Newcastle preview: keeping the MOUmentum going

Hello everyone.

My, the last couple of days dragged by painfully slowly. I suspect it's as much to do with us playing on Tuesday as with all the subsequent introspection and self-reflection by the manager and the players. And the fans, and the media, and the pundits etc.

It's of little comfort, but other English teams didn't make it past the current round whatever the competition. A Joe-Hart inspired City (if clinging to a 1-0 loss can be called inspiration) went out at Barca's hand, Chelsea failed to beat a ten-men PSG the other week and, finally, Everton crashed out of Europa League in some fashion: by losing to Dinamo Kiev 5-2 and 6-4 on aggregate.

Back to Arsenal, and there have been all sorts of right things coming from the players and Arsene. Wenger, for instance, called for the abolition of the away goal rule. And while you have to admit it's a strange rule in modern-day football, which can lead to both teams shutting shop and playing on the counter for the entirety of the 180 minutes, it's a rule. Full stop. It was known well before we crashed out, everyone plays by it and everyone adapts. You can make a case that this rule is strange, surely (ain't the penalty shoot-out too?) and initiate a process of changing it, but while it's here, you have to take it into consideration. Play cautiously at home, don't concede three, adapt.

Back to the task at hand and we face Newcastle away. The presser took place yesterday, so now we know what players are available.

Team news update

There really isn't much new. Rosicky might be back, no one sustained fresh injures midweek and so what we have we hold. There are no comebacks for Arteta and Debuchy (both are at least three weeks away), Oxlade (should also be out for around three weeks) and Wilshere is still out. I wonder whether Arsene is playing mind games here. He just doesn't want to risk losing Jack in a meaningless friendly and I'm fine with that.

The more players we can keep during the Interlull, the better. We know for sure Chambers, Gibbs, Welbeck and Walcott are going to play for England, Koscielny and Giroud are going away with France and chances are Ozil, Sanchez and Ramsey will go represent their respective countries. Rosicky too, I think. My hope is that at least our Englishmen and Giroud/Kos won't feature a lot, as they are not established regulars in national teams, so we can dodge a bullet with them. Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez and Rosicky? Not so sure.

Right, with that sorted out, time to try and put together the squad.

Goalkeepers

Poor Szczesny. I think there are only two ways he can find his way back into the team: 1) a ridiculously poor run of form from Ospina (unlikely) 2) an injury to the Colombian. Last time Chezza was dropped and Fabianski was given the green light only an injury to the elder Pole saw Wojciech return to the starting lineup. He then put together a brilliant run of games (it was in 2013) and was the number one goalie for the whole of last season. Again, Woj was very good, got the Golden Glove and Ospina was viewed as solid back-up when we purchased him in the summer.

How the situation has changed since then. Szczesny kept only three clean sheets in 17 games, capped this with a debacle of a performance on New Year's day and was subsequently caught smoking in the showers. He was dropped and has firmly become second-choice, while Ospina grabbed his chance with both hands, got 7 clean sheets in 11 games and during that run was robbed at least three times (Leicester, QPR, Crystal Palace). His best game was against Tottenham and, while suspect during the first leg against Monaco, did nothing criminal there either.

However slim Szczesny's chances look right now, I don't want to see him leave in the summer. He's a very talented goalkeeper, still very young and, though most Arsenal fans agree Ospina is a more solid and assuring presence between the sticks, they also hold Chezza in high regard and consider him a better keeper overall. So I really hope he stays, sorts out his discipline issues and grabs his chance when it presents itself. As it surely will.

Defense

I saw some criticism of Monreal post-Monaco and I find it surprising. He did nothing wrong while he was on, it was him who squared the ball to Walcott in the 79th minute and so for me the Spaniard should start.

As should Bellerin, but I do wonder whether Wenger will want to revisit his Gabriel experiment and who he will rest if he chooses to do so. I'm sure Gabriel-Koscielny is our solution in the long-term, right now, however, I'd rest Kos. He played a lot, he didn't get a rest like his German partner and he will go away with French national team. We don't want to overload his Achilles tendons, do we?

