Arsenal vs Besiktas Prematch

Arsenal are at home against Besiktas and this is a must win game for the Gunners. The first leg of this match up came to a nil-nil draw, with Arsenal losing Arteta to injury and Ramsey to a red card. To add insult to injury, Giroud is now injured and articles around the internet suggest he could be out for three months. All of this and the inability of the midfield to gel seems to make Arsenal’s start to the season extremely nerve racking and potentially disappointing. Below are some things we need to look out for during this crucial second leg at the Emirates Stadium.

Tim Groothuis – USA TODAY Sports

1) Who will replace Giroud up front Alexis Sanchez showed us that he is still not ready to be placed in the number 9 spot. Against Everton over the weekend, Sanchez was played up front and it became very evident that when the ball was crossed into the box, there was no one capable of getting on the other end of that cross. One of the problems with Sanchez up front was that the players behind him never push up into the box to support him. Rather than attacking into the box, Arsenal, without a true 9, had all of its players sitting outside of the box passing the ball around instead of shooting it goal-wards. Maybe we will see Yaya Sanogo go out a try to fill in that role or maybe we will see Arsene Wenger change it up and play Joel Campbell or Lukas Podolski up front.

With a nil-nil in the first match, it’s all to play for at the Emirates

2) An improving midfield It seems like every time I write one of these so far this season, I talk about Arsenal’s midfield and how they aren’t passing like they did last year. I always talk about the mistakes the midfield makes and hope that with each passing day, the midfield will work things out and improve. This time around, this bit about the midfield gets more complicated because Aaron Ramsey will not be playing and he is one of the few players who consistently tries to push the ball up while making fantastic runs. Ramsey will be sorely missed but I have faith in Jack Wilshire, who is most likely to take his place in the lineup. Last game, Wenger started Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and he was by far the most active player on the team. He was the only one who was willing to take chances and push the ball up. I feel like Chamberlain will be an early substitute if the game is still tied or if Arsenal is losing. Hopefully, my wish for the Arsenal midfield to get better will come true and they can dominate the game.

Brad Penner – USA TODAY Sports

3) The tactics So far this year, Arsene Wenger has been using the 4-2-3-1 exclusively and although Wenger is not famous for his drastic changes in the formation, I think the injuries and suspensions may force him to change the formation a bit.  The 4-2-3-1 is a very suitable formation for this team but without Aaron Ramsey, Giroud, and Arteta this team is missing some key pieces to the commonly used formation. Without Giroud up front I really think Wenger should try the classic 4-4-2 formation and insure there are more strikers in the box when the players on the wing cross the ball in. I don’t think this will happen but without his normal, reliable players, look for Wenger to change things up, even if it’s only a small change to the formation or lineup. Prediction I think this game will be close and very intense. However, I think Arsenal will win through an early goal and then holding on for dear life until the very end. Therefore I think this game will end Arsenal 1 – 0 Besiktas