Arsenal v Middlesbrough Preview, Line-up and Score Prediction

On paper this looks like a very easy fixture to give Arsenal their eighth win in a row (and Boro’s sixth defeat in a row), but, as everyone says, there is no such thing as an easy game in the Premiership!

Even Arsene Wenger is trying to stop his players from being complacent when he told them: “All their games have been tight,” Le Prof said: “They have technically good players and it’s our third game in a week.

“They have Alvaro Negredo up front, Stewart Downing out wide and their main danger comes from crosses. They are one of the teams who score from crosses the most in the league because they can get on the end of things.

“They have plenty of players in the box. They also have Gaston Ramirez who is a good player, so I believe their danger comes from the people who can finish and get into the box.”

But, having said that, Arsenal are in a rich vein of form and managed to give a few players a rest against Ludgorets in midweek, which seemed necessary when after letting slip a nice lead and struggling to beat Swansea in the end last weekend.

I think that Wenger will be reverting to nearly the same team though, with the only changes being Francis Coquelin in for the banned Xhaka, and Elneny coming in for Santi Cazorla, although there is still a chance the Spaniard will play. I also have a feeling that Gibbs will be played at left-back as Monreal has looked out-of-sorts lately. Obviously Petr Cech will return between the posts.

So here is my predicted line-up….

Cech
Bellerin Koscielny Mustafi Gibbs
Elneny Coquelin
Walcott Ozil Iwobi
Alexis

Wenger has suggested that Iwobi could replace Cazorla and if that happens I think Oxlade-Chamberlain should be on the left wing, but I think that would be too much change from last weeks side.

So my prediction? Well, Middlesbrough may be on a long losing run, but they usually only just get beat, with Everton being the only side to beat them by more than one goal.

Arsenal are in tip top form though, and full of confidence, so I’m going for 3-0 to the Gunners. Fingers crossed!

Admin

Arsenal vs Middlesbrough: Preview and Prediction

Arsenal vs Middlesbrough
English Premier League.
Date: Saturday, 22nd October, 2016,
Kick-off at 15:00 UK
Venue: Emirates Stadium, London.

Arsene Wenger is sure to win the Premier League manager of the month award as Arsenal has been the best team with five wins out of five. They have simply been playing great football and the side are in a very confident mood. This was underlined in mid-week when they destroyed Ludogorets 6-0 in the Champions League at this stadium.

As per normal Wenger has his league and Champions League team so we should expect to see Petr Cech back in goal for David Ospina. Granit Xhaka will be suspended for this game after his sending off last week.

Middlesbrough couldn’t be any different to the Gunners where they have won just 1 game all season and haven’t tasted victory in their last five games which includes losing 4 of those. After 8 games they are already 13 points behind Arsenal.

Middlesbrough has actually performed better on the road than at home but it is still not a great record. They have collected just 2 points from their last 3 away games. The pressure is gradually mounting on Aitor Karanka in the fight to keep his side in the Premier League beyond the current season.

Arsenal vs Middlesbrough: Head-to-Head Stats

From 10 matches where Arsenal has been at home Boro have won 1 of them and that was at the old Highbury Stadium 12 years ago. The last two fixtures here have ended in the same result of 2-0. It has been a dominant win/draw record for the Gunners.

Arsenal v Middlesbrough: Prediction

Nothing less than a comfortable Arsenal victory is expected. The only quality side that Boro has faced this season away from home was Everton. And they conceded 3 goals in that encounter. With Arsene Wenger’s boys in fine form, we can expect more of the same from Ozil and co.