Midfield

On current form, Ramsey should start alongside Coquelin. Two goals in two games, the usual workrate, clever interchanges with Giroud. The Welshman is back to his best, when on form he's our most reliable number 8, and thus must play. He's the link between defense and attack.

However, Ramsey's inclusion raises an never-ending question: Cazorla or Ozil? We can, of course, shift the German on the wing and accommodate both, but I wouldn't do that while Ozil is as good as he has been lately.

In the long perspective, surely Ozil is our number 10, tomorrow, however, the issue of exhaustion might come into play. Ozil is likely to be involved with the national team soon, and for this reason I won't be surprised to see him benched tomorrow with Santi deputising.

Attack

Giroud is a guaranteed starter. He made amends with his energetic performance in Monaco, scored another goal and, moreover, he enjoys playing against Newcastle. 6 goals in 5 games, a field day at the Emirates last time we faced the Magpies. No question for me here.

But there is a question with our wingers. Firstly, Sanchez needs a rest. Simple as that. He looked absolutely knackered against Monaco, and it wasn't the first time he did in recent weeks. He's also likely to play every single minute for Chile, so I'd give him a breather tomorrow, start Welbeck on the left and Walcott on the right.

Yes, Walcott. He hasn't been great lately, but we must remember form won't come without game time, and game time is a non-existent quantity for Theo right now. Keeping him benched is hardly going to convince him to sign a new deal, so he should be given play time if we want to keep him. Whether we do is another story.

Bottom line is, Theo is better than his latest performances suggest and he'll only rediscover his form if he plays.

The verdict

Since that atrocious 4-4 draw in 2011, we have a great record against Newcastle, winning two games and drawing one at St. James Park (out of three, naturally). And you don’t need me to remind you how good we were at the Emirates for the past three seasons. It still seems like that Walcott hat-trick happened only yesterday, yet Theo got on the scoresheet almost two-and-a-half years ago.

Besides, Newcastle will be without Coloccini and Papiss Cisse. To say nothing about how their form slumped after Pardew left for Crystal Palace. The Magpies were 5th back then, now they are 11th and the aforementioned Palace can leapfrog them this weekend already. It’s a bit hilarious. But that’s not to say we are in for an easy game. There is no such thing in the Premier League.

However, we should have enough to win this game. Playing against Newcastle away isn't all that easy (remember our last game there?), but we have momentum on our side and will also have a nice long bench with plenty of options.

Besides, with Liverpool playing United we'll be able to widen the margin on at least one of these. Both, if we are lucky. On current form, I also don't exclude City dropping points against West Brom. If they do and we don't, we'll head into the Interlull as runners-up. Just imagine the scenes. Glorious. Fingers crossed here.

Right, enough said. Back with a review and come on you Gunners

Monaco 0-2 Arsenal: it's Arsenal 2.0

Seasoned Arsenal supporters know that, when faced with a monumental task, there are two types of Arsenal which can emerge. The first completely loses it's shape and can go down to anyone (Borussia, United, Monaco), the second can send chills down your spine by showing how good they can be (Borussia, United, Monaco!). Alright, count City in.

It's that second type we saw yesterday. Completely focused on the task at hand, motivated, organised, willing to fight.

Can we say it was a little too late? Would you say so having watched the game last night? I'd say this: we have to demonstrate good football for 180 minutes in the knock-out stages, but we could (and, probably, should have) gone through to the last eight. That we didn't wasn't for the lack of trying, it was down to not getting even a little bit lucky.

However good we were yesterday (and we were pretty damn impressive), I was astounded by how poor Monaco was. They were playing in front of their fans, with a two-goal handicap and they didn't even try to attack us. They showed nothing, absolutely nothing up front. Zilch. 0 shots on target. 29% possession. Their most dangerous moment was an offside one, and even then Ospina came out on top. They clung on top their away-goal advantage (only just in the last fifteen minutes) and, while I can get them celebrating their progression to the last eight, they should be ashamed by how little they did on their home soil.

Not much actual football happened during the ninety minutes, so I'll go full-Mourinho and just give you the minutes and what happened on these. But first, the squad.

