So what exactly are Arsenal dealing with on Tuesday night?
Sevilla have won the UEFA Cup twice in the last two years and finished in fifth in La Liga. They also won the 2007 Copa del Rey beating Getafe.
However, that was under Ramos. With him gone, they are having quite a wobble.
They’ve lost 7 out of 12 games in La Liga, and drawn none, suggesting a team with brittle confidence and no fightback. When it goes wrong for them, that’s it. (Arsenal proved as much at the Emirates.)
They’ve let in a hefty 19 goals too and are currently in 10th place. But they are also the fifth highest scorers with Kanoute the main man with 12 goals in all competitions, suggesting that when it goes right, it goes right big time.
But Kanoute is not confirmed for Tuesday, so Arsenal really have a good chance to get a draw, or even nick a win.
There is no way Seville can parco el bus, which should give us a few chances to hit them on the break. The key is whether Wenger goes for the dreaded negative version of 4-5-1, which almost undid us against Villareal, or picks something more aggressive. With Flamini out, he could stick Bert in front of the back four, and let the fullbacks attack on the flanks to avoid all that European midfield congestion.
All things considered, I think a draw is the least we can expect. With some tactical nous, and dynamism, we could score an early goal and knock the stuffing out of them.
Over to you tacticians…
56 Responses to “Sevilla Matchday 5 Preview”
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November 26th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
I thinks the first defeat is on the cards. Wenger said that he will field a similar team to the one that played in Prague, and I can’t see us winning away at Sevilla.
I think Wenger will go with this line-up
—————–Almunia—————-
Hoyte–Kolo–Senderos–Traore
Eboue–Cesc–Gilberto–Rosicky
——-Bendtner–Dudu——
November 26th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
I see us winning this match. It will be a close game.
1-0 to Arsenal with Bentner getting a goal for us.
November 26th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
i would rather we sent out our full carling squad and lost our 2 remaining CL games but won all 3 of our next PL games than to qualify as first but drop points in the PL.
i think we have a better chance if we meet Madrid and Barca early. Fabregas and Hleb in their present state will DAMAGE such teams. A European hotshot with a sense of entitlement against us will suffer heartbreak big time.
However a small pesky combative team like Fenerbache, Lyon, could easily go all “PSV” on us.
November 26th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Our team looks set to shape up better than anticipated. Will be interesting to see if Rosicky starts and whether he will get injured during or after the game. Hopefully his new insoles are doing the business.
I can see us winning this game as well as losing it. It will be open and Seville will give us space as they try to rectify the Emirates defeat.
Would like to see Lehmann get a game.
November 26th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
The shockings news of the season - SAF get charged by FA…… finally.
I thought I would never live to see this day.
November 26th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
@#5: I can see us winning this game as well as losing it. Come on Mazza
.. which one is it gonna be ….???
November 26th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
@#6:Andez: You want to bet that charges will be dropped against him ? I wouldnt be surprised at all.
Anyway thnx MacMac 4 the preview…its been a long day at work and didnt feel like submitting a preview at 11:30 in the night
Nah dont think we’ll lose this..somehow. We always have a chance against a team which plays football and kicks less and Sevilla are very close to what we play in terms of football. Without talking too much I expect another wholesale rhythm dropping squad by AW but with Cesc and Rosicky both playing I think we’ll nick this or get a draw at least…
Here’s what I think AW will put out:
Almunia
Hoyte Toure Sendy Traore
Denilson Diarra Cesc Mozart
Bendtner Theo
Theo might go wide right with Eduardo up front and Denilson to the bench ; but that apart I can’t see anything else coming up.
November 26th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Not to start another conflagration but I would like to see Diarra pair up with Cesc in midfield and Eboue or Theo wide on the right. Reason for that is to get better sense of Diarra’s abilities. If Denilson starts, whether on right or in middle, I don’t believe it’s a fair test for Diarra as midfielder and, more likely than not, offensive effort will suffer greatly.
