I wouldn't be disappointed with Hazard supported by Willian and Pedro though would if it is just a front two.

Willy
Azpi Luiz Rudiger
Zappacosta Kante Drinkwater Alonso
Willian Hazard Musonda

I would keep Moses and especially if Musonda is playing after their link up in the last match.

13 minutes ago, yorkleyblue said:

Londonfootball site says 

 

"In all games where Hazard has played as a false 9 under Conte, the Blues have emerged victorious in all and have scored at least three goals in each game."

Doesn't sound like a poor attacking performance to me.

I mean when you're watching it Hazard looks clueless and ineffective and eventually loses his 9 role at times and starts playing where he's comfortable.

Stats can make it look like it's working but you can always argue that the goals scored were against poor oppo or it was lucky etc. I have it in my mind that we play poorly but somehow manage to win but this doesn't mean it will end up this way every time.

I hope we have a good game tonight regardless 

19 minutes ago, yorkleyblue said:

Londonfootball site says 

 

"In all games where Hazard has played as a false 9 under Conte, the Blues have emerged victorious in all and have scored at least three goals in each game."

Doesn't sound like a poor attacking performance to me.

That's with 3 attackers up top supporting him. If he's playing 2 up top he's going to be isolated and will have a terrible game.

7 minutes ago, ivorycoast said:

That's with 3 attackers up top supporting him. If he's playing 2 up top he's going to be isolated and will have a terrible game.

What three attackers would that be?

What are the odds of Barkley coming off the bench to score the winner tonight? I can feel it in my loins.

56 minutes ago, sonic90 said:

Michy is being prepped to leave on loan, so he probably won't be playing tonight.

I think the dreaded false 9 will be used tonight, and I know everyone points out stats on how we win or don't lose many games with false 9 but the attacking performance is usually poor with it.

Don't know how true this is, but we seem to smash teams when we play false 9.  Could be wrong but I think we always score at least 2 per game using this system

Just beat them...in almost one year we played them five times (FA Cup, Community Shield, 2x PL, LC) and couldn't win any of those games!

2 hours ago, Zeta said:

So what lineup are we expecting? An incredibly defensive 3-5-2 with no striker?

 

Cabellero

Rudiger
Christensen
Azpilicueta

Alonso
Bakayoko
Kante
Drinkwater
Moses

Willian
Hazard

If this is the line up, please wake me up once it gets to penalties

We beat them 3-0 in a pre-season friendly though, so we got them when it mattered.

38 minutes ago, dhidza said:

Don't know how true this is, but we seem to smash teams when we play false 9.  Could be wrong but I think we always score at least 2 per game using this system

I recall playing the false 9 against Big sam's everton and it ending goalless

1 hour ago, yorkleyblue said:

What three attackers would that be?

I worded that poorly. When hes played in a formation with 3 up top, he has done well. But if he's will willian he is going to struggle. Hazard is best up on the left, if Bats is playing he can keep the central defenders busy and open space for hazard.

Not confident at all with our injury problems.

Arsenal do have our number of late too. Reminds me off the late 90s and early 2000s when just beating them was a rare achievement.

Why do people like seeing us line up in a 3-4-3 formation? The formation gets exposed so hard when teams press us because we dont have any bodies in the middle and worse since we don't have any good passers in the middle now that Fabregas is out. 

 

Goddamn I f*cking hate Conte's 3 man backline so fvcking much. It's such a waste of a man! A man that could be added to the midfield to keep us from getting pushed back so much. 

2 minutes ago, Super Liquid said:

Why do people like seeing us line up in a 3-4-3 formation? The formation gets exposed so hard when teams press us because we dont have any bodies in the middle and worse since we don't have any good passers in the middle now that Fabregas is out. 

 

Goddamn I f*cking hate Conte's 3 man backline so fvcking much. It's such a waste of a man! A man that could be added to the midfield to keep us from getting pushed back so much. 

Well it's 3-4-3 or 3-5-2, he doesn't use anything else. Personally I'd like to see us go back to the old 4-3-3. 

11 minutes ago, Super Liquid said:

Why do people like seeing us line up in a 3-4-3 formation? The formation gets exposed so hard when teams press us because we dont have any bodies in the middle and worse since we don't have any good passers in the middle now that Fabregas is out. 

 

Goddamn I f*cking hate Conte's 3 man backline so fvcking much. It's such a waste of a man! A man that could be added to the midfield to keep us from getting pushed back so much. 

When he tried it earlier it was with Fab in the two and we were overrun. Now we have more MF cover a lot of us think it is worth the risk as we are just not scoring with only two up front.

Ross and Charly could come in handy tonight.

If i was picking the team for tonight i would be ruthless and play 4-1-2-3 with instructions to obliterate the Arse defence, don't mess about giving them any respect, remember how Diego treated the gooners, with total disrespect.

Willy in goal, so make sure it stays up there end of the pitch as much as possible.

 

Cesar   Luiz   Rudiger   Alonso

                 Kante

        Barkley      Musonda

Willian        Michy       Hazard

 

 

Last time we played 4 at the back we got a battering at the Emirates, which prompted us to revert to a 3. Although I’d like to see us go back to a 4 again in the future, I don’t think it should be tonight. With no Morata or Bats I think we have to go 3-4-3 with Hazard as false 9 supported by Willian and Pedro. 

Not too confident about this match. WEnger seems to have Conte's number and he has only won once in the last 7 meetings. Courtois, Morata, Fabregas and Batman are out injured. Cahill and Drinkwater may be still injured too. If Conte plays with a false number 9 then Hazard will be enlisted to that role and it doesn't suit him. Arsenal look far better without Sanchez so this game could be really tricky. I'd play a two man midfield with Hazard, Willian and Pedro upfront. Caballero doesn't fill me full of confidence either. Good in a penalty shoot out but some of his goalkeeping was heart attack material. I'm hoping for the best but expecting the worst. COME ON YOU BLUES !!!

1 hour ago, DannyVblue said:

Last time we played 4 at the back we got a battering at the Emirates, which prompted us to revert to a 3. Although I’d like to see us go back to a 4 again in the future, I don’t think it should be tonight. With no Morata or Bats I think we have to go 3-4-3 with Hazard as false 9 supported by Willian and Pedro. 

Yeah we started last season with 4 at the back and got battered by the dippers and arse, even against sh*t teams we were scraping out wins.

Having not played with 4 at the back for so long it would be too experimental to use today, they've been training exclusively with 3 for over a year.

No courtois again? When’s he supposed to be back 

Tibo got injured during training ahead of Brighton, I think he'll be back soon

I’m stuck at work across the pond it’s down to you lads on here to keep me informed lol

Also only getting the Spanish broadcast in the USA ffs