Team

At first I was a bit baffled by Arsene's selection. Bar Monreal for Gibbs, he fielded exactly the same side that went down 3-1 in the first leg. There was no Gabriel, Cazorla started alongside Coquelin at Ramsey's expense and Welbeck was preferred to Walcott.

And then it crossed my mind the manager wanted to have real options on the bench. It's one thing bringing Welbeck for Walcott and a bit different the other way around, isn't it? Same goes for Ramsey.

15th minute

Up until this point Monaco enjoyed a stint of possession (it would be their last during this encounter) and we just couldn't find a way through their highly-congested midfield. Then, Ozil found Bellerin on the right, the Spaniard escaped his marker with a burst of speed and put a cross in. Giroud headed wide when I thought there was just no way he could miss from such distance.

23rd minute

Ozil whips in a cross from a free-kick, scuffle ensues and Koscielny hits the bar from point-blank range moments after the offside flag goes up. And it's quite fortunate he didn't score, because replays showed Abdennour won the air, not Giroud and so Kos wasn't in offside position. Inept refereeing.

36th minute

Alexis nicks the ball on the flank, returns it to central midfield, Cazorla finds Welbeck between the lines of Monaco's defense and the Englishman sends Giroud clear. Olivier's initial shot is blocked by Subasic, but he then recovers (Giroud, not Subasic), picks up the rebound and fires the ball under the bar with two Monaco defenders on the line. 1-0.

38th minute

Pumped up by the goal, the Gunners storm forward. Abdennour's poor clearance falls to Welbeck on the edge of the box and the Englishman unleashes a powerful shot. It takes a deflection of a floored Abdennour and nearly rolls into the corner with Subasic stranded. Nearly.

46th minute

The last minute of the half and we should have gone 2-0 up. Welbeck fooled the defender and burst into the box and then squared the ball to Giroud. Giroud underhit it and the effort ended up with Subasic and at first I was angry as hell. How can you not score from point-blank range?! Replays showed the pass took a deflection and it changed the trajectory just enough for me still not to know with which part of his body Giroud actually took the shot.

Dunno which minute, but a huge moment

It happened inside the second half already and was pretty straightforward: Ozil fired a free-kick over the wall and forced a great save out of Subasic.

73rd minute

Took us long enough and it wasn't really a moment, but still. Walcott (who came on for Welbeck two minutes prior to the incident) was trying to get on the end of a cross. He didn't, because Abdennour passed the ball back for his keeper, who handled the ball. Which is a foul and a free-kick, but hey, could you expect any different from the referee after Kos was flagged offside and Sanchez got booked for simulation?

79th minute

Ozil finds Monreal with a clever cross, the Spaniard pulls it back for Walcott and the Englishman hits the post for what would be his only meaningful on-pitch action. Abdennour clears the rebound, it falls for Ramsey, Aaron takes a touch to get the ball under control and fires an unstoppable effort past Subasic to set up a frantic finale.

83rd minute

This one literally gave me nightmares afterwards. Ozil whips in a cross from the left, both Giroud and Sanchez win the air, but, as there is only one ball, neither manage to get full power into the shot. I still don't know who should have taken this chance. Probably Sanchez, as he was in a better position, but then he's not a good header of the ball. The combined effort from Alexis and Olivier almost went in nonetheless. Almost. And so it finished 2-0.

The aftermath

Prince Albert was jumping up and down in his seat like crazy, but the simple truth is such that everyone inside that stadium and everyone I've spoken to since last night knew we could have won it by a three-goal margin. Every single Monaco fan was so unnaturally happy because all of them were shitting their pants for the last fifteen minutes. And I haven't even mentioned Cazorla's blocked volley or Welbeck's header to Giroud.

I'm not going to chastise any player on the basis of last night. It was as brilliant and organised a performance as I've seen this season. Had we demonstrated half of that during the first leg, we would have gone through. Had we had a bit of luck on our side yesterday, we would have gone through. But neither has happened.

