“He’s the only player my entire squad are always scared to play against but this time around, I may be forced to sell any player who refused to handle him…We must win this match”: Erik Ten Hag warns Man United players ahead of a ‘must win match’ against Arsenal tonight
Last summer Arsenal had 26 players leave the club. Eight went for a fee, two went for free, and 16 went out on loan.
So when we read in the Guardian this summer that “Arsenal start to shed their academy graduates as the stakes are raised” we might perhaps expect more than the 26 of last year.
But in fact, what we find so far is that one player has left for a fee (Mika Biereth), three have gone out on loan, four have gone on a free and two have been released. Of those going only Reuell Walters, Amario Cozier-Duberry, Omari Benjamin, and Arthur Okonkwo are academy graduates.
So four academy graduates have gone. Is that really what one might take from the headline that “Arsenal start to shed their academy graduates”? Of course, there might be many more, but there are always some academy graduates who leave, and “Arsenal start to shed…” is not really a fair representation of the tiny number that have so far left.
As ever, it seems, a chance to knock Arsenal through giving a false impression is grabbed by a headline writer. The Arsenal Academy squad is listed at 18 players which means 22% are leaving. I suspect in many clubs the number is much higher – but the “start to shed…” headline is not used.
What we can be sure about is that Manchester United is going to spend money in an attempt to claw back some of the 29 points difference and 63 goal difference between themselves and Arsenal last season. In fact they have already spent over £88m on Leny Yoro a defender from Lille, and £36.5m on Joshua Zirkzee a forward from Bologna.
For Manchester United, on the pitch they have so far lost to Rosenborg and beaten Rangers – Arsenal as you will know have already played Bournemouth.
For this game Arsenal will not have Kieran Tierney, Takehiro Tomiyasu (both recovering from injury) plus Aaron Ramsdale, Bukayo Saka, David Raya, Declan Rice and William Saliba who are still on holiday.
Which means that if they are fit Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz could be used as substitutes.
Pain in the Arsenal give us a potential lineup of
Hein
White, Timber, Kiwior, Zinchenko
Partey, Jorginho, Odegaard
Nelson, Jesus, Trossard
Pain in the Arsenal tell us that “Arsenal have a great record against Man United” but as we have noted before that is really only true over the last 11 meetings of which Arsenal have won seven, lost two and drawn two. Prior to that is was nothing like as jolly.
Sports Mole have a few variations and they offer us the prediction of a 1-1 draw.
Hein;
White, Timber, Kiwior, Zinchenko;
Thomas, Jorginho, Odegaard;
Viera, Jesus, Trossard
