FootieTalks

Arsenal will be without striker Alexandre Lacazette when they face Rennes in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 clash on Thursday. The striker is suspended for both legs after being sent off in the last round for elbowing an opponent against BATE Borisov. His absence is likely to mean Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang starts in France, having started on the bench for the north London derby on Saturday. Aubameyang came on as a substitute against Tottenham and spawned the chance to win the derby for his team, with his penalty saved late on, and the match finished 1-1. Rennes are 10th in Ligue 1 and should be well rested after their Ligue 1 game at the weekend was postponed allowing them time to prepare for the Europa League. Rennes, who beat Real Betis in the last round, have had an eight-day break between games, leaving them much fresher than the Arsenal team who are playing this tie, between two vital Premier League encounters. With a vital game against Manchester United qui...

A poor penalty by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was saved in the last minute as Arsenal threw away a chance to win and close the gap to just one point in the race for top four, against their bitter rivals, in a 1-1 against Tottenham at Wembley. Welsh playmaker Aaron Ramsey, playing in his final north London derby before leaving to join Juventus in the summer, coolly finished on a divisive counter-attack after 16 minutes to put the Gunners ahead. Spurs levelled from the penalty spot in the 74th minute through Harry Kane after he had been pushed over by make-shift right back Shkodran Mustafi. Arsenal might have been hurt by the decision as Kane was offside before he was fouled, but they spurned the chance to snatch victory when Lloris saved Aubameyang's penalty in the 89th minute and Jan Vertonghen blocked the follow-up shot on the line. Arsenal have the right to feel even more aggrieved as defender Vertonghen was well inside the area before Aubameyang struck the penalty. Things...

Huddersfield 1-2 Arsenal  Following defeat against Manchester City, next up for Arsenal was a trip to league strugglers Huddersfield.  Alex Iwobi and Alexandre Lacazette gave Arsenal a 2-1 win at Huddersfield to keep their top-four chase on track, with an unconvincing display.  Alex Iwobi opened the scoring, albeit against the run of play when his deflected effort from Sead Kolasinac's cross was palmed into the corner of his net by the goalkeeper. Huddersfield controlled possession for large periods of the game, and were unlucky that nothing would fall for them inside the Arsenal area, and instead again against the run of play, Alex Lacazette doubled the lead just before half-time when turning in Ainsley Maitland-Niles' low cross from close range The hosts, on a poor run of form, losing 11 of their last 12, never gave up and finally got their reward in the third minute of added time in the second half when Kolasinac turned Adama Diakhaby...

Man City 3-1 Arsenal A win against Arsenal at the Etihad meant Manchester City reduced the gap at the top of the Premier League to two points, for at least 24 hours, thanks to a Sergio Aguero hat-trick in a 3-1 win over Arsenal. The reigning Premier League Champions took the lead after 48 seconds through an Aguero header. Alex Iwobi was casual in possession inside his own area, as City managed to score with all 11 Arsenal players in their own box. Fill in left-back Aymeric Laporte put in a great cross for Aguero to head home. Many thought Arsenal would crumble, but they were soon level as Laurent Koscielny scored a header of his own from a corner, after a cute knock on by Nacho Monreal. With halftime looming, Arsenal hoped to go into the break level, but City scored late in the half, as Aguero simply finished off from Raheem Sterling's fine assist. A poor second half defensive showing meant City dominated, and the Argentine completed his hat-trick and killed off the gam...

West Ham United 1-0 Arsenal  A dismal day out at the London Stadium for Arsenal. Arsenal’s Champions League hopes have certainly been hindered, after  suffering defeat against West Ham at London Stadium. Declan Rice scored the only goal of the game in the second half to give the Hammers a well-deserved victory. Rice picked a good time to grab his first West Ham goal, powering the ball beyond Bernd Leno from 12 yards three minutes after half-time. However, the main talking point came when Arnautovic seemed to wave goodbye to the home fans when he was substituted after 71 minutes played, days after West Ham rejected a £35m bid for the Austrian from an unnamed Chinese club. Teammate Michail Antonio has suggested that Arnautovic does in fact want to leave the East London club, and start a “new chapter”, news which will certainly leave West Ham fans concerned, and eager to see who could replace the Austrian striker.  Arsenal managed just two shots on target a...

Following a disappointing loss at St Mary’s, Arsenal continued their festive period, Arsenal faced a hectic schedule with their first test coming three days after their loss to Southampton. Tottenham Hotspur came to town in a North London Derby Carabao Cup fixture, and the second game between these two teams inside a month.  Last time these two played Arsenal recorded a 4-2 victory, but this time Arsenal weren’t at the same level and suffered a 2-0 home loss to their biggest rivals, and their second loss in three days. Goals from Heung-Min Son and Dele Alli were enough to see off the Gunners as Unai Emery tasted only his 4 th  competitive defeat as Arsenal boss.  Another 3 days later, Arsenal faced Burnley at the Emirates. Desperate to bounce back from consecutive defeats, Arsenal started the game well and looked comfortable for a large majority of the game. Two Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang goals either side of half time put Arsenal in the driving seat and control...

Southampton 3-2 Arsenal  Arsenal's defensive crisis took its toll at St Mary's on Sunday, as the 22 game unbeaten run came to an end. A makeshift back 3 of Stephan Lichsteiner, Granit Xhaka, and returning captain Laurent Koscielny, who played his first Premier League game since April was always going to be a weakness for the Gunners.  A first home league win of the season lifts Southampton out of the bottom three and Hasenhuttl, replacement to Mark Hughes, celebrated wildly on the pitch with his players at full-time. Laurent Koscielny made his first Premier League start for seven months after his injury nightmare suffered against Atletico Madrid as Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette were left on the bench. Danny Ings returned from a hamstring injury in one of two changes for Southampton. Ings had twice put the Saints ahead (20, 44) on his return from injury but they were pegged back by two Henrik Mkhitaryan goals (28, 53). With the game locked at ...