West Brom Preview + Lineups

Another Premier League weekend, and a chance for Arsenal to go top of the Premier League, following yesterday’s movements in the table.

It will be a tough test, with Arsenal having to travel to West Brom, in order to keep their winning run intact. It has been 10 games on the bounce, that started with the 3-0 win in Fenerbahce, and has continued with a 3-1 win at Fulham, 2-0 home win against Fenerbahce, 1-0 win against Sp*rs, 3-1 win at Sunderland, 2-1 win at Marseille, 3-1 win over Stoke, 4-3 win on penalties over West Brom after a 1-1 draw, 2-1 win at Swansea and a 2-0 win at home against Napoli.

The manager will definitely have some more options at his disposal, with Tomas Rosicky and Mikel Arteta both fit. Mikel Arteta played alongside Mathieu Flamini just in front of the defence, and it worked as a treat, as Arsenal blew away Napoli in a 15 minute blitz. This would mean a constant shifting of positions between Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Tomas Rosicky, something that Napoli’s defenders just couldn’t cope up with.

Ramsey initially started on the right, and the versatility of Arsenal’s midfielders allows them to do that. Jack Wilshere played on the left a week or so back, while Tomas Rosicky has played on the wings quite often. This allows Arsenal to diversify their play and also feed in Giroud, who seems to be in fine goal scoring nick at the moment.

If the manager decides to deploy only Flamini, attacking wise it could be a treat, with Wilshere, Ramsey, Ozil and Rosicky, but since it is an away game, the manager wouldn’t want the play to be too expansive at a defensive cost. Remember, the side is still waiting on returns from injuries of Santi Cazorla, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lukas Podolski.

West Bromwich Albion, haven’t been doing too bad themselves, with a 2-1 win at Old Trafford over Manchester United taking them to a current 12th place in the league. After just 2 points from their opening 4 games, they now have a 3-0 win over Sunderland and this to build their season upon.

Arsenal’s away form has been excellent of late, with 8 wins on the bounce, and the Hawthorns has been a good venue to play, with 3 wins in the last 4 visits.

Right, team news then. West Brom have some injury concerns, with strikers Nicolas Anelka, Shane Long and Victor Anichebe mostly ruled out. That would mean youngster Saido Berahino, who scored against Arsenal in the Capitol One Cup, and against Manchester United last week could start. Scott Sinclair is also ruled out for this game.

Arsenal have several injury problems, with Santi Cazorla, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lukas Podolski, Abou Diaby, Yaya Sanogo all ruled out. Bacary Sagna is the latest to join them, and is expected to be out for atleast 3 weeks. There are rumors that Per Mertesacker could be given a rest, which would mean Thomas Vermaelen and Carl Jenkinson taking their places in the starting lineup. Here is how I expect the two sides to line up.

Jai Arsenal 🙂

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