November 26th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
No let’s start another conflagration. I just spend the weekend fleeing the latest fire in Malibu, so I’m getting used to full-time heat.
Meanwhile, my apologies, Kanoute is available for Tuesday, and he scored on Saturday.
I can’t see Wenger sending out a Prague-level team.
November 26th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Squad latest:
Gael Clichy, Emmanuel Adebayor and William Gallas all stay in North London for the trip to Spain, but Mathieu Flamini, Gilberto and Cesc Fabregas are back after missing Saturday’s victory over Wigan.
Gilberto for CB? Senderos on a stretcher at CB? Alex Song… Yikes.
November 26th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Gilberto won’t play CB again unless he absolutely has to. I’m expecting him to partner Cesc in midfield as Diarra’s played a lot of football in the past ten days. With Flamini not fully fit and Gilberto being rested on Saturday then it’s a safe bet. Also with Senderos needing a game, I’d expect Senderos to play. You just simply never know with Wenger anymore.
We have the quality to get a result and that should be all we need. If we get a draw and a win on matchday 6 then we win the group. Like I said earlier, I just don’t want for us to have to play a top team in the knock-out phase with Kolo and Eboue in Africa. Just don’t fancy Senderos in a foot race against Henry.
November 26th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
I don’t want the lads to loose any game, and winning every game in every competition would be, well unbelievable.
That said, if Arsenal were to face their first loss this one would probably be the easiest one to take. Winning the EPL means a great deal to me with the CL being the icing on the cake. The CL is a cup race but the EPL is a true sign of the quality of this team.
macmac I hope you didn’t loose anything in those fires. It must just be horrible to face those types of anxieties and still have to live in L.A. - too many cars. I’m Dutch so I’d much prefer to ride my bike.
November 26th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
@ joshuad: relax, the CL group stage does not start till end of february and the african cup would have ended by then.
if i remember right, toure was at the cup in 2006, and he did not miss the madrid games. and ivory coast reached the finals……so relax!
besides senderos didnt do thaaat bad when in a foot race with robinho and ronaldo. in europe speed is not that relevant.
besides barcelona are not really as good as they were 2 years ago….and even then we would have beat them 11 vs 11.
milan is stewing in mediocrity and have an aged team.
madrid simply does not scare me.
who else is out there? inter? nah!
finishing first or second is irrelevant when it comes to arsenal. smaller combative teams are more likely to beat us than the likes of ac milan or barca.
November 26th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
I actually would like to see Fabianski get a start…..certainly if not tomorrow, for the last couple of group stage matches.
Almunia
Hoyte Kolo Sendy Traore
Eboue Cesc Gilberto Rosicky
Bendtner Eduardo
November 26th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
I think Bendtner is real important for us, we have to keep him, he has impressed me in the last game. I hope he stays. Walcott is O.K. but not sure if I would keep him over Bendtner.
November 26th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
I feel a draw at Sevilla probably 1-1 (Kanoute and Cesc). I too am more worried about the next few premeirship games rather than the CL draw. I think our style of play makes us a tough match for anyone in the CL, and I think the squad has matured enough to where we will not have another PSV moment like last season.
November 26th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
@ Fred
The thinig about the ANC that scares me is the opprotunity for Ade and Toure to pick up an injury.
@ Biggun
I also would like to see Fabio get some time in some of these matches. I am curious to see where he is at this stage.
November 26th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
GOONERS, ENJOY :))))))))
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LKJ_zCHLoKU
http://youtube.com/watch?v=P2rLFnQWqUw
November 26th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Impossible to call as Wenger has put out a stronger squad than I expected. Still, Arsenal are through and Sevilla still need a point or two, so you would think that gives them the edge.
With Gallas rested and Clichy out injured I think they’ll probably be able to exploit our defensive weaknesses - but then their form is so erratic you never know we could get a draw.
2-1 to Sevilla, last minute winner.
November 26th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
@netminder
Adebayor isn’t going to ANC, Togo didn’t make it. Eboue and Toure are going.
