Martin Wanless predicts…
Score prediction: Arsenal 2 Sunderland 2
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Habib Diarra
Arsenal aren’t invincible at home, as Manchester United proved recently, so there’s no reason we can’t get something in North
London.
Of course it’s going to be an incredibly tough game, but it’s one the Lads will relish and it’s as free a hit as we’ll get this season.
I’m going for 2-2, with Habib adding another goal to his tally to open for us.
‘The Champion’ Malc Dugdale predicts…
Score prediction: Arsenal 1 Sunderland 1
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Habib Diarra
The Lads did really well at home on Monday and gave themselves a bit of a bye for this as a result. If we’d lost to Burnley the pressure would be on, but we were ace and they were shit, so all good.
I honestly think we can also get something from the Liverpool home game, which I’m chuffed to have tickets for.
Today is about trying to do as well as we can, picking up no injuries and seeing what we can get on an away trip which is as hard as they get (and I say that considering the Mags game as well, as they’re falling apart at the seams just now, both on and off the pitch)
Get a point and come home for a game against the Scousers in the week with a full compliment please, boys — and maybe a wee cameo for Nilson Angulo. That would be nice.
Nee bother.
Jack Howe-Gingell predicts…
Score prediction: Arsenal 1 Sunderland 1
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Enzo Le Fée
It was great to bounce back resoundingly against Burnley, with a really professional and clinical display. In particular, (nearly) two goals from Habib Diarra was fantastic for the lad, who alongside Chemsdine Talbi looked like brand new signings after their AFCON absence.
Going away to title-chasing Arsenal will be a tough affair, but they had a game midweek against Chelsea and are potentially missing Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard, which should give us a boost.
Let’s also not forget how we bullied them in the reverse fixture and that we’ll likely approach this meeting in the same manner. They’ll hate us getting in their faces and pushing them around, and we’ll need our usual suspects — Dan Ballard, Nordi Mukiele, Brian Brobbey, to name a few — getting stuck in and hassling these lads.
It’a a very tough place to go but I know we can give them a real game — and why not leave with a point for our troubles?
Will Jones predicts…
Score prediction: Arsenal 3 Sunderland 0
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: N/A
This is about as hard as it gets. That said, we’ve shown this season that we don’t roll over, especially against the better sides.
If we stay organised, keep our discipline, and make it awkward for them, we can give them something to think about. We’ve already proved we can compete at this level, and this is another chance to test ourselves.
If it doesn’t quite fall for us, so be it, but there’s no reason we can’t make a proper game of it.
Matty Foster predicts…
Score prediction: Arsenal 1 Sunderland 0
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: N/A
It was a fantastic result on Monday and we rarely got out of first gear, but Arsenal will be an entirely different beast.
They might’ve lost their first home game against Manchester United the other week, but they’re still flying high in all competitions.
Whilst our home form is flawless, we’ve really struggled on the road and to take anything from this would be a phenomenal result. I was tempted to back a draw but I feel Arsenal will have too much for us today.
Anthony Gair predicts…
Score prediction: Arsenal 1 Sunderland 1
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Wilson Isidor
I think we’ll be well up for this after Monday night.
We have to ensure complacency doesn’t creep in — and I think Arsenal won’t take this as lightly as they did at the Stadium of Light.
That said, I reckon we’ll give them a proper game. They’ll score early on and keep the ball for about seventy five minutes, then we’ll nick one towards the end.
Gary Winter predicts…
Score prediction: Arsenal 2 Sunderland 0
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: N/A
It was a relief to set things straight immediately after a poor result at West Ham — particularly with the next two fixtures being Arsenal and Liverpool. It was also a great boost that we did it without captain Granit Xhaka, but I’m pretty gutted for him to miss out on a trip to his former employers.
We gave Arsenal a hell of a game at the Stadium of Light back in November, but I feel this is a very different proposition away from home, where we’ve picked up just two wins all season.
We’ll undoubtedly put up a fight again but we’re up against the league leaders, who still have the stingiest defence and are the second highest scorers. We do have a tendency of elevating our game against the big clubs, but I’m struggling to see anything but a comfortable Arsenal win today.
Brett Lyons-Davis predicts…
Score prediction: Arsenal 1 Sunderland 2
Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Dan Ballard
Arsenal: Top of the Premier League, top of the Champions League, through to the League Cup final and still in the FA Cup.
Sunderland: Seventeenth on away form.
This will be tough and the likelihood is that we’ll lose this one, but where’s the fun in that?
Go big or go home. Haway the lads!!
Last time out…
Let’s keep this short: Sunderland were great and Burnley were bloody awful.
We got three goals, could’ve had six, and they didn’t register a shot on target at all.
Whilst we wish relegation on no club, if they’re down, it’s one less spot we need to worry about — although that isn’t a very big concern any more. We’re looking up way more than down.
The next game can get us points towards the top eight and Europe, and after the next two we have a decent run where we can compete and win some good points for sure, so if we get very little in North London, that’s OK.
Bring those points home, lads — be that one or three.
Last game predictions…
A couple of the lads called a draw due to the potential banana skin, but the rest all called a win.
Nobody went for 3-0, with Gair very unlucky to not get three points as the lads looked good for four or five but didn’t score any more.
So, no perfect four-pointers, but a smattering of single points across the table.
No points for first scorer either — whether we gave “first scorer” to Habib Diarra for his first (OG) or his second, nobody picked him.
Predictions table and standings
We now have a three way tie between Gary, Malc and Will, after Gary got nothing but the chasing duo got a point each.
Brett is hanging in close too, and only three points split fifth and seventh.
Gair is now only four points behind Martin, and doesn’t generally back similar outcomes to our Mackem down under, so that could be a battle to watch.
How the points are awarded
Just a quick reminder of how we allocate points to our match-by-match predictions:
- Correct score = Three points
- Correct outcome (but not correct score) = One point
- Correct first Sunderland goalscorer = One point (no goalscorer is a valid call)
- Possible deductions for being lazy and not submitting on time = a two-point deduction.
