Match Preview: FC Twente v Arsenal (UEFA Champions League)
It’s worrying times already for Arsenal fans and the season hasn’t even kicked off yet! Tomorrow afternoon the Gunners’ kick off their Champions League campaign with a big-money qualifying game against Dutch side FC Twente. Arsene Wenger’s side are missing the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Abou Diaby, Kolo Toure and Samir Nasri with long-term injured Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo also out.
Steve McClaren must fancy his chances against Wenger’s men especially as Arsenal’s squad seems to be getting thinner and thinner by the week. The Gunners are not the only ones suffering problems of their own – Blaise Kufo – their top goal scorer from last season is suspended for the first leg, luckily for the Tukkers he’ll be back for the return game at Emirates.
FC Twente Team News
Former England boss McClaren will look to keep a compact defence while upfront McClaren has to decide whether to go for the lanky Marko Arnautovi, or the quick forward that is Romano Denneboom.
Theo Janssen is certainly one to look out for, the 27-year-old signed from Vitesse in the summer and could prove a serious danger to Arsenal’s weakened defence if the Gunners fail to stem Twente’s attacking threat.
Predicted Starting XI
Boschker
Wikshire – Douglas – Wielaert – Braafheid
Tiote – Janssen – Brama – Elia
Denneboom – Huysegems
Arsenal Team News
Arsenal are missing five major names and the long-term sidelined Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo as we said above.
It leaves Wenger relying on youngsters like Aaron Ramsey and Denilson to inspire his squad to a crucial victory in Holland.
Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Mark Randall make up an inexperienced bench while the trusted partnership of Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie is expected to continue upfront.
Predicted Starting XI
Almunia
Sagna – Djourou – Gallas – Clichy
Eboue – Denilson – Ramsey – Walcott
Adebayor – Van Persie
Match Prediction: FC Twente 1-2 Arsenal
Leave your predictions and views in the comments section below.
Don’t worry everybody we will make it and we will sign a new midfielder soon… You’re site looks great Chris well done mate!! I like the picture of your yard in the banner too 😉
We Need Jesus
Cesc Fabregas, Abou Diaby, Kolo Toure and Samir Nasri with long-term injured Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo Cesc Fabregas, Abou Diaby, ARE ALL OUT
Really Nice Site Goonerchris
Any News On That Defensive Midfiedler Where Looking For
How do put a picture on the side? i.e. the twente badge. Thanks
Cheers guys, the banner should be up soon as well as the team news on this article!
I believe Wenger’s looking at Inler, he really would fit in perfectly in my opinion.
GOONER CHRIS DO YOU HAVE A FACEBOOK OR MYSPACE
hey, nyc site, also congratz on getting the “www” instead of wordpress.
good to see that we are benefitting from wengers inability to find time to buy some players. what a muppet!!!!
I don’t think they’ll REALLY challenge us tomorrow. Think we’ll win quite easily.
Why on earth did wenger sell gilberto.?
Had he been with us he wuld have played in the central midfield along with denilson..He has the experience that we need at this time.
I think wenger made a mistake by selling gilberto
i thought toure would be fit*ish* after playing against ajax
This is a absolute joke!
All those players are injured. WTF. Wenger better buy some midfield replacements. And sharpess.
You don’t need Jesus. You just need to rid yourselves of this mad scientist in love with himself. You think the season is hard now? Wait till van Persie goes down and you are 12 points adrift of Spurs.
I think Wenger made a mistake on letting Diarra go.. That was quite a biggie.
he wanted gilberto to stay but allowed gilberto to decide
Gilberto wuld have stayed if we offered him a better longterm contract..
Haha people already panicking and falling back on the usual comments: Mistake to let Diarra go, Gilberto would have done well, etc etc. come on guys calm down we had a great pre-season with a lot of youngsters doing well. We will sign another midfielder and when we get Song back we’ll have a great squad to challange for the titles.
Keep the faith
I’m not panicking in the slightest, it would have been great for Diarra not to have gone. I think he’s really good.
moushin,
you are kidding yourself, this squad is simply not good enough, there will ALWAYS be injuries and the players coming in are not good enough. look at the squad list for tomorrow, completely 2nd rate. and a starting midfield of eboue, ramsey, denilson and walcott, NONE of them are top quality yet, surely that is the weakest midfield to play for us since wenger became manager.
no point discussing players who have left, the issue is players coming in, or the lack thereof.
this would probably be our strongest line-up due to the injuries.
my prediction
Almunia
Sagna Djourou Gallas Clichy
Ramsey Denilson
Eboue Walcott
Van Persie Adebayor
Subs:
Wilshire
Randall
Fabianski
Hoyte
Gibbs
Bendtner
Vela
So Dan what is your solution?!! I’d like to know what your masterplan is…
i really like wenger but the squad is really weak.if we put that midfield out against utd we would be annihilated.we need three or four players,including a keeper.over two legs we should still hammer twente though.
Fabregas is never fit to start against Twente even if he was fit. He lacks match fitness and the team has a better chance playing with players whom are already ‘warmed up’ through the pre-season.
Arsene is in trouble if the club doesn’t feature in CL’s group stage and he knows that.
Will Rajkovic play for Twente?
What do you lot think the score will be over the next 2 legs?
we just need to buy a defensive midfielder and a defender both at their peak 25-27 im sure well do well this season.
we have too many youngsters as backups, like ramsey 17 and playing in a crucial game this is not a good sign we need more depth.
Rajkovic won’t play unless their defence has any injuries.
The back four listed above have all started in pre-season games.
ahhh!! i can’t believe we have soo many injuries already, it’s a joke. without these injuries i think we have an okay squad (we have denilson, diaby, song, ramsey etc to play with cesc) but now injuries mean we will play with denilson and ramsey in midfield…this could either go very well or be a disaster with us unable to keep the ball just like against sevilla
I wish we’d kept Gilberto.
