Arsenal return to Premier League action with an easy job ahead of them in the coming weeks. If they approach the ninth-point hole at Liverpool, they will want to embark on one of those successful runs that has eluded them during the first 11 games of the campaign. Your first attempt may be, wisely, difficult. Nottingham Jungle are the only team to have beaten the league leaders so far this season and their determined defense has put them in fifth place in the table, well behind the Gunners in terms of goalkeeping.
Since March 1989, Jungle had not won against Arsenal in the league, but Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are a notable street operator with five wins and two draws from their last seven. Making six out of eight would be the way to ruin Mikel Arteta’s bulging pace as he celebrates 250 games in charge of Arsenal. Here’s how you can monitor the competition and what you want to understand:
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- Future: Saturday, November 23 | present: 10 a.m. Eastern Time
- Location: Emirates Stadium — London
- They are alive today: Peacock
- Odd: Arsenal -250; Draw +360; Nottingham Jungle +850
Staff information
Arsenal: The presence of Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Riccardo Calafiori and Leandro Trossard at the training ground on Friday was welcome news for an Arsenal team whose surprise problems never seem to completely go away. The final limped away from Belgium’s defeat to Israel, but it turned out to be a minor surprise. Saka and Rice had not even joined England but Arteta showed they had had “partial sessions” during the year Calafiori, out for an age with a knee problem, could be on the way back.
Meanwhile, Arteta revealed that Ben White will be out for “months”, CBS Sports understands between two and three of them. Takehiro Tomiyasu could be set to vacate the right back position, but he will be out of the club for several weeks and then suffer more than one setback as he heals from a knee injury. “He’s one of the guys who all he wants to do is work 24 hours a day to get better and he feels terrible when he’s not fit, so it’s a real shame,” Arteta said. “We’re going to give him the best opportunity to try to unlock something to help him get it back as quickly as possible, but I think we have to be patient.”
Arsenal’s imaginable eleven: stripe; Log, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Rice, Odegaard, Merino; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Nottingham Jungle: Nuno showed his cards on his chest in his pre-match press conference, declaring that there are “some situations to manage and decide” in a squad that otherwise does not seem to have any major problems. Ola Aina and Elliott Anderson returned early from international duty but are expected to be available. Long-term absentees Danilo and Ibrahima Sangare will not make up in the generational year. There used to be some uncertainty about Ramón Sosa, but to reach global responsibility again when Nuno told the media.
Whoever takes the wicket for Jungle, self-confidence and confidence will no doubt be paramount even after their loss to Newcastle before the world crash. “What I expect and what the players give us is a total commitment to do things well,” Nuno mentioned. “From the outside it may be surprising but for us? No. We work with them every day, we know the quality and talent they have, we demand a lot from them but we have to be humble and realize that it is a very long and hard road” . season.”
Imaginable Jungle XI: STAMPS; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Moreno; Yates, Dominguez; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood
Prediction
This may be a tough job for Arsenal against an excellent defensive opponent, but the presence of Martin Odegaard could offer enough volume to keep pace. CHOOSE: Arsenal 2, Nottingham Jungle 1
