Win Europa League: Arsenal 1 - 0 PSV Eindhoven | Thursday 20th, October | KO: 18:00 BST | BT Sport

We need to rest all our starters barring Xhaka. Some of our players are approaching the red zone.

Prediction

Arsenal 2-0 PSV

 

[KrissKringle]

Yeah but we knew he needed to be more clinical when we signed him and it hasn't magically happened yet.

Goal conversion of Premier League Top Scorers:

38% - Haaland (15 goals)
37%
36% - Trossard (5)
35% - Foden (6)
34%
33% - Firmino (6), Daka (3)
32%
31% - Kane (9), Almiron (5), Mac Allister (4)
30% - Toney (8), Gross (3)
29%
28% - Zaha (5)
27%
26% - Maddison (5)
25% - Moreno (4), Sterling (3)
24% - Saka (4)
23% - Diaz (3), Ødegaard (3)
22% - Mitrovic (8)
21% - Martinelli (4), Rashford (3)
20% - Jesus (5), Wilson (3)
19%
18%
17%
16%
15%
14% - Heung-Min (3)
13% - Nunez (3)
12% - Salah (3)

Our guys all below average in converting shots to goal unfortunately. It'll continue to be a problem.

I'd take Trossard or Toney! Toni! Toné! from that list and they would be realistic targets that wouldn't really break the bank. They're both hard working players that get the job done up front.

​

 

[drippin]

Yeah but we knew he needed to be more clinical when we signed him and it hasn't magically happened yet.

Goal conversion of Premier League Top Scorers:

38% - Haaland (15 goals)
37%
36% - Trossard (5)
35% - Foden (6)
34%
33% - Firmino (6), Daka (3)
32%
31% - Kane (9), Almiron (5), Mac Allister (4)
30% - Toney (8), Gross (3)
29%
28% - Zaha (5)
27%
26% - Maddison (5)
25% - Moreno (4), Sterling (3)
24% - Saka (4)
23% - Diaz (3), Ødegaard (3)
22% - Mitrovic (8)
21% - Martinelli (4), Rashford (3)
20% - Jesus (5), Wilson (3)
19%
18%
17%
16%
15%
14% - Heung-Min (3)
13% - Nunez (3)
12% - Salah (3)

Our guys all below average in converting shots to goal unfortunately. It'll continue to be a problem.

What's funny is that actually Arsenal is very well represented in there this season. Four players, only Liverpool has that many and they have Nunez & Salah at 12-13% plus Diaz at 23%. While Firmino is on some crazy purple patch.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

So I just watched the extended highlights and we clearly dominated them, but our finishing was atrocious. Jesus and Saka looked really lively and did everything except put it in the net.

@Yousif Arsenal you might want to lower your expectations for Jesus because the lad isn't the best finisher out there. I don't see him scoring 20 goals in the PL this season.

Maybe 20 in all competitions, but in the PL I don't see him scoring more than 12-15 given how much he shoots at the goalkeeper whenever he's in front of goal.

I think he can achieve 20 league goals it's not very difficult if he stays fit.

 

[Tom Mix]

Yeah but we knew he needed to be more clinical when we signed him and it hasn't magically happened yet.

Goal conversion of Premier League Top Scorers:

38% - Haaland (15 goals)
37%
36% - Trossard (5)
35% - Foden (6)
34%
33% - Firmino (6), Daka (3)
32%
31% - Kane (9), Almiron (5), Mac Allister (4)
30% - Toney (8), Gross (3)
29%
28% - Zaha (5)
27%
26% - Maddison (5)
25% - Moreno (4), Sterling (3)
24% - Saka (4)
23% - Diaz (3), Ødegaard (3)
22% - Mitrovic (8)
21% - Martinelli (4), Rashford (3)
20% - Jesus (5), Wilson (3)
19%
18%
17%
16%
15%
14% - Heung-Min (3)
13% - Nunez (3)
12% - Salah (3)

Our guys all below average in converting shots to goal unfortunately. It'll continue to be a problem.

These statistics are very selective. They omit to mention Holding has a 100% conversion rate.

 

[boxerumble]

1-0 Good game, good result no injuries.

All we need is one point from our remaining two games to top the group.

might as well go for the win in both to sweep the group.

has that ever been done before by arsenal in a european group stage?

 

[Riou]

I doubt he even thinks about Arsenal more than a couple of times a year.

He spent his whole career feeling inferior to Thierry, so I reckon he does hate us.

 

[BergMan]

I must correct myself, a point away to psv allows us to to the group.

 

[bergholt]

What's funny is that actually Arsenal is very well represented in there this season. Four players, only Liverpool has that many and they have Nunez & Salah at 12-13% plus Diaz at 23%. While Firmino is on some crazy purple patch.

Do we have four players in that list? Did I miss highlighting one?

 

[DJ_Markstar]

A-M told me this Gakpo lad was the best thing since sliced bread and much better looking than @Riou , but I was much more impressed by that rastafarian Spanish lad, thought he was their best player by quite a distance and has far better hair than 90% of A-M tbh. Also only 19, so much younger than Gakpo.

 

[Mohamed7]

Exactly. I knew the answer but the poster seemed to think that if we won tonight and PSV won in Holland it would go to head to head or something. Which was obviously incorrect and a win against Zurich would see us top.

My bad. For some reason, I thought PSV were on 9 points like us even I knew they drew with Bodo in Holland - This skipped my mind at the time of posting.

Anyhow, my predicted line up was almost spot on. Only Saka in for Marquinhos.

