Mikel Arteta says Arsenal must be creative in their bid to replace injured players Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling as the Gunners prepare to face Ipswich Town on Friday.
Arsenal crushed Crystal Palace 5-1 last time out to stay within six points of Premier League leaders Liverpool despite playing one extra match.
However, their latest win came at a cost as star winger Saka suffered a hamstring injury that will keep him out for “several weeks”.
Sterling, meanwhile, is also on the sidelines after suffering a knee problem, leaving Arteta looking for solutions.
“We have to look internally at what we have and be creative, again do a very good exercise,” Arteta said. “How can we form the team?
“How can we adapt to the circumstances and be different? We can't pretend we're the same.
“We will have to be different and try to find the best way to do it and be very competitive and win a lot of games.
“I am putting together a number of ideas. I'm not there yet, but I have a few. Then I also want to talk to them to understand how we are going to generate that and deal with it in a positive way. Because we're going to be different.”
Always raising the standards pic.twitter.com/adsrgAZW2V
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 24, 2024
Ipswich boosted their hopes of survival with a 2-1 win over fellow strugglers Wolves on December 14, but they were then brought back down to earth with a 4-0 home defeat to Newcastle United on Saturday.
Coach Kieran McKenna knows the Tractor Boys – who are 19th and two points behind safety – will face them at the Emirates Stadium.
“I think first and foremost we have to show the right mentality in the game,” McKenna said. “I think this is an opportunity to show our togetherness, our spirit and our resilience.
“We will have to show real mental strength. Our organization will have to be really good and we will also have to show courage at different times in the game to beat them in the competition. way we want at different stages of the game.
“For me it's about the mental qualities we have to show in this match. We talked about that this morning and we will try to show that on Friday evening.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Arsenal – Gabriel Jesus
Jesus has scored five goals in his last two games for Arsenal in all competitions, the same number as in his previous 45.
No player has scored multiple goals in three consecutive games for the Gunners (all competitions) in the Premier League era.
Ipswich Town – Arijanet Muric
Arsenal have scored five or more goals in seven different Premier League games in 2024. The last team to do this in more top-flight games in one calendar year was Burnley (nine in 1960), while the last time the Gunners did so was in 1931 (eight).
Muric, who was arguably at fault for Newcastle's third goal in their dominant win at Portman Road on Saturday, could be a busy man at the Emirates and will need to be in top form.
Alexander Isak is the complete attacker
His hat-trick in @NUFC's 4-0 win against Ipswich! pic.twitter.com/lcN5233HdU
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 24, 2024
MATCH PREDICTION – ARSENAL WIN
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last thirteen league games against Ipswich (W10 D3) since a 2-1 defeat in September 1984.
Ipswich, meanwhile, remain winless in their last eleven away games against Arsenal (D4 L7), losing their last four in a row. Their last victory was in August 1979 (2-0 under Bobby Robson).
Arsenal are understandably heavy favorites for this match, having remained unbeaten in their last 41 home games in the Premier League against promoted sides (W36 D5) and have won their last twelve in a row. Only Chelsea (43 between 2001 and 2015) has had a longer period in the competition's history.
The Gunners have also won their last league match in three of the last four calendar years, although the exception was a 2-1 defeat at Fulham on New Year's Eve last year. This marks the first time since 2019 that their final league match of the year has been played on home turf, a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in Arteta's first game in the Emirates.
Arteta's men are unbeaten in their last eleven Premier League home games (W8 D3) and are the only side without a home defeat this season (W5 D3).
OPTA CHANCE OF WINNING
Arsenal – 84.2%
Ipswich town – 5.8%
Draw – 10%
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