And for the outcome of this encounter we only have ourselves to blame. We should learn how to demonstrate quality football for the entirety of the 180 minutes, not just after we've screwed up big time in the first leg and give ourselves a mountain to climb. I do not envy anyone who gets Monaco in the last eight, but I also don't think the Frenchmen will survive that round. They got one hell of a lucky bounce to survive even this one.

Finally, a couple of words on Ozil. He had a great game. Full stop. He didn't hide, he got the ball in dangerous positions, he dictated the tempo of the play with his passing and his ability to hold onto the ball when necessary. He didn't overcook it like Sanchez (who's knackered and clearly needs a rest) and, overall, he did everything in his power and really put himself into it. I specifically watched him the entire game and came to the simple conclusion that he's world-class and worth every penny paid for him.

Right, that's it. Back in a few days, as always.

Don't hang your heads

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Monaco preview: not mission impossible, but mission improbable

Three years ago Arsenal were pinned against Milan in the last 16. I remember this very vividly: we topped the group (for once) and this should have ensured we got an easier opponent. However, our luck was such that we didn't: we landed the worst draw possible. Thing is, Milan was in the same group as Barca and thus the Italians finished second. That's not to say they were pushovers, far from it: it was Milan in their prime. And we had to play them.

The first tie was horrible. We were rolled over at San Siro and even an in-form Van Persie and club legend Thierry Henry were unable to prevent the sound thrashing we were handed out. As some bloke scored a penalty to make it 4-0, I turned the game off, as I couldn't stand the humiliation any longer.

No one believed in us doing anything of note in the return leg. I was at the Maldives at the time the game was played. Naturally, I found a TV with a game on. And as the game kicked off the commentator put brilliantly what was to come in a nutshell: "It's not mission impossible for Arsenal, but mission improbable". We know what happened next: Arsenal almost qualified. Almost.

I'm not trying to get your hopes high, there's a reason why the last time someone overturned a two-goal home deficit happened in 1969. However, I am also not going to write Arsenal off completely. I've seen us beat Milan and Bayern and these games suggest we can turn our current tie around.

Team news update

We are still without Mathieu Debuchy, Mikel Arteta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, while I also don't think Jack Wilshere will be involved. Arsene was quick to downplay the Englishman's availability mid-week and this suggests we won't see Jack until after the international break. Wenger may just be protecting Wilsh from being called up to England's national team and, if so, it's completely fine with me. No point risking Jack in a meaningless friendly, he will be much-needed during the final push in the league and the cup.

Rosicky's involvement is also shrouded in mystery. The Czech was unexpectedly omitted from the squad right before our game at Old Trafford and didn't even make the bench five days later against West Ham. The only explanation I've seen is that Tomas is down with flu and I hope it really is the case. He can make an impact both from the start and as a sub, so fingers crossed the Czech is included in tomorrow's squad.

However, good news is that Gabriel is back and I think the manager will be tempted to play the Brazilian from the off . We'll most likely adopt a high pressing line tomorrow and Mertesacker is not the best man in this particular case.

With that sorted out, time to put together a squad.

Defense

Only Koscielny seems a guaranteed starter to me. Mertesacker may, or may not, be replaced by Gabriel (I hope it's the former), Bellerin's involvement depends on who will play ahead of him on the right, while the Gibbs/Monreal dilemma hinges on who will be the right-back on the night. I think Wenger won't try starting two romping full-backs again, that's part of the reason we were punished at the Emirates, so Gibbs should play with Chambers and Monreal with Bellerin.

My hunch tells me we'll see Bellerin, Gabriel and Monreal get the nod. Bellerin because it looked like he was being rested on Saturday. Gabriel because of the high pressing line and his ability to sweep up should Bellerin get caught up high upfield. Monreal both to balance the defense and due to his form. That should be it concerning the defensive line.

Midfield

I think Arsene will be highly reluctant to introduce any changes. Coquelin, Ramsey and Ozil did a brilliant job on West Ham. However, another consideration may come into play: our right flank. I'm almost certain Walcott won't start there:

1. Playing Bellerin and Theo at the same time is risky and will invite Monaco to attack down our right
2. Walcott probably won't have space to exploit. If Monaco sits back, we'll be forced to pass it around. This isn't Theo's game

As such we may either play Ozil on the right or Welbeck. Games against United and West Ham showed us Wenger is determined to play Cazorla centrally and so Ozil will have to play wide if Santi is on the pitch.

