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Preview: Hull v Arsenal – team news, Xhaka to start & prediction

By on September 16, 2016

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Arsenal will look to make it three Premier League wins on the bounce when we take on Hull City at the KCOM Stadium on Saturday.

After a slow start to the new season, we picked up our first win by beating Watford last month before securing a late, late 2-1 victory over Southampton last weekend so we have a great chance to make it a hat-trick of wins tomorrow.

We warmed up for the game with a hard fought 1-1 draw against Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday night which got our Champions League group stage campaign off to a positive start.

Let’s be honest, we were woeful in the first half and should have been three down at half-time but we stuck in their, improved after the break and grabbed a late point. How many times have we ruied missing our chances? It’s just nice to be on the other end of it for a change.

However, we’re going to have to seriously pick up our game soon as we’ve been sloppy for most of the season so far and things just haven’t clicked for us yet – the aside from the first half against Watford.

Team News

Giroud is a doubt after picking up a toe problem in midweek but the striker trained today so I’d expect him to be in the squad tomorrow.

The same goes for Walcott. He missed the PSG game with a minor knee injury but the attacker also took part in full training this afternoon so I expect him to return to the squad.

Ramsey is still nursing his hamstring injury so will miss at least the next two games but Gabriel could be back for the EFL Cup game against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night.

Cech is set to return in goal after being left out against PSG with Ospina dropping out despite his excellent performance in Paris.

Preferred line-up

Arsene has hinted that Xhaka may not be in the starting eleven again tomorrow as he favours the Cazorla-Coquelin due to the fact they’ve played around 60 games together but I think it’s a crime that the Swiss star hasn’t played much.

I’d personally go with Xhaka and Elneny against Hull while I’d also like to see Walcott and Giroud start if they are passed fit. This would be my line-up:

In reality, I wouldn’t be surprised if Wenger left Xhaka, Elneny, Walcott and Giroud out of the starting eleven again.

Prediction

Whatever team we put out, we should have more than enough quality to pick up all three points on Sunday but it’s all about how we apply ourselves. The team have started games very slowly this season and we’re struggling to click in attack. These problems need to be resolved or we could drop more points this weekend as Hull are a dangerous side who’ve started the season well.

However, ever the optimist, I’m going to back the boys to step-up and secure a 3-1 win. Hull 1-3 Arsenal

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