#neg

@SkySportsNews If they keep going they might get the chance to play Barnet

"The season is different without a North London derby" 🤝 Tom Hiddleston gives his thoughts on Spurs potentially being relegated from the Premier League.

@markgoldbridge So Liverpool seven points clear of Chelsea shouldn’t want to go above Aston Villa as this could allow Chelsea into the Champions League and the amount of money British clubs receive between themselves in the Champions League will be reduced. Is that right?

So Chelsea basically need Villa to drop to 5th and win the Europa League for 6th place to get UCL next season.

@AFCFixtureNews Following on from Manchester based referee Chris Kavanagh reffing them at Chelsea

Manchester based Anthony Taylor has been appointed as the referee for Sundays match at Manchester City. Assistant referees are Gary Beswick and Ian Hussin. Fourth Official: Paul Tierney. VAR: John Brooks.

@FabrizioRomano Getting beat by Real Madrid’s reserves?

🚨 Pep Guardiola: “One of the secrets we've had as a club is after success, success, success, we were humble enough or calm enough to say: OK what do we have to do to continue being up there”. “That is the most difficult thing”.

@FabrizioRomano You don’t earn respect when you have spent 4 years in the High Court trying not to be investigated

@HLTCO Sky sports apologised in January last year when Tim Sherwood claimed that Pep Guardiola's side 'play by their own rules' even though they have now spent £500 million since then whilst being under investigation for cheating since 2018!

Sky Sports posting this is pretty mad, I have to say.

@Afc_Sakzi The H-Bum

Who is this Arsenal player ?🤔 Over to you vintage Gooners ❤️🤍 Tell us about the man here, let’s learn from you all!

@ArsenalBuzzCom We’ve won every home game against sides below 6th place this season

🗣️| Darren Fletcher ahead of Arsenal vs Bournemouth: “I'm starting to be a little bit concerned for Arsenal. I think there's a lot of focus on them this weekend, but I don't think people realise that Bournemouth haven't lost in 11 Premier League games, which is their joint longest run as a top-flight team. I fancy Arsenal to drop a couple of points.” • Prediction: Arsenal 1-1 Bournemouth. [TNT] #afc

@footballontnt Six of our seven games are against teams below the top 6. We have beaten every team we have played at home below the top 6 this season and only dropped 8 points to other bottom 14 sides away from home so shouldn’t drop anymore than 2 against West Ham and Crystal Palace #champions

Joe Cole and Joleon Lescott predict Arsenal’s remaining 7 Premier League games 💭🤔

@SamiMokbel_BBC Who are we buying from Chelsea this year?

Process to renew Mikel Arteta’s contract at Arsenal underway and to recommence in the summer. Early optimism over positive outcome. Plus - Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri futures in doubt amid a sharper focus on outgoings this summer. bbc.co.uk/sport/football…

@AFCFixtureNews If I am stuck in a queue like this tomorrow do you know if I can take a small bag in with me into the stadium if I haven't had the chance to check into my hotel?

Queue update from Lisbon airport. Two hours queuing and I predict the best part of an hour to go…

@lukestanley03 You got thrashed by Real Madrid’s reserves, honestly these people…

I’m hearing “easy draw” shouts, but: 1. We beat Liverpool in the quarters 2. We beat Newcastle AWAY in the Ro16 3. Southampton are a good side 4. It’s a Semi Final 5. Where are Arsenal? 😂

@paddypower To be fair we were set to dominate football in the 1940s until Hitler had other plans…

Arsenal crashed out of the FA Cup against Southampton at the weekend. Some of their fans have already used the “injured” players as an excuse…

@AFCFixtureNews So the pick up point is still 4 miles away from the stadium, is that right?

Sporting CP emails regarding ticket pick-up details in Lisbon have started to arrive from supporterservices@arsenal.co.uk.

