Let's hope he gets 20 mins against Fulham, 30 against Everton and then a mighty 90 against Real!

Panda his return gives us a decent chance against Madrid. Defensively I expect us to hold our own. Gabriel / Saliba should be able to handle whatever Mbappe / Vini have for us. Just don't give them room behind to run into. Wish we had a striker to give their center backs something to think about though

      flobaba

      I think our defense can do ok against them, but the problem is that they have threats from all sides. Between Vini, Mbappe, Rodrygo and Bellingham, it will take a colossal effort to keep them out, and particularly on the left side (Cala or MLS), i think they could get found out quite a bit if they are not extremely 'on their game'. Im a little less worried about our right side between Timber and White. Saka being back is great for us, even if he is 70-80%, but as you said, we will really miss Havertz up front to keep their defense occupied.

        Good stuff, wonder if he'll start and take him off early or bring him on later in the game. Massive boost getting him back.

        Zero chance he starts IMO. He might bring him on for the last 20-30 minutes of the game just to give him a runout and get his game-timing back a bit.

        Bloody brilliant if he can get a couple of good runs before we get to playing Madrid.

        I know we've still gotta work to secure top four (or five), but it's hard to feel much about the season matters other than Europe and our dignity now.

        Other than the CL, it will be good for us to finish the season with a few additional wins under our belt. Not only would it lift the mood of the club, it will make us look a bit more attractive to potential summer signings.

        QuincyAbeyie anything that could've gone wrong has gone wrong.

        i think before this season, i mentioned that football is going to reach breaking point soon due to the overuse of players. i expected players to just complain that they are tired. i never really expected this level of injury.

        every big team except Liverpool is going through these horrific injuries - us, City, United, Spurs, Chelsea, etc., have all bee devasted. we have actually managed it best but it's really fucked our season.

          Wow, something is seriously wrong for so many players to get serious Hamstring injuries. I get the players are overloaded with workload but other clubs have players who have played as much and not broken down like this.

            If I hear hamstring surgery 1 more time I might break something 😭😭

            JazzG Hamstring is the new word in 2024-5

            • Arsenal: Saka, Gabriel, Havertz
            • Chelsea: Jackson, Madueke, Kellyman
            • Spurs: Udogie, Danso, and Bissouma had apparent issue as well
            • United: Diallo
            • City: Stones
            • Everton: DCL
            • West Ham: Nelson
              ... etc., etc

                Going forward squad depth is going to be super important for football clubs. Raising the floor becomes as important, if not more important as finding opportunities to improve quality of our first team.

                I hope we considered this in our acquisition of Berta.

                  flobaba the problem is you’re adding more players. Each of whom wants more money. A few years ago a good player earned £100,000. Now it’s already £200,000. To support all these extra players and wages you either need to raise ticket prices or add more high value matches (like the extra 2 games in the champions league this year, and the club World Cup). More games means more stress.

                  What we need is lower wages and fewer games. Otherwise vicious cycle will continue and the game will gobble itself up

                      Claudius yeah, that horse has bolted already. Wages aren't going to be regulated (especially now with Saudis involved), and FIFA/uefa greed will only see more games added. The gobbling is already in progress.

                        Claudius Arsenal: Saka, Gabriel, Havertz

                        Those are serious tears which required surgery, I can't think of another club who has had three hamstring injuries so bad they required surgery in one season. I think Martinelli injured his hamstring this season and there might have been more.