Besiktas vs Arsenal Preview, Line up and Predicted score by KJ
Arsenal last season had just lost against Aston Villa and had to travel to Turkey under immense pressure to perform, fortunately we did and the rest is history. We now travel to Turkey with a lot of optimism but injuries and the World Cup means our team isn’t much stronger than the one we fielded against Fenerbahce last season.
Playing away in Turkey automatically means a very hostile environment that could potentially unnerve you. I don’t think that really affects us as we’ve played away numerous times against teams with absolutely mental fans and have come out unscathed. But you can’t deny the potential role the fans will play.
We controlled the game against Palace (if you can call it that) and I expect it to be quite the opposite in the İnönü Stadium. We will have to absorb quite a lot of pressure as Besiktas look to take advantage of being at home. We are well equipped on the counter, however. Sanchez and Ramsey will look to take advantage of any slip-up by Besiktas.
Line up:
Szczesny
Debuchy – Chambers – Koscielny – Monreal
Arteta
Ramsey – Wilshere
Sanchez – Giroud – Cazorla
The defence is in the balance at the moment and it seems like Koscielny will make it. Even if he has a small niggle, he will play through it simply because of how important this game is.
Wenger is deploying a 4-3-3 at the moment with Arteta sitting slightly deeper. We’ll go back to the 4-2-3-1 when we have Ozil back but until then, Wenger is looking to try and solve our lack of creativity with this formation.
Giroud will start now with Sanogo injured. It’s a shame as his energy could’ve really helped us on the counter but Giroud should be ready to do some damage against Besiktas.
I expect this game to be difficult but I can see us winning this 2 – 1.
seriously cazorla on the wings again is gonna cost us, why not campbel or ox on the wing man we need pace pace pace
Wilshere is a real tackler so this time I am not worried for Cazorla being on the left flank. Hope he won’t get carded.
Wenger never want to play with 2 pure wingers, he wants us to attack more in the middle. That’s why he always use Carzola who will move inside and give us another creative outlet in central of the park. A good things for us is with Alexis we have a player who comfortably to organize in both wings, he can switch flank easily and try to get the best out of the weaker of opponent’s full back (he started on the right, but finish the game operating in the left in Palace game). We also have options in the bench, Wenger can put in Chamberlain/Campbell for Wilshere/Carzola any time in the game and we will have 2 pure wingers.
This is the exact formation i posted in a previous post with Campbell on the LW, yet people down thumbed me? I agree with you, because Cazorla also drifts into the middle of the park. That left flank was rarely used against Palace which meant it was easier for them to contain us. I really like how when Sanchez gets the ball, he doens’t sit around and pick his nose, he gets it and forward as quickly as possible into open areas. Wish we had a CF who could do the same.
sonogo and his energy…whatever u r smoking’ mate u need to share…the comments about this guy on this website suggest that the 4th place junkies have well and truly taken over
4th place junkies? We were just as close to the title as 5th last season and we have already added Sanchez and Campbell to our attacking force so only a pessimist or anti-Arsenal fan would claim that we are fighting for 4th even with Giroud and Sanogo.
I 100% agree. I believe in this squad. Hope Wenger adds nobody else. At least til January.
It’s amazing how much crap some of our own fans give our own players. SC19 could play on any top 5 side in the PL yet people want him benched cause of 1 poor game. How quick they forget how well he played against defending champs City.
We also have YS22 who was a game changer for us during FA Final. He scores 4 vs Benfica and everyone talks about him like he’s Our best Gunner. Now after 2 mediocre games, we need a new striker again??
I LOVE my gunners but our fans SUCK
football teams can only be judged against their rivals today not where we were last year or what wenger achieved in the 1990s…chelsea are obviously a stronger team today man city are as good as they were and probably better…. liverpool is the big uncertainty depending on suarez factor though obviously a deeper squad…we have added one real quality player …sanchez… and one really promising player (chambers) …. when we were 3 class players short last season…how that calculation is pessimistic let alone anti-arsenal..a stupid comment..i dont know….and we have the same defensive line up… more or less …that was completely fragile against teams that are now stronger…seems to me theres a fine line between optimistic and delusional
You didn’t refute my claim that we were challenging for the title as opposed to 4th, In fact, you yourself stated that only one team that was above us has actually improved and we have improved by adding two strong attacking players and have another player incoming. You didn’t mention any team below us improving enough to challenge us so even in your mind 4th is pretty secure. So again, we are not fighting for 4th despite having Sanogo and Giroud leading the line.