November 26th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
I think we might lose this match, but my hope is for a late Fabregas winner, 0-1 us.
The bigger question has and will be for me…when is Almunia going to really really cost us? Does he cost us against Sevilla in a less meaningful game, or does he gaff against ManU, Liverpool, or the surging Chelsea? Does he screw up in Jan when Toure isn’t there to save him? He still scares me.
Come on you Gunners!
November 26th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Bendtner is starting against Seville, and probably Traore replacing Clichy.
November 26th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
yeah almunia scares me. i guess i wont trust him till after a season`s worth of games.
the sevilla game is a nothing game IMO.
November 26th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
Good point Fred made of CL opponents, they don’t play the speedy game like EPL teams do. So Senderos’ lack of pace won’t matter much, afterall, didn’t he part of the back 4 that got us to CL final few years back?
Frankly, I don’t worry much whether we finish 1st or 2nd in the group neither. Our record showed we might have a tougher time against the so-called “smaller sides” than the “big name clubs”.
With Real, Barca, Juve the likes, they will play football, they will come out and attack. That probably suit us more with more open space for our attack to explore.
I wouldnt want to play against the Scottish sides Rangers or Celtic. They had proved that they could squeeze out result against the big guns in Europe, particular when they are at home, their fans’ passion can be an useful 12nd man for them. And they are physically aggressive. We may have a tougher time taking on them.
heard that Cesc will be travelling with the squad. I hope he won’t start. No point risking him in a game like this. If he picks up an injury (touch wood), then 1st place finish or 2nd place would not be matter much.
November 27th, 2007 at 12:56 am
Difficult to say which way the game will go with so many changes. I hope Cesc plays otherwise, I think we will see a repeat of the Prague game where we created one chance in 90 min.
November 27th, 2007 at 2:38 am
Sevilla will attack throughout the game - Arsenal will sting them on counters, but will play passive otherwise.
1-1
November 27th, 2007 at 3:23 am
dont think so nipuna. let’s not forget the fact Prague played an extremely defensive tactic, and it’s a rainy night made it more difficult for a passing team like us to get things going.
Seville on the other hand, in front of their home crowd, will come out and attack. That will leave us more space to explore, with or without Cesc.
we just have to look at the Wigan match, basically they only started to come out their own half after they conceded the first goal. And as soon as they came out and attack, immediately we hit them with another goal.
that’s why i always believe in an open game, we can beat everybody. Even the Man Utd match, they spent the majority of the match sitting back in their own half. Teams now all know how dangerous we can be if they try to play an open game with us.
November 27th, 2007 at 4:01 am
The point is that Cesc, along with Hleb and Rosicky, are the major creative forces in the side. Teams have tried to stop us playing but with all three in the side, there’s simply been too much guile. But when they’re all out of the team along with van Persie, it becomes very difficult for us to get goals as our best creators and finisher are missing.
November 27th, 2007 at 4:30 am
Andez, Wigan played defensive and so did Prague. The difference? Even though we scored late against Wigan, we had chances before. In the Prague game, we created one chance in the 85th min or so. Like Josh says, without our 3 creative midfielders, we just don’t create chances. It doesn’t matter if the opposition attacks or not. I prefer Cesc plays and Rosicky is rested than the other way round.
November 27th, 2007 at 5:05 am
The fact that Cesc, Hleb and Rosicky are the major creative forces in the side is exactly why we should rest them all and give someone else a chance in a game we can afford to lose.
When AW sold Henry, one of the reasons was he hoped the team would grow without over-relying on one key player. And we did.
Yet the way things going we seem to rely more and more on Fabregas or Hleb. That is not a healthy situation. The last thing we want is to turn a full circule and back to where we were.
A true title contender must be able to deal with key players missing. When Man Utd rest Ronaldo, and with Rooney injuried, all a sudden they struggled. While we somehow pulled off a win over Wigan despite the absence of Cesc, Hleb and van Persie.
