Morning all.
A couple of weeks ago, with five games to go, Mikel Arteta said this was a new league. Now, it’s down to a two-parter starting with tonight’s final home game of the season against Burnley.
This feels like the kind of game where you really have to set the tone early on, not just with how you start the game, but with the kind of team you pick. I know there’s a potential fitness issue with Riccardo Calafiori, but if he’s fit enough to start tonight I’d 100% pick him over Piero Hincapie, especially with Cristhian Mosquera likely to come in at right-back with Ben White injured.
In midfield, I wouldn’t be at all averse to seeing Declan Rice anchoring with both Eberechi Eze and Martin Odegaard ahead of him. If the manager was willing to play Myles Lewis-Skelly against Atletico Madrid in a Champions League semi-final, I don’t think it’s too much of a risk to play these two against an already relegated Burnley side. He might, however, want to keep something in reserve, and both of them can be game changers in different ways, while Myles and Martin Zubimendi probably are not quite that.
With eight days rest since our last game I hope Bukayo Saka’s Achilles isn’t too sore for him to play on the right, with Leandro Trossard on the other side and Viktor Gyokeres up front. If they can reproduce what they gave us against Fulham in our last home league game, then they’ll cause this Burnley side all kinds of problems.
The way the team performed that day had a big impact on the atmosphere, but the support from the stands was fantastic too. Those things often go hand in hand, and ahead of tonight the manager is looking for more of the same from the fans, saying:
When the stadium provides that level of energy, of passion, of optimism, of playing every single action with the team. When we have the ball, with us, when the opponent has the ball, against the opponent, in every element, they live the game like that. The value of that is just infinite. You cannot measure it, and the team becomes different; it’s as simple as that.
Everyone knows how much is at stake tonight. A win leaves us top with one game to go, knowing if we win that one we’ll be champions regardless of anything else. It also puts pressure on Man City ahead of their game away to Bournemouth tomorrow evening. But ultimately this is in our hands, do our work and que sera, sera.
Right now, just awake in my hotel, I don’t feel particularly nervous but I’m sure as the day goes on that will change a bit. For the players though, they have to deal with that, and the pressure of the occasion, to ensure we take all three points. I don’t think we’re going to see a Burnley team play an expansive, open game, so breaking down a team with a low defensive block will be a big part of tonight’s encounter. An early goal would settle the nerves, getting towards half-time without that breakthrough would certainly start shredding them again.
We do have options on the bench to change things if we need, but after what happened against West Ham last weekend, it’d be nice if we could use the word ‘routine’ about tonight. This has been a season of high drama, and you can’t rule out more of it, but we all deserve a little peace and tranquility in our lives, and hopefully that’s what we get later on.
Right, I’m gonna go about my day, I might visit the David Bowie exhibition to pass some of the time, before heading towards the ground in the afternoon. Hopefully I’ll bump into a few of you along the way in the usual places. We will have Arseblog News coverage for you as usual, and there’s a preview podcast on Patreon, but unfortunately we can’t bring you live blog coverage tonight, so apologies for that.
For now, have a good one, and COME ON YOU REDS!