Should not have really risked Saka. At least we can play very weaken team in Holland and against Zurich.

 

[Rasmi]

Partey is very important for us . Just look at his passes and his vision and we can see how worse Lokonga is. Partey doesn't need to run too much and he is very calm on the ball

The pass at 0.52 is why I love Partey. He does those type of passes and just open the whole play up. 1.05 is another example

 

[bastun]

The pass at 0.52 is why I love Partey. He does those type of passes and just open the whole play up. 1.05 is another example

Thats why Lokonga will never be a good Partey backup. Although we know he has a good pass , he will never attempt such passes in the game. If Lokonga is on Parteys place in these two situations , he will most likely pass the ball back to defence or to the nearest player to the side. We were lacking this all game so Arteta had no choice but to bring in Thomas. We desparetely need a good backup DM and one who will eventually be a starter.

 

[HollandGooner]

The pass at 0.52 is why I love Partey. He does those type of passes and just open the whole play up. 1.05 is another example

Yes and we are having a real problem if Lokonga starts who just walks around the pitch doing nothing not his fault though that he isnt good enough.

 

[SA Gunner]

You asked your own question, decent pass, everything else is poor. I guess I won this @SA Gunner ... Wasn't an agenda, just football knowledge.

Dont think you've won yet to be honest.

We were calling TP5 a waste of a buy not too long a go, so lets see how Sambi's game develops.

 

[GoonerBoy19]

We were in total control, but need better composure in the box. Nketiah was trying too hard so was Jesus hence they missed a few half chances. PSV goalkeeper didn't do anything outstanding, most of our shots at him were very timid except the Xhaka finish.

I do not like Sambi in that role, our midfield gets bypassed easily with him in the middle. He either needs a loan or move him on and improve the squad with a better player.

 

[14Henry]

My bad. For some reason, I thought PSV were on 9 points like us even I knew they drew with Bodo in Holland - This skipped my mind at the time of posting.

Anyhow, my predicted line up was almost spot on. Only Saka in for Marquinhos.

Should not have really risked Saka. At least we can play very weaken team in Holland and against Zurich.

We didn't have a choice. PSV are a decent side. We got the win.

Now we have 2 options. Bring our first time to PSV to try not to lose a difficult game, or send the fringe players and hope they sneak a draw knowing that if they don't we can comfortably beat Zurich at home with our normal EL team.

Personally that's what I would do. Give Xhaka and the first team a full weeks rest after Soton, and take it from there. Psv may not even beat Bodo so we wouldn't even need to beat Zurich, but we will.

 

[The_Playmaker]

This isn't fifa. You don't just play your second string to rest your first team. Arteta is handling it well.

There is no second team and first team. There is competition. Everyone is on board. You can see they are a tight group. With Champions League we will be playing our strong team in midweek so players need to get used to the load.

We operated under 50 percent yesterday. We didn't get out of second gear. I bet our running stats were incredibly low. We managed the game very well.

Also on Partey, there is no direct replacement for him. We can't buy someone to perform the same role as him. Its impossible.

 

[ArsenesCoatMaker]

Yeah but we knew he needed to be more clinical when we signed him and it hasn't magically happened yet.

Goal conversion of Premier League Top Scorers:

38% - Haaland (15 goals)
37%
36% - Trossard (5)
35% - Foden (6)
34%
33% - Firmino (6), Daka (3)
32%
31% - Kane (9), Almiron (5), Mac Allister (4)
30% - Toney (8), Gross (3)
29%
28% - Zaha (5)
27%
26% - Maddison (5)
25% - Moreno (4), Sterling (3)
24% - Saka (4)
23% - Diaz (3), Ødegaard (3)
22% - Mitrovic (8)
21% - Martinelli (4), Rashford (3)
20% - Jesus (5), Wilson (3)
19%
18%
17%
16%
15%
14% - Heung-Min (3)
13% - Nunez (3)
12% - Salah (3)

Our guys all below average in converting shots to goal unfortunately. It'll continue to be a problem.

20% is generally pretty clinical. RVP was on less than that for his peak seasons. Although in turn he took quite allot of shots from outside the penalty area

I'd expect those players on higher conversion rates to drop off and revert closer to 20% as the season continues.

 

[Nunowoolmez]

3 points, another 1 nil to the Arsenal. All good. Onto the next.

We should be playing to win in Holland & I suspect it might be a tougher game away.

 

[14Henry]

This isn't fifa. You don't just play your second string to rest your first team. Arteta is handling it well.

There is no second team and first team. There is competition. Everyone is on board. You can see they are a tight group. With Champions League we will be playing our strong team in midweek so players need to get used to the load.

We operated under 50 percent yesterday. We didn't get out of second gear. I bet our running stats were incredibly low. We managed the game very well.

Also on Partey, there is no direct replacement for him. We can't buy someone to perform the same role as him. Its impossible.

If Partey is such a unique football, based on what you've said about finding someone who can do a similar job, is it really wise building our entire system and style of play that relies so heavily on a player who has only been fit to play about 50-60% of possible matches since he joined?

Also you are right it isn't fifa. You can't just play match after match with players at 100%. At some stage the toll will tell.

If we have an opportunity to give players like Saka and Xhaka a rest for 5-6 days, while reaching our goals we should be doing that. We haven't got a huge squad like City or even Liverpool when everyone's fit. We have to manage the squad correctly. Which means taking a hit on a result that isn't extremely important to help our chance in another game where the result is important.