshere or Samir Nasri will be Arsenal’s third midfielder. With Nasri just back from injury, it will be Wilshere, who will be more favoured for playing in the midfield.
Rosicky showed a superb performance and played very well again on Saturday. With the stiff competition in the midfield, Rosicky has to retain his place in the starting eleven. Despite missing a lot of chances on Saturday, Arshavin performance was impressive as he kept trying no matter how often he missed.
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