@nonewthing So long as Hincapie is playing MLS could play on the left wing, adding an extra man when we play against a strong 3 in midfield like against Newcastle and able to take on and beat players in the final third when against low blocks, would not work when Calafiori plays left back

MLS has a unique combination of personality & athleticism that is rare to find, but it needs to be said, in a midfield role, MLS has a lot to do. MLS is a B2B player, but a B2B player must be able to impact the opponent's box like you see Declan Rice or Nico O’Reilly or Ilkay Gundogan do. This often requires physical size to dominate aerial and ground situations + a sense for movement & space in the final 3rd. A B2B player must also be proficient at defending the middle. Again, physicality + a sense for space matters here. MLS can certainly learn how to move better without the ball and he has enough athleticism to be able to contribute in both 3rds. The problem for him is that Arsenal have Declan Rice there who is the most valuable B2B player on the planet. Also, a B2B player needs a metronome or playmaker for a partner. Since the job description of this metronome is to help play football, the demand for physicality on them is not as much. The emphasis then shifts to the B2B partner to provide the physicality to compensate. Two things matter most for physicality in this role: aerial duels & running power to eat up ground when running back. Guardiola has proven that you can manage a little without the running power to eat up ground if you can at least win your aerial battles. It means you only have one weakness you can cover for and you can do that by sustaining possession in the opponent's half and reducing the amount of transitions that is possible for the opponent. This is what he achieved with Busquets & Iniesta/Rodri & Gundogan. In other words, if you do what Chelsea did and field a Caicedo & Enzo, you are in a lot of trouble defensively. Only one player has the legs to defend and neither are aerially great. For Arsenal, this means MLS needs to be partnered with a Rodri for top-level consistency in midfield. While Zubimendi is aerially competitive for his size, it would not do to have two relatively short players in the middle consistently. Even at City, they are seeing their best results nowadays with a Rodri-Nico O’Reilly pairing, with both providing aerial competitiveness and Nico providing the legs for the defensive transitions. Pep Guardiola himself cannot undo the athletic rules of the sport. In totality, MLS is unable to play in midfield because he is still developing crucial characteristics of movement impact in both offensive & defensive scenarios while not having enough physicality to compensate for a playmaker. Now, these characteristics of box-impact & athletic compensation for a partner are not as needed at left back. In fact, in terms of his decent defensive baseline, his ability to carry the ball and find a pass, he delivers a total value superior to many left-backs as you can see in his games against Real Madrid and PSG. The problem is that Arsenal have Riccardo Calafiori who matches MLS on-ball value and is superior physically at leftback. Calafiori also has more traditional qualities of cross delivery and overlapping quality that makes him even more valuable. Piero Hincapie on the other hand is a traditional leftback with power and pace for the outside while also being superior physically. In other words, Myles Lewis Skelly has —Declan Rice & Mikel Merino ahead of him at B2B LCM. —Riccardo Calafiori & Piero Hincapie ahead of him at LB He doesn't have the baseline to get the crucial minutes he needs for box-impact development as a midfielder and as a left back, Calafiori is at least better than him. Without injuries, Arsenal need to either loan him out or sell for a surplus.

@slbsn Do you generally pay agents fees for when players leave as well as when they arrive?

Chelsea CHURNED £600m of footballers last Summer. Of course, their agent fees are going to be in that order of magnitude.

@AFCFixtureNews Just concerned how long it will take to get through passport control now Schengen is fully in place, took over an hour at Düsseldorf airport (for Leverkusen)

@RIAnfield4EVER He’s not coming to play Conference League

Future teammates combining. #LFC #BRAFRA

@Arsenal @premierleague The trolling never ends…

David Raya has been nominated for March's @PremierLeague Player of the Month award 👊 Vote for our stopper 🗳️ arsn.al/iQhLVQn

@OliverKay If City don’t win at Chelsea the home match against Arsenal will be insignificant

The Carabao Cup final brought Arsenal’s fourth defeat in 50 matches this season. The previous three have been followed by long unbeaten runs (18, 12, 14 games). nytimes.com/athletic/71399… They are clearly not losers or chokers or anything of the sort. They’re a team who rely heavily on their mentality rather than their footballing qualities. But Sunday’s defeat by Manchester City — particularly the manner of it — has undoubtedly increased the pressure to prove they can finally be the winners they feel they are. That game on April 19 was always going to be huge, even with a significant lead in the title race. After this, it is bigger still nytimes.com/athletic/71399…