As for our defence, Szcz had the joint most clean cheats with Cech so our defence is obviously not that bad; yes, we we destroyed a couple of times but those hidings happened because of a disappointing team effort
I think the comment refers to the “we could use sanogo and his energy” and the suggestion is that if we believe sanogo is the answer then we should accept 4 th place which is true! Sanogos touch is awful and he hasn’t got a shot on him baring a scuff! Sanogo on current form would be sub for west ham fact! I’m not saying he will never be any good but at the moment he is crap! You all continuously moan about giroud but the guy is big strong great touch good finish and great link passer! He hasn’t got pace, get over it we can surround him with pace! I’d be more concerned about playing cazorla left wing and Arteta in the middle!
having giroud as ur first choice striker for 2 years leads to some side effects.
one of them is calling every other striker world class.
lol
LOOOL so true.
OK I’m fed up with people like you.
Sanogo has potential. You and some others are talking about him like he was born to not become a footballer or even a successful person.
In 2 or 3 years he will become a very good striker for us, maybe close to the world class level. He also has been a injured for 2 years before joining us, so give the lad a break. And for your information, 3 years ago he was considered as a hot prospect from France.
Seriously stop this $#it
I suggest to support players like him instead of insulting them.. Look at Ramsey, he’s a prime example of what Sanogo and other young players MIGHT become.
Joel Campbell should be play.
I think this would have been a good game for sonogo tbh ..its a shame that he missed out but its a perfect chance for Campbell to take the stage and show his worth! 1-4 COYG!
Wenger should go with experience in this game. My preferred lineup would be: sciezney, debuchy, chambers, arteta, rosicky, ramsey, sanchez, ox, giroud.
+monreal as LB. & if koscielny can’f finish, flamini should cover as CB. Since wenger will obviously & predictably will substitute after 70min, campbell & cazorla should replace ox & rosicky respectively.
i don’t mind if we get a draw from the 1st leg coz we’re short on players. i guess it will be a draw 1-1 but i’m deadly sure that we’ll proceed to the next stage as we always do!!! COYG!!!!!!
Besiktas 0 vs. Arsenal 2 – Ramsey (32min) Girould (84).
As for the line up I would love to see TR7 start ahead of Wilshere and Flamini ahead of Arteta(Keep Arteta fresh for Everton). Campbell to get atleast 30 minutes of playing time too as I am sure Wenger wouldn’t want to risk starting him in this crucial match.
Bring home the victory boys!!!
Szczesny
Debuchy Chambers Koscielny Monreal
Ramsey – Wilshere
Cazorla
Ox Sanchez Campbell
Its all about the speed.
COYG 5-0
I remember when we went to Anfield last season it was a really intense atmosphere, and we capitulated completely. Don’t underestimate the role of the Turks inside the stadium!
Last season we conceded a very early goal from offside position and everything crumbled. I don’t see how can’t we contain Besiktas even in a noisy house.
Time to try Mr Sanchez through the middle…
Sanchez
OX Cathhhhorla Campbell
Arteta Ramsey
Monreal Kosc Calum Debuchy
Szcz
I cant understand y our German players are not back yet. are they better than all of the Germans that participated at the world cup? bcs all of them are playing for their respective clubs and some even played preseason. e.g kroos, lahm, boaten, muller , gotze and schrulle. i don’t understand this Wenger. mtcjewwwwwww.
Leave them for few days than to leave for the best part of season. We all know how sometimes even stupidly wenger lives by his code and rules. It will be good move if we can get the trio to perform all season for the loss of few games.
Many say maybe we could have Podolski back but he was injured lots of times last season and BFG played almost all games last season. In the reasoning for Ozil I will say it is because of his lack of stamina/strength. So maybe it will be legit.
I am a vegetarian but I could do with grilled turkey tonight 🙂 🙂
Grilled turkey for 2 please 🙂
I was in two minds. I want to thumb up because of the witty turkey comment but at the same time thumb down for being a vegetarian. In the end I went with a thumb up.
feron on skysports commented:
“If demba ba knocks us out we will never hear the end of it from chelsea fans saying ” ohhh that was the special ones plan to make Ba knock arsenal out”. So please win arsenal ”
Couldn’t agree more!!!