That is very important in a long run. Cos the finge players like Diaby, Denilson and Diarra are not getting enough games. We don’t want to break a winning formula to rotate them around with the starters. So we have to give them every chance we could possibly find.
Against Seville is a match not as significant as a league match. If we look at December’s schedule, it’s packed. Frankly, I would rather to rest Fabregas and Rosicky in the Sevilla match then against Newcastle, Everton the likes away.
November 27th, 2007 at 5:38 am
I think it ideal for players to play once a week. For instance, Cesc played 45 minutes last week so is due a game. Gilberto hasn’t played in about a week. Flamini really needs a game as he hasn’t really played since before the intl. break. Senderos, Song, and Hoyte also need games.
But players like Diarra and Toure have played three full games in the past ten days and could use a break. I also think Wenger should play Lehmann tonight.
November 27th, 2007 at 5:39 am
BTW, isn’t it matchday 5 today?
November 27th, 2007 at 6:36 am
It is a game we can “afford” to lose but would “prefer” not to. That’s my view.
I think the view that we will fare better against the top teams is based largely on the one season of 05-06. In other seasons, we have crashed against the top teams - Valencia (twice), Bayern Munich and Chelsea. The only knockout game I remember us winning was against Celta Vigo (a smaller team).
So I have to question why we don’t want to get first place.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:37 am
Yep, it’s matchday 5 :))))
November 27th, 2007 at 7:24 am
@Andez…Agree completly
While I would obviously prefer topping the group to finishing second….it won’t be the end of the world if we lose to Sevilla tonight.
When Henry was there in the team..everybody had one criticism of the team..about it being a one man show..and how without henry we are nothing.
Now that Henry is gone…i am again hearing murmurs from rival fans about Fabregas being the key and without him we are nothing.
It is precisely because of this reason that we need to give the fringe players a chance to play in matches such as these…atleast with this match experience..they will be ready when they are called upon the play in crunch matches ..should the need arise.
Cheers
November 27th, 2007 at 8:41 am
If we can manage with Cesc, Hleb and (to some extent) Rosicky, we are well set to be the best of the best. As long as we can do well with two (and sometimes one) of the three, I’ll be delighted.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:10 am
Even though I believe Sevilla will come out attacking from the start, I don’t think they will try and push too many into the attack early because of our counter attack. The result of the game will come down to who Wenger plays, and Who he rests. If Cesc plays a major role, we tie or win, If he is left on the bench a draw would exceed my expectation. However it goes, I just want us to come out injury free.
@ DannyT #20 - You were right about Ade, shows how much I paid attention to the ANC qualifying
November 27th, 2007 at 11:54 am
I’d rather see Fabianski start over Lehmann if Alumnia is a no-go. What’s the value in starting Lehmann? That bridge is already burned. He is not a long term option at goalie. No one is overly confident with Alumnia and lots of supporters are calling for a goalie transfer in January. Let’s see what we have in Fabianski. Get the kid a start in a major competition, on the road.
@30: great point about an unhealthy situation. I’ll give Wigan credit for the defensive effort Saturday. But there were stretches where I thought, save Clichy (perhaps recklessly,even), no one was pushing the action. I think Rosicky is really a key if Cesc is missing. His goal, I hope, will be a big confidence boost for him. Sometimes he appears to be a player that enjoys a supporter’s role. His experience at the club level and his apparent skill implies he can be a focal point if pressed into action by the absence of Cesc. But some players don’t have the gift for that, and maybe Rosicky isn’t up for it.
From matchcast’s pre-game “player to watch” for Sevilla, Poulsen:
“The Danish hardman with the girly hair will be key in keeping Cesc under wraps.”
November 27th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
can see AW playing theo on right instead of eboue simply because hes been playing well of late and Wenger will want to build on that confidence but he wont want to drop ether Bendtner or Dudu as to not give them the wrong impression.
Maybe RVP comeback 2day? 15/20 mins to go? nice easy game to ease himself back into?
