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Preview: West Brom v Arsenal, Team News, Line-Up & Prediction

By on November 20, 2015
Laurent-Koscielny arsenal

Image credit: Express

Premier League football finally returns as we head to the Hawthorns to take on West Bromwich Albion on Saturday afternoon.

This game starts a run of very winnable fixtures for us and we simply have to take advantage by beating West Brom, Norwich, Sunderland and Aston Villa over the coming weeks before we take on Man City in late December.

Victory tomorrow would see us move top of the Premier League table and open a three point gap on City which should really put the pressure on them ahead of their clash with Liverpool on Saturday night.

But we know it’s not going to be a straightforward game as West Brom are a well organised unit and Tony Pulis always has his team’s right up for it against Arsenal, so it’s no wonder Arsene Wenger is expecting a full-blooded match tomorrow.

Team News

Bellerin is back in contention after recovering from a groin injury that saw him miss our last two games before the international break.

The boss has confirmed he’ll talk with Koscielny to assess his state of mind after he was deeply affected by the terror attacks in Paris last week, but I’d be shocked if the defender wasn’t in the starting eleven tomorrow.

Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlain are still unavailable so they join Walcott, Wilshere, Rosicky and Welbeck on the sidelines meaning we have limited options in attack.

Sanchez and Campbell returned back late from their trips to South America so both are likely to be assessed before the game.

Preferred line-up

Many think Bellerin will go straight back in at right-back and they may be right, but I’d prefer to see the Spaniard deployed in a more advanced role. Campbell has done well enough on the right-wing but this is going to be a tough away game so I’d stick Bellerin in front of Debuchy to give us a more solid foundation down that side.

Otherwise the team pretty much picks itself:

Prediction

West Brom have the joint lowest goal-scoring record in the league but they have a reasonable defence too having conceded 16 goals in 12 games so far, so I don’t think we’ll see a lot of goals flying about tomorrow. However, I’m going to back the boys to edge it 1-0 and bring home the three points. West Brom 0-1 Arsenal

COYG!!!

One Comment

  1. Fatboy gooney

    November 20, 2015 at 9:45 pm

    The previous two meetings at the Hawthorns have finished 1 nil to the Arsenal… is that why you picked that score line?

    I read that Jeff will be included in the squad for this game, anyways, if Bellerin plays on the RW I think we will win by more goals… 3-0

    I really do believe that Bellerin could be as good as Bale, if handled correctly!