Lahm, Gotze, Muller played for Bayern in the Super Cup last week
Kroos has played several friendlies for Real Madrid since his signing
Schurrle was in top form for Chelsea yesterday
All these players finished their games without doing their hamstrings..
Meanwhile Arsenal with a crucial champions league playoff to play
Decided to give Mertesacker, Podolski (who hardly played in the WC) and Ozil an extended holiday. Laughs.
This my friends, is the reason why we have only an FA cup trophy to show for the past 9 years 😉
totally…they shouldnt have any extended rest…..2 weeks max of rest is enough….
they are pro footballers…and heavily compensated…
they should perform 101% every week
Yup. Obviously Madrid, Chelsea and Bayern don’t know what they’re doing by playing their Germans. Barca also don’t know what they’re doing by playing Messi in a meaningless friendly. Only Arsenal, who are renowned for their spectacular fitness record, know what their doing.
all the teams you’ve mentioned have deeper squads…
if you weren’t whinging now, you’d be sure to whinge later in the season if they start showing early signs of fatigue.. maybe Wenger looked at last season and realized just how crucial the run in is and doesn’t want to take chances early on that may effect later on?
‘
stop looking at other teams and worry about ours. 3pts at a time
“all the teams you’ve mentioned have deeper squads…”
If they had deeper squads, then it follows that they could easily afford to rest their German stars, no? And by giving our 3 first team players extended breaks, don’t you think it’ll further stretch our supposedly thinner squad? Merts has to be rushed as a standby for Kosc for e.g., putting him further in risk of an injury. Why couldn’t he resume full training last week? I’m afraid, I don’t get your logic…
there is absolutely no correlation between the two.
They didn’t get an extended holiday, they got the 3 weeks that they usually get after their last WC match which means they aren’t fully fit yet so we aren’t playing them unless it is necessary.
Do you have so little faith that you don’t think we can’t beat Besiktas over two legs without three players?
If Lahm who played all 90 minutes of the WC finals could feature for Bayern, why couldn’t Mertesacker have resumed training earlier giving he only played few minutes of the WC finals? Stop giving excuses.
man, it’s really not that hard to understand.
FIFA requires clubs to give their players 3 weeks summer vacation time (at a minimum). The WC meant that those players couldn’t take the vacation time until July 14th which means that they aren’t fit unless they, ON THEIR OWN ACCORD, decided to come back early to train.
This is a PERSONAL matter so pointing out players who went back early doesn’t change the facts. Wenger decided not to pressure them to come back early because apart from the defence (due to two injuries and Kos being semi injured) we don’t really need them yet.
#KJshouldapologise
i think our germans should be brought back now. I understand why Wenger hasn’t brought them back yet, but they can’t be that short of fitness now. Most of the other German World Cup winners went straight back into playing when they came back from their holiday. I think Ozil should get some minutes next weekend. Mertesacker should start tonight if Koscielny has even a slight injury because we don’t want to make a small injury worse and have Koscielny out for a long period of time. Podolski barely played during the World Cup so I think he should’ve come straight back anyway. For tonight however, i would set up a team with pace and trickery.
Szchezny
Debuchy Chambers Kos/Mert Monreal
Arteta
Ramsey Cazorla
Campbell Ox
Sanchez
However, i think we will probably have this:
Szchezny
Debuchy Chambers Mert/Kos Monreal
Arteta
Ramsey Wilshere
Sanchez Giroud Cazorla
still easily enough to knock a few past Besiktas but its the same as a team that struggled at the weekend and looked jaded. i think we will see substitutions tonight, hopefully Wenger does them early enough to actually make an impact.
So the #BringBackSong has been doing the rounds lately. Any takers here?
Arsenal 2-0 FTW
I thnk this would be a great addition. Barcelona is willing to let him go for free (on loan), he is DM. Why not???
If we passed on Fabregas, there’s no way we’re bringing Song back. We’d be the biggest tools in Europe if we would do that.
AKB mate…. we have Mesut and we don’t need Cesc. And besides, Song is a real cheap option here and certainly not a Cesc or Mesut type. I personally think he’s worth the gamble. He had a stellar 2011 campaign for us
I was literally gutted to see Cesc play for Chelsea yesterday but having seen him numerous times and being the professional he is I did not expect anything less than a first class display.