November 27th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Watching the Wigan game again, I appreciated Diarra’s contribution a lot more. He is a bit of an animal and the main force driving the action and plays. In the build-up to the first goal, he held off three players, collected a return ball, held off another challenge and sent it back to Adebayor, who laid it off to Gallas etc.
You can see that he drew the midfield shield across with him, so the left-back had to mark Rosicky, which crucially freed up the space on the far side for Sagna to bomb into and supply the killer cross.
Diarra was really positive all through the second half. He just wins the ball back and goes. You can see he’s looking for the killer pass too, although his touch isn’t quite there yet. But I can see the reason for Mazza’s rhapsodies.
As for tonight and Wenger’s incredibly shrinking team selection… It’s going to be virtually a Carling Cup side out there thanks to injuries. Let’s hope Bendtner gets a belter and Eduardo comes on to replicate his Croatian form. Song is injured, I see, paving the way for Senderos: The Return. Mercifully, Kanoute is not Drogba, but I’m downgrading my prediction to a hard-fought draw.
November 27th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
@ nipuna 33: chelsea were NOT a top team when they beat us out in 2004. we were overwhelming favorites for that tie.
also…remember that was the “old” team of pires, ljunberg, henry.
the new team, lets say started with that 2006 run to the final. no point taking the celta vigo and bayern loses into account since only toure, gilberto and lehmann played in any of those.
November 27th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
The manager “couldn’t remember” if the board had ever refused an important request. But it certainly seems unlikely given he delivered the Club’s second ever ‘double’ in his first full season in charge.
“But as well I never wanted to buy an Airbus,” he smiled. “And anyway we had a nice plane in which to fly to Sevilla.
Love the guy
November 27th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Mid-first half vent to those who are tired of us commenting that Senderos stinks.
I’ll stop observing that Senderos stinks when either he
1. stops stinking
or merely
2. stops stinking for Arsenal.
Thank you.
Back to the match. UTA!
November 27th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
23 - GOAL: : Sevilla are level and what a cracker it was. Senderos looks a little sluggish and is caught out by Navas’ run.
28 mins Senderos has looked a little rusty - understandable, given that he last played on October 7 - on a few occasions already against opponents who are bright and inventive in attack. He certainly didn’t do much closing-down-of-man in the run-up to Sevilla’s equaliser.
What a shock.
November 27th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
traore getting toasted down the left.
where is fabregas? has he even gotten a touch in the last 20min?
November 27th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Old Cloven Hoof is back in town. I actually started laughing when that muppet miskicked a simple clearance under no pressure and Keita scored soon after. Groundhog day.
Gilberto is having a effing nightmare as well. Such a typical Gilberto clearance for their equalizer and the reason I’m so glad he’s not first choice. He has played like a spastic all half.
The top half of our team looks good. Bendtner has done great. However the team is being let down by Traore, Senderos, Gilberto triumvate of nervousness.
I’m praying we keep it to 2-1. We could get a complete hammering tonight if Seville get their tails up. They’ve smelt fear and they’re deadly when that happens. Well done Senderos for giving them hope.
November 27th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
senderos in another NON suprising shocker. his problem is not speed, his problem is all in his head. i think Song, Hoyte and Djorou are safer berths at this point in time.
BUT gilberto is pretty much even just as shocking. the basics of defending say you should NOT clear a ball like the way he did for the equalizer. god, that was aweful. 2 arsenal players were free close by and he sets it up nicely on the ground for keita. if he couldnt pass, he should have cleared into the crowd….or at least AWAY from the center.
gilberto sits back too much, is not aggressive and passes to the opposition all the time. he is soooo un-needed in the new team.
November 27th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
in retrospect gilberto does this quite often…..losing possession, passing directly to opposition, dangerous tackles/pushes (in the box), stupid clearances.
all this combined with his passive play, sitting back and leaving space for the opposition’s attacking mid makes him a priority to leave………along with senderos ofcourse.
