1886 Previews

Goonersphere's match preview page covering all first team matches. Previews include up to date injury lists, match facts, interesting stats, opposition analysis, head to head records as well as line-up and score predictions.

Jon writes weekend match previews for Goonersphere but you can catch his excellent regular blogging on http://woolwich1886.blogspot.com

@woolwich_1886

Midweek matches are written by Goonersphere collaborators. Please get in touch if you would be interested in writing midweek match previews.

Arsenal Welcome Stoke In Search For Home Form

Written by Jon Shay on 11 September 2015. Posted in 1886 Previews

Match Preview: Arsenal vs. Stoke—Premier League 12.09.2015

After a long, long, international break, we return at long last to Prem action. Count your blessings that no one got hurt—unless you count the revelation that Welbeck will be out until December as “news.” Aside from that, there’s much to grumble over as we saw the transfer-window slam shut without any dramatic deadline-day deals to delight us. As if on cue, a hated rival invades the Emirates to dent our ambitions—literally if not figuratively.

Arsenal Must Be Wary Of Newcastle's Banterlechtarian

Written by Jon Shay on 28 August 2015. Posted in 1886 Previews

Match Preview: Newcastle vs. Arsenal—Prem 29.08.2015

The last time we faced Pardew's crew, we eked out a 1-2 victory at Selhurst Park and—oh. Sorry. Wrong dossier. Still, we've lorded it over Newcastle over the last few years, winning seven in a row across all competitions. Then again, we're off to a sluggish start, failing to impress by varying degrees in each of our last three. While Newcastle have failed to win, they've also started with one of the toughest sets of fixtures—drawing at home with Southampton before losing away to Swansea and then drawing at Old Trafford. In other words, they may be winless, but they're hardly gormless.

Arsenal Look To Expose Liverpool's Soft Underbelly

Written by Jon Shay on 23 August 2015. Posted in 1886 Previews

Match Preview: Arsenal vs. Liverpool—Premier League 24.08.2015

There was a time, believe it or not, when these two clubs vied for supremacy. I’d like to make a play on “Prem” and “supremacy,” but the era defies such word-play. Ever since 1989, when Arsenal won the First Division in epic fashion, the two clubs have parted ways. At one level, that match seems to mark the arrival of the modern game. Whether it also marks the decline of a once-great franchise—Liverpool—is another question.