Arsenal FC visit Huddersfield Town on Saturday in a match-up of two teams desperately in need of a win. The Gunners have only emerged victorious in one of their last seven on the road, and that was at Blackpool in the third round of the FA Cup. Blackpool reside in League One, the third tier of English football.
As for the Terriers, they might have to be resigned to being relegated as they’re now 13 points from safety, having lost 12 of their last 13. As you would expect, the Gunners are heavily favored in this one. Let’s take a look at the injury and fitness report for both sides, starting with the underdogs.
Two midfielders, Moroccan international Abdelhamid Sabiri and German Danny Williams, remain long term absentees for the Terriers. Isaac Mbenza is a doubt after getting hurt in the massive blowout loss to Chelsea while Jonathan Hogg could return to action in this one. They’ll enter this match looking for their first win in 2019, and their first goal in Jan 2.
The current scoreless drought stretches over five games and is getting close to 500 minutes.
Switching over to Arsenal, their defensive crisis persists, with Hector Bellerin (ACL) and Sokratis Papastathopoulos (ankle) out for this one. Additionally, Shkodran Mustafi (back) and Ainsley Maitland-Niles (knee) are also doubts for the weekend fixture. Midfielder Granit Xhaka (groin) faces a late fitness test.
Finally, Rob Holding and Danny Welbeck remain long term absentees.
Got all that?
Arsenal at Huddersfield Town FYIs
Kick-off: Saturday February 9, John Smith Stadium, 3pm (BST), 10am (EST),
Odds via William Hill: Arsenal 4/7, Draw 16/5, Fulham 24/5
Google Result Probability: Arsenal win 60%, Draw 23%, Huddersfield Town win 17%
Arsenal FC Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Press conference videos, quotes: coming Friday
Prediction: Arsenal 3, Huddersfield Town 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.