Arsenal draw 0-0 at Stamford Bridge
On Wednesday night Arsene Wenger and his men visited what hasn’t been the greatest of stadiums to play at for Arsenal previously, Stamford Bridge. After the embarrassing performance against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup, Wenger and the players knew they had to put in a solid performance and bring back a realistic aggregate score on the 24th at The Emirates.
Wenger made 5 changes from the 4-2 shocker at The City Ground with Mustafi, Wilshere, Lacazette, Bellerin and Xhaka coming into the side.
Arsenal started off quite comfortably, moving the ball around well, communicating, overall the passage of play from The Gunners was superb compared to recent performances.
Despite the tika-taka football, David Ospina was a busy man having saved Arsenal from conceding a few times.
The new VAR System was brought in to action a couple of times but fans thought it was annoying how it slowed the game down!
Arsenal’s defensive display began to fall apart a little bit in the second half, defenders were failing to clear their lines and couldn’t really get out of their own half!
Some of Chelsea’s biggest attacking threats such as Hazard, Morata and Moses were very quiet though. Skhodran Mustafi was the savior for Arsenal in some situations, the German led the line and was superb on the night.
And just like that, the game was finished! Antonio Conte was furious he was unable to beat Wenger for the 5th competitive game running! On the other hand, Arsene Wenger was delighted his side were able to bring back a suitable aggregate scorline. This is what the Frenchman had to say: “I thought we were very solid at the back and were able to play the ball up the pitch very well. We fought hard in the midfield and were able to keep our heads after our captain coming off with an injury (Jack Wilshere).”
My personal MOTM (Man of the Match): Shkodran Mustafi
Mustafi led the line superbly on the night, it’s a tough job to keep a clean sheet against The Champions when you have two 21-year-old inexperienced centre-backs alongside you (Rob Holding and Calum Chambers). The German put out a solid performance and was able to keep Morata quiet for the second time running. Who would you choose as your MOTM? Tweet us @ArsenalInsider as we would love to hear your opinion!
Star midfielder departs with The Gunners
If you’re a true Arsenal fan, you will surely be saddened to hear the Francis Coqeulin has departed with Arsenal and has gone to Valencia. Coquelin started his Arsenal career very early on when he made his move from Stade Lavallois to Arsenal in 2008.
Despite not scoring one goal in his entire Arsenal career, the Frencham contributed to a lot of important moments for The Gunners. He won two FA Cups with Arsenal and featured in both of the finals!
Coquelin didn’t really get off to the quickest of starts in his Arsenal career having been loaned out 3 times! We really saw how good he was when he was brought into the team in the 2014-15 season.
Francis was playing alongside the little magician Santi Cazorla and the two midfielders instantly connected with each other.
The fee for the transfer to Valencia was only £12million. In Francis’ first interview as a Valencia player, he was very emotional and paused on many occasions trying not to cry really.
Are you sad about the departure? Tweet @ArsenalInsider whether you think it is a good move for Coquelin and should we have sold someone else instead?
Arsenal vs AFC Bournemouth preview
Arsenal currently sit 6th in the Premier League, a win could potentially take them into 5th and above North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Bournemouth have made a very poor start to their Premier League campaign as they are 16th and only one point from the relegation zone!
This is a must win for both sides as they have both failed to pick up a win in 3 games.
It looks as though former Bournemouth loanee Jack Wilshere will not feature in the game as he picked up a slight ankle injury in the 0-0 draw against Chelsea on Wednesday.
My score prediction: AFC Bournemouth 0-2 Arsenal
I feel it will be completely different than last year’s Vitality Stadium visit! With Arsenal’s confidence coming of the back of a brilliant result at Stamford Bridge, and Bournemouth poor run of form, I think it will be a comfortable game for Arsene Wenger and his men!
Why not guess the scorers ay?
I’ll say the first goal for Arsenal will be from their record signing Alexandre Lacazette, despite a poor run of form having failed to score in 8 consecutive Premier League games, I think the Frenchman will be thirsty for a goal at last!
I think it’s only right if predict the second scorer to be Alexis Sanchez! It’s looking more and more likely for the Chilean to leave this January and what better way to leave with a goal hey?
Tweet @ArsenalInsider your score prediction!
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