I'd probably opt to have an unchanged midfield and throw in Cazorla at some point if needs must.

Attack

Sanchez and Giroud have to start. I think I don't need to explain why.

This leaves us with a choice on the right wing to make. Personally, I'd prefer Welbeck there. He has the pace and is a more keen tracker of runners than Ozil. But I still won't exclude Ozil shifting to the right. We'll most likely have the job on our hands stretching Monaco's defense and so having as many capable passers of the ball as possible is not such a bad idea.

The verdict

This tie should never have come to this. We should have had an advantage going into the second leg, instead our light attitude and profligacy made the task at hand almost impossible. Almost.

If there are positives in our current predicament, it's that Monaco are now favourites. The pressure is on them to finish the job, not on us to qualify and this situation plays into our hands. We all know Arsenal can play exceptional football when there's nothing to lose.

Let's try maximising the benefits from this situation and then see what happens.

Come on you Gunners.

Back with a review.

Until then

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

Arsenal 3-0 West Ham: Wengerball at its finest

What a win. I'm still buzzing from the game. We took matters into our hands from the beginning, scored a 46th minute goal, soaked up a bit of pressure in the second half without allowing West Ham to create anything dangerous and then finished them off with the precision of a surgeon Ozil. Quality game from back to front.

I usually go over the performance as a whole in my review, but this evening I'm in the mood to try something different. It's most likely a one-off, like something I did here, so don't worry if it doesn't come off. It won't become a tradition.

Up to the point, though: instead of writing a usual review, I'll ramble a bit about every on-pitch player of ours and how he fared. Starting with

David Ospina

The Colombian regained his rightful place between the sticks after sitting out the FA Cup clash and this decision is both unsurprising and welcome. Luckily, Ospina had little work to do. Apart from that first half save from Nolan/Noble (couldn't bother to look up the name), the Colombian only had to take goal-kicks. I enjoyed this simple action immensely (as did he, I suspect), because every time Ospina cleared the ball the routine "Oooooospina" erupted from the stands. There was a heart-in-the-mouth moment when David went down after a collision with Sakho, only for the former to get up to Szczesny's frustration. Ospina's just playing with the Pole.

Calum Chambers

One thing I haven't taken into account when writing a preview is that Bellerin may need a rest. I was quick to forget the Spaniard in only 19 and so three games inside eight days may be one too many. Thankfully, Arsene didn't forget that and put on Chambers. He may also have done this as the Englishman's approach is more conservative and as such should compensate for Walcott's tendency to neglect his defensive duties.

And Chambers put in a shift. I think we started to forget a little bit just how good Calum is, this was a gentle reminder. Bar one or two moments in the first half (Jarvis cross stands out), he was solid and his delivery was such that Ramsey and Alexis really could have done better. Will give Arsene a selection headache ahead of the Monaco game.

Koscielny and Mertesacker

Their bromance is certainly much more touching than Reus and Goetze, to say nothing of The Twilight. Basically, any romance is better than The Twilight saga. The moment that demonstrates how nicely these two dovetail is when Kos blocked Sakho's path and Mert blocked the shot itself.

However, Koscielny deserves a special mention. I admire his nerves and his ability to cleverly distribute the ball even when under pressure. Kos the boss.

Monreal

Solid, good in the tackle and more cautious going forward this time. Will be remembered for a couple of good sliding tackles and that brilliant interception late in the second half (we were 1-0 at the point, unless I'm mistaken). Deserves a start against Monaco.

Coquelin

The usual bite in the tackle, threw his weight about, made some clever through-the-line passes and one magnificent cross to switch the play, while getting the ball to Danny. The sliding tackle in the 90th minute to cleanly get the ball sums him up. Warrior.

