Arsenal vs Watford: 3 Things To Watch For

Venue: Vicarage Road

Date: Oct 17 (EST)

Welcome back to the Premier League everyone! It has been an eventful week away from the league. Mainly because I am proud to announce that for the first time in a while I can write one of these articles without having to go on and on about how an Arsenal player was injured over the International Break.

Arsenal didn’t win any of the headlines over the break. Mainly due to what’s happening over at Liverpool. But I see that as a good thing. Everyone is playing well, everyone is confident, and most importantly everyone is healthy. Well excluding Jack Wilshere and Danny Welbeck.

Prediction: Watford 0-2 Arsenal

1) Sanchez will score (If He Plays)

DUH.

For anyone to make that statement requires very little knowledge of soccer. An example of that would be to look no further than my mother and any of your parents who have absolutely no idea why we enjoy soccer as much as we do. But after that Manchester United game a few weeks back, all I kept hearing from my mother was, “That #17, is he new?”

What that was trying to explain is that Sanchez has been the heart beat of the Arsenal attack lately. His ability to play a complementary role is a joy to behold. However, his ability to suddenly switch it up and become a killer leaves all of us dumbfounded. As Squawka.com shows us, Sanchez has been slowly improving his shot accuracy game after game. More impressive is the fact that the number of chances he has created per game has been very consistent throughout the season so far.

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It will require someone who is bordering on moronic to suggest Sanchez’s rise in form and resurgence is not correlated with Arsenal dramatic improvement over the last few games.

2) Ozil will drift in and out

This will be a classic frustration game for those of us who love Ozil like he is our savior. So me.

Watford will play with discipline and try to crowd the midfield, something Manchester United failed to do. As a result of that, Ozil will be operating in tight space and he will get frustrated. He will then look like he has given up, draw complains from every one of my fellow writers only to suddenly wake up and provide what can only be an Ozil-patented type of assist, i.e. that game against Leicester City!

What ever frustrations you have towards Ozil, disregard them because he leads the team in chances created, 31. Further more, as Squawka.com illustrates, Ozil has been able to provide key passes from any part of the pitch. Creating about 20% of his chances on either wing and a little less than 60% of them from the middle.

3) Walcott & Giroud are becoming good problems

Arsenal FC /

Arsenal FC

Every team has their problems. For Arsenal, Walcott and Giroud were once horrible, world-ending problems. However, over the past few weeks each has made a case that they can bring positives to the team.

Walcott has been performing on the club level and Giroud has made the most of all the chances he has gotten. I, for one, prefer an attack that features Walcott. That provides Ozil and Cazorla with a speed threat for those long passes. But don’t get me wrong, Giroud is very talented and very useful given the right circumstances.

Let’s all hope Wenger continues to get it right and plays the right player at the right moment. But knowing Wenger and Arsenal, he could and would eventually screw it up and we will be writing about how Arsenal needs a striker once again.

Next: Alexis Sanchez puts Arsenal's Worst Fears to Rest

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