Tuesday 24 September 2013

West Brom (A)

After some good league and European performances tomorrow night we travel to the Hawthorns to take on West Brom in the Capital One Cup or whatever it is now. I first expected Wenger to make wholesale changes but then realised that our squad is so bare that we may have to play some first-team players.

Guessing the squad will be hard but I think it's fairly safe to assume Viviano will start between the sticks to make his debut. I've heard good things but hopefully tomorrow will give us a better look at the Italian. The back line will more than likely include the likes of Jenkinson, Vermaelen and Monreal. The midfield is an area where we are short so I expect it to remain roughly the same, we may see more of Arteta depending on how he came out of the last 10 at the weekend. Ozil trained but I doubt he'll be played. The front line is an interesting one. Bendtner has been included and may start, I think Gnabry will start after his weekend performance and on the other wing we might see Myiachi start.

West Brom will take the match seriously and it will be a difficult game regardless of what team we put out. West Brom have had a rough start this season but they're still a dangerous team especially with the likes of Sessegnon adding to their ranks. But without Lukaku this season they have struggled for goals scoring just 4 in the league from 5 matches.

It's a really difficult game to call with us more than likely fielding a weakened team and them below their best so far this season. It'll give some players the chance to shine, Viviano has his chance to show why we signed him from Fiorentina and keep SZCZ on his toes, whilst players like Gnabry and Myiachi have the chance to show off their potential.

I'm not gonna predict this one cause it's such a strange match up, hopefully we can do the business and keep this little run going.