Arsenal end a run of four straight defeats with a surprise – and relatively straightforward – 2-0 win at AC Milan to keep their Europa League campaign on track.
According to an Arsenal Supporters’ Trust survey, 88% of fans want beleaguered coach Arsene Wenger out by the summer. A solid 100% of them wouldn’t have seen last night’s result coming.
Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Aaron Ramsey, both set up by Mesut Ozil, put the Gunners on course for a Europa League quarter-final spot, and with it the faint glimmer of Champions League qualification for next season.
The job, of course, is only half done and it would be entirely in keeping with a hitherto hapless season if Wenger’s men contrived to lose the tie from such a strong position.
But there were encouraging signs in the San Siro of a recovery of sorts, although it has to be said that Milan were truly woeful on the night.
That potential recovery delivers a mixed message to Fantasy managers, however.
Arsenal have the kindest of run-ins, with a Gameweek 36 trip to Man United the toughest test in a fixture list otherwise comprised almost entirely of teams residing in the lower reaches of the Premier League table.
Then again, fixtures count for little when form is so poor, and Arsenal’s recent form has most definitely been that – they’ve lost four of their last five league matches and haven’t kept a clean sheet since Gameweek 18.
A victory and a shut-out against AC Milan will go a long way to restoring confidence within the side, but Fantasy managers will need evidence that last night’s result was more than just a blip before they feel comfortable adding Arsenal assets to their wish lists, whether they still have Wildcards and/or Free Hit chips to play or not.
That evidence could come as soon as Sunday with a visit from Watford.
But success in Europe could come with the threat of rotation, with Milan in London for the second leg of the tie next Thursday.
Should the Gunners finish that particular Italian job, it will bring up the small matter of a two-legged quarter-final.
Those ties will be played on April 5 and 12, before a Gameweek 33 visit from Southampton and a possible double Gameweek 34 involving trips to Newcastle and Leicester City – generally attractive fixtures to invest in Arsenal players if rotation were not in play.
The only asset looking absolutely nailed-on for domestic starts is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who is ineligible for the Europa League.
The forward has two goals from his four league matches and, with 4.5% ownership, could be a fine differential once Gameweek 31’s blank is done and dusted.
The Gunners’ schedule after that takes in Stoke City and the aforementioned trio of decent match-ups. They also have a guaranteed Gameweek 35 fixture at home to West Ham.
How many of those matches will involve the midfield stars who thrived last night remains to be seen, not that their form is particularly eye-catching anyway.
The two assists for Ozil (9.3) followed four straight blanks in the league, while Mkhitaryan (7.7) scored his first goal for the club, but has only a hat-trick of assists in Gameweek 26’s demolition of Everton to his name domestically.
Ramsey, at 6.9 and owned by just 3.9%, is arguably the most appealing of the trio, providing he can remain clear of injury – an average of 5.6 points per match this season is sixth among midfielders, level with the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Leroy Sane, for example.
Yet, as witnessed as recently as last Sunday, when he was rested for the trip to Brighton (much to the chagrin of 34,000+ new owners), the threat of rotation could blunt his domestic output if Wenger looks to prioritise the Europa League.
At the back, Arsenal’s fragility doesn’t exactly inspire investment either.
And there are a number of injury issues to factor in as well.
Both first-choice full-backs, Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal, were missing last night and their understudies, Calum Chambers and Sead Kolasinac, then limped off with knocks.
That potentially leaves Wenger with only five specialist defenders, and the versatile midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles, to choose from for his backline.
While that situation should at least mean consistent starts for last night’s centre-half pairing Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi, it doesn’t boost the clean-sheet prospects of a team that has shipped 21 goals in the 11 matches since their last league shut-out.
There is a Fantasy paradox brewing at Arsenal.
Their schedule demands we at least consider their key assets – if they can find some form.
But if those players are fit and firing, they might well be kept back for Europa League action.
Wenger’s team sheets for Sunday’s Watford match and the return leg against Milan should produce some crucial evidence of his plans for the run-in which, in turn, will inform our own thoughts as to the viability of having Arsenal assets in our Fantasy squads.