November 27th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
62 mins Arsenal are not at all convincing in defence. Not in any way. First Denilson gives away a silly free-kick just outside the penalty area, then Luis Fabiano gets ahead of Senderos when he really shouldn’t and heads an Alves deflected cross wide
60 mins With Senderos daydreaming (Fig B), Poulsen finds Kanouté in the penalty area but his first touch is useless and what might have been a very good chance is lost.
This is horrible…
November 27th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
76 mins Senderos gives away a free-kick for handball after he completely imagines the referee’s whistle and picks the ball up for a non-existent infringement.
This is a disturbingly dopey performance from the Swiss.
Alright you Senderos apologists, come out, come out, wherever you are.
November 27th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
all in all, this is not the worst game for our first defeat of the season. its good to get this out of the way quickly.
senderos and gilberto were UTTER disasters in this game.
traore, hoyte and denilson were crap.
fabregas was MIA
eboue, eduardo and bendtner were the only ones who came out with any credit today.
i said we should have put flamini and diarra as our full backs to solidify us. having hoyte, senderos and traore in the same defense against seville was always gonna pan out bad.
if we had gallas and diarra or flamini instead of senderos and gilberto we definitely wont have lost this game……..however as it panned out a 3-1 defeat was kind to us….and we should take it happily
November 27th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
final, 3-1, we were absolutely hammered! horrible indeed. while keeping in mind that we had already progressed and played a second string side, including a paper thin back four, this was one of the poorest performances i have seen from our gunners in a long long time. i’m not going to be overly pessimistic, this was a “meaningless” game after all (if there is such a thing in top tier football) and i believe our guys thought pretty much the same, and worse, played like it. senderos and gilberto, im sorry and with all my love, i dont want to see you playing for us again unless we have no choice!!
November 27th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
We got lucky that Sevilla did not score more…looking at the stats :
Sevilla - 25 shots, 5 on goal
Arsenal - 6 shots, 2 on goal
This was possibly the worst Arsenal display I have seen this season (maybe the game in Slavia was equally bad).
November 27th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
this game only confirms what we all know
1. Gilberto’s days are numbered
2. Fabregas is world class but you’ve got to surround world class with class to get dividend. Gilberto today was not class
3. The area of the pitch where we have the least depth is defence not attack where we have many pretenders to the first team shirt or mid-field where the 3 muskeeters reign supreme.
I’m a Senderos apologist (to borrow the phrase) so I dont have a number 4 related to him. In his defense, I’ll say the boy’s always had just about as much confidence as Hleb: give him a nice run (regardless of how bad he may sometimes perform) and he’ll come good. Otherwise…
Yes I know a nice run is hard to come … and all that but I’m a soccer fan and inside each one of us there’s that sentimental bit that believes in some players regardless. Sometimes, it pans out sometimes it doesnt. Sendy’s still young and in my book the jury’s still out
November 27th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
the decision to go with gallas as captain looks better every day…..toure and gilberto are woeful leaders….toure is an especially panicky person.
almunia also had a number of flaps for good measure…some were even comical.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Better to lose this game than Villa, but really… What a shambles at the back.
Maybe this will shake Gilberto out of his sulk - you wanna play, you gotta work as hard as Flamini now.
To be kind to Sendy, once can say he was short of match fitness, but if we’re really going to win things this year - home and abroad - we’re going to need a much better back-up CB.
This was a repeat of some of Wenger’s experiments in the past where he was put too much faith in his youngsters too soon. Yes, they need experience. But away in Europe against an erratic but otherwise very capable Spanish side seems too optimistic without a first-choice defence as insurance.
Wenger’s banishment to the stands suggests he wasn’t expecting us to get so outplayed. He only gets angry at officials when we’re playing shite, or getting blatantly fouled. In this case, it was the former.
Still, Bendtner looked lively for the first two-thirds and DuDu got another goal under his belt. And technically we can still top the group if Seville draw in grim, cold Prague and we beat Staua at home, no?