Written by billythekid
From playing the sides in 4th and 2nd places at home recently and coming out of those two games with 1 point, our team now travel to London to play the team top of the Premier League, Arsenal at the normal time of 3 pm on Saturday. In our previous five visits to the Emirates Stadium, AFCB have never come away with any points and it will be a real surprise and bonus if they pick up any points on Saturday.
The Gunners have had a very good season so far under the guidance of manager Mikel Arteta, being top of the table every week bar one, where Manchester City had a better GD. If they finish in top spot, it will be the first time since the 2003-04 season they would have won the title when Arsene Wenger was the manager. Under Wenger, they won the title three times, 2003-04, 2001-02 and 1997-98.
They have won 9 of their twelve home games. Arsenal won their first seven home games, six before the World Cup break. First was 4-2 against Leicester City, then they had two, 2-1 wins against Fulham and Aston Villa. This was followed by 3-1 against Spurs, 3-2 with Liverpool and the last home game before the break for the World Cup was a 5-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest.
The first game back after the break was the seventh win of that home run, 3-1 against West Ham. The next home win was 3-2 against Manchester United, which came after a 0-0 draw with Newcastle United. They also drew 1-1 against Brentford. Only one defeat and that was the game mentioned earlier against Manchester City 1-3. The most recent game was Wednesday night against Everton which they won 4-0.
Away from home, they have won ten out of thirteen games. They were against Crystal Palace, AFCB, Brentford, Leeds United, Chelsea, Wolves, Brighton, Spurs, Aston Villa and their last away game against Leicester City. They have drawn one with Southampton and lost against Manchester United and Everton.
The last time AFCB played Arsenal away, was in October 2019, a ninth-minute David Luiz goal decided the match.
In all our Premier League games away against Arsenal, AFCB have W 0, D 0, L 5.
In all competitions, AFCB have W 1, D 2, L 10.
Arsenal v AFCB
Arsenal Win
Draw
AFCB Win
Arsenal Team News
In January they signed forward Leandro Trossard from Brighton for £27 million, defender Jakub Kiwior from Spezia for £20 million and midfielder Jorginho from Chelsea for £12 million. Injury wise they have two players out with knee injuries, Gabriel Jesus and Mohamed Elneny.
Arsenal Player To Watch
Two in-form players are Bukayo Saka on the right wing with 10 goals and leads with 9 assists. On the left wing, Gabriel Martinelli has scored 11 goals with 2 assists. Then their captain Martin Odegaard scored two goals against us earlier this season and scored 9 goals with 6 assists.
AFCB Team News
Marcus Tavernier (hamstring) and Matias Vina (knee) both missed last Saturday’s game, also missing through illness was Antoine Semenyo. Otherwise, it’s the same ones missing.
AFCB Player To Watch
The two players that caught the eye against Manchester City, Hamed Traore and Jordan Zemura, when he was attacking down the left. We need Dominic Solanke to find the net again, his last league goal was away at Leeds and he hasn’t scored in seven league games since, though he did assist the winning goal against Wolves.
The Referee
Chris Kavanagh is the man in charge, the last time we had him was away at Middlesbrough last season.
Your say…
USCherry wrote…
In most senses, we have nothing to lose in this one and most games against the top 6. Why not just go for it like it is a cup game (I mean how most underdog teams go for it). GD is not really going to be a factor at the end of the season, but a point or two here and there will make the difference. Arsenal will very much be a similar set-up to Man City so we’ve had a good look last week. – To join the conversation, click here.