Would have saved us a lot of bother about buying another DM for this coming year and his experience would have come in very handy.
If we still had him the squad would be noticably stronger.
Whoever said Eboue should play as part of our strongest available squad tomorrow: What? The guy is embarrassing and more of a hinderance than a useful player. Even with all these injuries we do have Vela. No need to hand the opposition our RM you know.
the plan was never that complicated at least one (preferably 2 but that will never happen) quality centre midfielders and a big strong centre back. everyone knows it!!!!
he won’t play vela, get used to eboue like last year he will play every game, as rosicky will always be injured and nasri and walcott will be switched around. eboue is here to saty and that just completely and utterly sums it up!!!!
Chris, I think with Denilson we’ll be able to keep the ball better than against Sevilla and Twente are a much poorer side than Sevilla in terms of attacking options.
I’m sure Wenger will buy a DM (probably Inler), especially now.
Djourou’s already gonna have more competitive playing time for us by the end of tomorrow than he did for the whole of last season, hopefully he can try and push on and go for a first team spot.
If you look at our midfield though, you have Theo, a regular substitue last season, Ramsey who’s never played a PL game, Denilson who’s played 23 league games (most as a sub) and Eboue who…well it’s Eboue. This just screams at Wenger to buy a CM and I’m sure he will.
I Like What YOu have done to the site Gooner+Chris Good Job Mate.
Oh My Oh My The season hasn’t Even Started and we have already been Hit with Enjuries, I hate to Say this Really But Really Its Just something Still Missing i don’t know Maybe its Just me But something is … I Like wenger and i really do think he is one of the best coaches in The world and i Doubt if there is any Manger in the EPL could do sooo well given The budget Arsene Wenger Has, But i still think really Our Squad is abit Slim, and I Totally Understand whats going on , i mean the club Has to spend on Players and Pay some Debt Every Year To Cover the 300 mil we Owe, But i Have to say we Really Really Really Need to Win something This Year Just to Keep the Players around and keep them going Otherwise we’d lose them then we will have to start Again which is not the best Opetion, I Really Never wanna to Say what i have Just said but i Just felt like getting it out Just to feel Better and I am Backing The mighy Gooners Whatever Happens, I sincerely Love the Club i know maybe i shouldn’t be saying this but I Really do and It kills me when i see Everything is Going against Us.
Anyway I Think The lads Shouldn’t Underestimate Twente But Im sure We will Do a Good Job, Up The Gooners
P.s Sorry If i Said anything outta Place guys. Cheers
I agree FD, Denilson is a class act and someone who will have to play a big part in the upcoming season for us.
We do need someone like Inler though, hopefully, Wenger will get him soon.
Banner coming up later tonight, links will also be added on the sidebar and the comments section will change as well!
Thanks everyone!
Hopefully I’m wrong but didn’t Djourou go off injured against sevilla. Something to do with his knee. Hope hes not though ’cause i prefer him to gallas and senderos anyway. Djourou seems to be our most well rounded defender. Big, strong, athletic, quick and he can read the game fairly well.
Only ever herd of Huysegems and Braafield so hopefully we cruise past them into the groups.
Concerning times, we really need a solid experianced midfielder guys & quickly.
If pre-season is anything to go by, perhaps little Jack should start as he has been solid & we need more weight to our midfield.
We should get through FC20 but as a lifelong Gooner why the fuck havent we dug deep & spent the money on a quality midfielder??
Not good enough, what do you think??? 60k people every week is a lot of transfer money??
Chris, you starting to hit the big time ? Looks like an expensive face lift on the website
Nasri isn’t playing?
New comments section up and running!
Oh sick! This sites great Chris. When everyone gets back from injury we will be good. Don't think the game will challenege us that much and we will win with not many problems.
Djourou Put In Some Solid Performances In Pre-Season, And He'll Know That This Is His Chance To Prove That He Can Become A First Team Regular.
Denilson And Ramsey Is What I'm Worried About. Neither Seem To Have That Cutting Edge In My Opinion.
Eboue And Walcott Should Run Them Senseless Though.
2-0 Arsenal- V.Persie, Adebayor.
i think the back four should be okay, im just worried about the midfield pairing of ramsey and denilson, they might not be able to keep the possession that we need. Eboue is…well just eboue but otherwise good especially RVP and Ade who will be good
Are you going to be adding a forum to your site?
Nope, just the blog!
Great new look Chris. anyway, i thought Djourou was injured.Didn't he injure his knee against Sevilla. Hope im wrong though.
Oh god I'm very worried over this game……this just shows that we have one depth at all with injuries!!! Need to bulk up our midfield and fast!!! Love the new layout!!
one depth = no depth…woops
wenger is a idiot because of his slow movement in the transfer window we are now short of players
what Ive seen of Ramsey saw far i must say i'm not impressed
Cheers Stu!
and thanks Alf, I agree, we need some midfield reinforcements sharpish.
for anyone who wenger is an idiot is an idiot themselves for thinking that a player bought anytime recently could just be slotted in to the starting XI.
Arsene is a quality manager and should be able to motivate his players to do well without Cesc. A few things should be noted Arsene owns McLaren. McLaren is coaching a team he's been in charge of for a few months? Coach that led team to “glory” left for Bundesliga? Too many things have to go wrong for the Gunners to lose this one.
FC Twente1-3 Arsenal
*for anyone who thinks wenger is any idiot
God help Us
RICKY stop licking ass u ass hole some times are manager can be a complete clown and its about time u stupid gooners start to realise that
if any of u gooners think Ramsey is ready for this type of game well ur just stupid
Well said Ricky. Totally agree with your points.