HOWEVER…major bone to pick with the media….
We go behind against Palace and their stern defence, we come back and win 2-1 in the dying minutes and it is almost deemed a failure and the impossibility to win the league.
Chelsea go behind, come back and win 3-1 against the relegation favourites and a whole team costing less than most of Mourinho’s purchases and they are Champions material.
WTF? Does one more goal against a much poorer side make that much difference?
#MourinhoCanSuckMyToesButNotInAKinkyWay
Dear Wenger ,
You like to walk a thin rope don’t you ? A depleted back line without depth which includes an inexperienced (though talented) 19 y.o , a 1st choice LB who is injured for a quarter of the year and the 2nd choice LB who let’s say is s cup game material. On top of that no reliable and WC CDM where you are again gambling on Diaby’s fitness and a 19yo potential. And needless to say no WC striker.
I admire your transfer activity till now and you have done a commendable job, but i hope you realize that with the current team i.e without the signings in the positions as i mentioned , we just cannot compete with the likes of MANC and Chelsea. We just can’t and this is the bare and bitter truth.
I dread the last day of the season when we finish 3rd and miss out on the leaders by 3 points. Well then you would say we only missed by 3 points, but the truth is you either win the PL or don’t. Its binary. Any middle ground is worthless and useless.
And whats up with your continued persistence with Sanogo ? How many chances does he want ? Give Campbell the chance he deserves. Can Sanogo score the half volley goal that Joel scored in the pre-season game. NO. The guy is talented and has far more experience than Sanogo. At least play him on the flank.
I have always trusted you to do the right thing and you have shown the glimpses of it this window. But only a glimpse. The window is not closed and your job in the window is far from over. And there is not fu*cking excuse of money now. So buckle up and give us the PL title this time for christ’s sake.
Never has mentionned FLamini yet in their starting XI but they guy sat to Wenger duringthe pre match press cofnerence …
I think starting XI will be :
Scz
Debuchy CHamber Kosc Monreal
FLamini Arteta
Ramsey
The Ox Cazorla
Giroud
Rosicky in for Ramsey
Campbell in for The Ox
Wilshere in for Arteta
I hope to see Bellerin though but not likely maybe for the second leg if we kill the game off
Flamteta was tried many times last season. It doesn’t work.
Sczez
Bellerin, Chambers, Kos, Monreal
Flamini
Rosicky, Ox
Campbell Giroud Cazorla
My prediction is a hard fought 2-0 Win with goals from giroud and Ramsey,
To all our fans out there cheer the team on and stay safe COYG
i think arsene should take this game seriously and stop messin around u know if we fail to win this we will play in the europa league and my man u and chelsea mate will laugh at me so we must win at least with six goals margin in two legs im serious now no kiddin i dont even now the europa league anthem
Wish people would have more faith in the team. Arsenal are class, Besiktas aren’t. This panic every year turns out to be nothing.
and when i think that i have to find the lyrics for the europa league anthem then it would be useless ive memorized the champions league anthem ce sont le meilleurs equipe es sind die alles beste manschaften ozil and arsene will be so interested cuz its in german and french and the chorus is in american 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁
Szczesny
Debuchy….chambers…Koscielny…monreal
Ramsey….Arteta
Oxlade… .Cazorla….Sanchez
Giroud
Result: 1-1 draw
Without our germans we should be able to win, I back wenger on their case bcos we still hv many games to play why the rush, even cambell , wenger already said the guy is in his plan, no rush. Some hv started calling chelsea better team well let’s wait and see wot happen in the next 10 games.
surely we must learn from saturdays performance, if wilshere plays il be lost for words.
Flamini or Rozza must come in for him or ox/campbell with Cazorla in the num 10 position not outwide hes just not got the legs to play out wide anymore. His first season he was outstanding Why?? becuase we all know his best position is the num 10 role.
my x11 if ozil is ok to play
szech
debuchy,chambers,kosc,monreal
Arteta,rambo
Ozil,Santi, sanchez
giroud
subs, martinez,mert, rozza,jack,flam,campbell,ox
but most likely i think wenger will go 4
szech
debuch,cham,kos,mon
rozza or flam, arteta
Sanchez,ramsey,santi
giroud
subs, martinez,mert,ox,jack,flam,campbell,bellerin
We need pace, put in campbell and ox and let sanchez play through the middle.