Hi folks, quick preview of our champions league fixture with Marseilles. The game comes on the heels of our fine win against Southampton on Saturday, so i would expect confidence and self-belief to be high . The visitors are already out of contention in the run up for qualification for the knock out stages in group F, but we will have to ensure they do not throw the spanner in the works of our chances to progress. Group F, the group of death hasn't disappointed thus far. All teams have given everything on match days,unfortunately for Marseilles they are the ones whose dreams currently lie on life support. They just have't been able to get going in this group and tonight we will have to be the ones to take the responsibility of easing them off the life support machine for a painless,peaceful demise. They will have nothing to lose as they file out against us at the Emirates, so expect them to play with a calmness and liberty that perhaps they lacked hitherto. No one will be expecting them to win the game so anything other than victory for Arsenal will be seen as a surprise.
The permutations of us finishing on equal footing in this group (12points) with Dortmund and Napoli has been making the rounds in the media and other platforms but i tend to believe it won't get to that. Qualifications lies squarely in our hands and if we successfully dispatch Marseilles Tonight, you have to fancy us to go through. This competition is so heavily dependent on experience, a trait we do not lack as seasoned campaigners so starting from picking three points against Marseilles, i see us picking up another point from Naples to close out the group as leaders. The team from the south coast of France come into this tie in good spirits after a convincing win away to Ajaccio. Pierre Gignac a one-time target of Arsenal scored a beauty as well as young starlet Thauvin to consign Ajaccio to a 3-1 defeat. The win moved them to fourth position in Ligue 1, and they may seek to re-enact an encore in North London. I watched the kid Thauvin at the just concluded Fifa U-21 world cup (won by France interestingly) and he looked really good in that tournament. Quick,skillful and clinical he will be one to watch as well as the stocky Gignac who on his day can be a handful.
With a crucial tie in the coming weekend against Cardiff approaching, you will be forgiven to expect a few rotations in the Arsenal squad in order to freshen up things. Could Vermaelen be drafted in, or Rosicky given a start? The Vermaelen question may prove more riskier considering how we've got our fingers burnt before by resting Per for no reason and pairing Vermaelen with Koscielny. Could Gnabry also feature? or Perhaps Walcott given a start. How about Monreal also getting a look-in and giving Gibbs a breather? Its great to have selection headaches (devoid of injuries) as this indicates a sense of competition for starting positions in the team but then the key word is Balance. One false move that disrupts the balance of the team can portend costly consequences. The manager knows this very well, so it will be interesting to see who gets the nod to start. It will be a difficult night for us if we let them score first and settle down quickly to any kind of rhythm. Therefore its imperative we give them the ''Napoli treatment'' blitz them early and finish the job without fuss. Qualification for the next round beckons, so lets go out there and see out this tie efficiently..
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