Ramsey

If there were any misgivings Cazorla is a better candidate for that deeper position, the Welshman firmly tilted the scales in his favour. A goal, an assist, 4 shots, 5 chances created, 3 tackles and 3 interceptions. Covered every bit of grass that was there to cover. Some reports suggests he walked on water after the game.

Ozil

Not long ago I was looking for one adjective to describe him and I found it: sublime. But I think another word, a noun, describes Ozil even better: a visionary. He didn't get an assist, but that first goal was of his making. Probably should have shot or squared it to Giroud late on, instead of trying to pick out Walcott, but what the hell. He's brilliant, if you can't admire him, you are dead inside.

Walcott

Not his best game. Missed three big chances. The first one still drives me up a wall. Theo looks a player low on confidence and motivation and this doesn't bode well for the future. Completely disappeared in the second half and was rightly taken off for Cazorla. It was Theo's chance to establish himself, he seems to have wasted it.

Alexis

Not his best game either, though he still could have scored twice. Both times was denied by brilliant saves from Adrian. Looked a bit jaded in the second half and came off for Welbeck. Hope the Chilean is firing on all cylinders come Tuesday.

Giroud

Splendid. A cracker of a shot for the first, a dummy and a one-two for the assist and a magnificent flick to Cazorla in the build-up for the third. The Frenchman now has 14 goals in 24 games, three less than Costa, but the Brazilian played in 32. He also has 11 league goals, just two or three less than Sanchez. Not bad for a "lamp post", a "tree" and an "average striker". Not bad at all.

Cazorla, Welbeck and Flamini

All contributed to the cause. The Spaniard bagged an assist, Welbeck was a live wire up and down the left flank (and was unlucky to have been denied a headed goal right at the death) and Flamini, well, scored. All the subs had a tangible impact. Santi will most likely be reinstated against Monaco, Welbeck should be too, in my opinion, while Flamini just came on to shore things up and allow Ozil a breather.

The aftermath

I'd like to stress once again that this was, above all, a team performance at the highest level. Though I've described each player, we all know how everyone's brilliant in a win and atrocious in a loss. Each player is only as good as the guy next to him, so going over individual performances was just another way of writing a post, rather than suggesting the game was made up of individual players and their actions. It was a collective effort and a most brilliant one at that.

This win cements our third place and allows us to move within one point of City (who have lost to Burnley). Now onto Monaco.

Back with a preview. In the meantime, enjoy our eight consecutive home wins and the goodies they bring.

Until later

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)

West Ham preview: need to keep the momentum going

Evening everyone.

It's West Ham at the Emirates tomorrow and this is our final league game before we face Monaco in the Champions League. A win is hugely important for two reasons: bar City, everyone else from the top 7 has a tough opponent and is likely to drop points and, secondly, we need to be in the mood when we don on our Champions League outfit come Tuesday.

Team news update

We just can't catch a break with injures. Flamini is back in the squad & Gabriel is due to return on Sunday, but Wilshere is still out, while Oxlade's hamstring strain will keep the Englishman sidelined for 3-4 weeks:

"It's a classic hamstring. That means he will be out for three weeks, four weeks maximum. He will not be available for England as well."

The England part also sheds some light on why Arsene seems keen to downplay Wilshere's availability. Either that, or Wilshere is slowly becoming Diaby. God forbid.

However, as we have Ramsey up and running, I'm much more concerned about Oxlade. The Ox was the first name on the teamsheet the whole first half of the season. At some point I even expressed concerns about his fatigue levels. And now he's in and out again, just when he produced a stunning display against United. Real shame.

"It's very frustrating for him because he played more games than ever this season. In the last two months I feel he was a bit in and out. He has shown again on Monday night what an important player he can be for Arsenal and for England. It's a shame that in the final sprint and he's not there."

I wonder whether that opens the door for Walcott. I intended to write an article on Theo's current predicament at Arsenal a couple of days back, but then I saw Tim Stillman's column and decided he said everything I wanted to say.

