By Tomi Rantanen
Giroud in… but Wilshere & Welbeck out
Miserable injury problems seem to follow Arsenal with every bit of good news immediately followed by woeful ones. As Olivier Giroud is making his comeback from lengthy injury, the heart and soul of Arsenal midfield, Jack Wilshire is visiting a specialist after taking a knock against Manchester United and will likely be out for months rather than weeks.
To compensate for Giroud’s earlier-than-expected return, also Danny Welbeck has reported injured after missing practice on Tuesday. The former ManU man has a knee sprain, and might miss out on the action next weekend.
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Missing Mesut Özil, Abou Diaby and Wilshere from the midfield and Theo Walcott and Welbeck from the attack, Arsene Wenger is to rethink the formation and tactics – which has never been the Frenchman’s strong suite.
Arsenal is playing WBA at the Hawthorns on Saturday – after dueling with Dortmund at home on Wednesday night. With the injury problems ever present and fitness always a concern, it might be Wenger’s only option to play highly rotated squad in the BPL fixture only three days after the crucial Champions League match.
Here’s how the AccuScore simulation engine predicts injury depleted Arsenal to fare against WBA away:
| Money Line |
Line |
Line% |
ACC% |
Goals |
| W.B.A |
4.56 |
21.5 |
22.6 |
1.32 |
| Arsenal |
1.88 |
52.1 |
54.4 |
2.13 |
| Draw |
3.70 |
26.5 |
23.1 |
|
If the Londoners would be shooting with the whole arsenal, AccuScore simulation predicts their chances at 56%.
Rather surprisingly the absentees for Arsenal don’t seem to have such a massive impact as many would have thought. Even if missing some starters – who have not performed that well all season, after all – Arsenal seems to have a quality starting lineup with the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla running havoc amongst the WBA defence.
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