Gunners take care of business in Europe with mix and match starting eleven

Arsenal 3 Bodo/Glimt 0
Europa League Group A - Matchday Three 
Thursday 6th October 2022 8pm   

Four weeks on, with the PSV home match having been postponed, Arsenal took the field for their second Europa League group game of the campaign with an identical starting eleven to the one that had won against Zurich. This meant that the three players retained from the weekend’s north London derby line-up were Gabriel, Xhaka and Martinelli. I’m not sure of the significance of all these players being on the left side of the team. What is certain is that the system doesn’t change, the players that come in perform in a similar fashion to the first choicers and that as a consequence, they should in theory be able to slot in when injuries occurs without disrupting the team. Granted, there can be a drop off in quality, and when you play eight of them at once, then the fluidity of the Premier League eleven is not such a given.

So Arsenal played in fits and starts, all the while looking good enough to ensure the three points. As discussed previously, winning this group means avoiding a two legged qualifying round to make the last 16, so there’s enough at stake to ensure that the approach to these matches is not too casual. We wait to see the strength of the line-ups when the team faces PSV, in theory, the main rivals for top spot. Nevertheless, Bodo had to be respected – they earned a draw in Eindhoven and had won their other group game. They were organized and made their hosts work hard to gain their first half lead. 

Eddie Nketiah put in plenty of effort, harrying down opposing defenders in possession and doing his best to create space with his movement. He was rewarded with the opening goal after Kieran Tierney’s shot cannoned back to him off the post. The side had to be patient. Although they’d largely dominated, Bodo frustrated them and the goal came halfway through the opening 45 minutes. Not long until the second though, as Rob Holding was in the right place to head in Vieira’s cross and score a rare goal. The centre back, no longer a real contender for the first eleven unless the injury situation gets desperate, had a very good game, demonstrating the passing ability that his manager wants to see. 

Throughout the rest of the side, players performed to varying degrees of their potential, but as expected, at times, it was a bit scrappy, especially in the second half until the introduction of three subs just before the hour mark ignited things a bit. A third goal made things safe near the death when Vieira scored a tap-in after some wonderful dribbling by sub Jesus, but Bodo, by that time, had fashioned some decent chances and could certainly have scored at least one. If they had made it 2-1, things might have turned out a big differently. 

Ultimately it was a case of job done, points in the bag, limiting the gametime of the first choicers – with the exception of Gabriel, who played the complete 90 minutes. The attendance was probably around the mid to high 40,000s – far healthier than Europa Group games pre-Covid, and a reflection of the buzz around the club at the moment. Arsenal have maximum points and a dry run for a tougher encounter in a week’s time when they travel to Norway to face the same opposition. Aside from that, it was a good run out for the players who need to be kept match-fit in case of requirement at the weekends. They will certainly get plenty of opportunity to get run-outs with the next five midweeks seeing the remaining four Europa League matches and the visit of Brighton in the League Cup. We wait to see who he selects from the Liverpool line-up to start in Norway, but a bit of me suspects it will be Xhaka and Gabriel again, with maybe Reiss Nelson instead of Martinelli. Other than that, it feels like the ‘second eleven’ – allowing for the injuries to Smith Rowe and Elneny – is fairly settled.

If Arsenal can beat Bodo away and PSV at home, you’d imagine they can secure first place with victory at home to FC Zurich in the final match on 3rd November. All the Premier League teams in Europe are playing a schedule with no breathing space until the break for the first (and surely last) winter World Cup. Arteta would be well-served by his fit players remaining free of injury, but that feels unlikely. It will be an interesting period, but the key is maintaining momentum, and winning games like last night, although not critical, does keep the spirits high. Sunday’s game will be a very different proposition, but this season, Gooners can be confident that their team will create more problems for Liverpool than in recent seasons. As for Bodo, job done, not the greatest performance, points in the bag, move on.

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