To me it looks like a make-or-break situation with Walcott. His strengths are obvious, but so are his shortcomings. He's not switched on defensively, most of the time. He likes to drift infield and effectively limits Bellerin's passing options. He prefers to play without the ball by making runs behind the opposition's defense, but finds space hard to come by when we face defensive-minded teams. He's not the strongest player or technically most gifted to get past defenders or out of tight spots. His passing (if it's present) is sometimes wayward and even when it's not, Theo is hardly an Ozil or a Cazorla.

And what exactly are his strengths? Pace and finishing, I'd say. He is also, despite the aforementioned tendency of his to drift inside, the closest thing we have to a winger. Ox is number one in that regard, Walcott probably comes second.

I really think Theo will have his work cut out between now and May to convince he's earned a new contract. With rumours afloat that Wenger will have 50 million to spend in the summer, we may well be on the lookout for a more complete winger. Sure, we still need a defensive midfielder (even if only an understudy to Coq) and the jury is out on our goalkeeping situation, but we can get both a goalie and a DM and have enough money left for a quality winger. Especially if we sell Podolski, Jenkinson and Walcott. Something to chew on.

Righto, onto our probable squad tomorrow.

Defense

Ospina will be back in goal, no doubt about that and I wouldn't be too surprised to see an unchanged defense. Monreal did brilliantly upon his return and doesn't deserve to be dropped in the slightest, while the only other change I can envisage is Chambers coming in for someone, but for whom? Mertesacker? Unlikely, both because the German had a good game and because it's too risky to play Chambo alongside Bellerin.

The only other option is removing Bellerin himself, but again I don't see why Arsene should do this. Bellerin is on form, he dovetails with Monreal nicely and, finally, rotation for the sake of rotation doesn't make any sense. Moving on.

Midfield

Here we have an interesting dilemma. I was quite certain Ramsey would start against United for a more balanced midfield, instead Cazorla did. Furthemore, when Oxlade strained his hammy, it was Ozil who was shunted on the right flank, not Cazorla and it hints at the manager's reluctance to remove the diminutive Spaniard from central midfield.

So I'd say there's only one chance for this happening: simple exhaustion. Cazorla has played a lot this season, he's definitely in the top three along with Sanchez and Mertesacker, so giving him a rest may not be completely off the cards tomorrow.

If he does play, however, then it may indirectly affect Walcott's chances. I'm pretty sure Coquelin, Ramsey and Ozil will start whatsoever and, as such, the German will play on the right flank. Walcott's flank.

Attack

And so it's a turning point for Walcott. If he plays, it will happen at the expense of Ramsey or Cazorla, maybe even Welbeck. If he cannot find his way into the team without Oxlade and is second to Ozil or Welbeck, both of whom aren't typical wingers, then it's time to say cheerio to Theo.

With Wenger hinting he'll make two-three changes I wonder whether Alexis will be given a rest. And it's also interesting to see who starts up front: Giroud or Welbeck.

Personally, I'd go with Giroud. He's just the better man for me. Aerial ability, hold-up play, distribution, physical qualities: you name it. He's better than Welbeck at CF and should play as such.

Tomorrow's front three is the most unpredictable part it seems. I'd like to think Wenger will go with Alexis-Giroud-Ozil, but I won't be hugely surprised to see Welbeck and Walcott come in for any of the three.

The verdict

A quick look at West Ham's results will show you they've won only twice in the league in three months. That, coupled with Carroll's and Valencia's unavailability and our good home record (overall and against West Ham), hints that anything less than three points will be an underachievement for Arsenal. However, Premier League is Premier League, no team can be taken for granted here, so let's just treat it as any other game. That means showing up, showing up with the right attitude and, basically, putting in a shift.

So come on you Gunners.

One last thing. Bellerin seems to have signed a new contract with the Club, one which will keep him here for the next four years and I'm personally very happy he did. The young Spaniard has progressed magnificently this year, he's our number one right-back at the moment of speaking and you feel there is still a lot to come from him. However, I think Bellerin's rise to prominence signals an end to Jenkinson's career at Arsenal and it's a very sad thing. Jenko is a Gunner at heart, seeing him part ways with the Club will be heart-breaking, but I just don't see where he fits in. Hope Arsene has a plan which includes the Englishman in it.

Until later

Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)