Phill’s Diary – Arsenal (H) – 5/12/23

Phill opens up his diary to talk about The Arsenal rocking up at Kenilworth Road under the lights.

This is a proper biggie! Arsenal FC, at Kenilworth Road, under the lights on a Tuesday night. Bring it on! It’s been an age since we last met in the league, Boxing Day of 1991 to be exact, whereby Luton won 1-0, what I wouldn’t give to see that happen again against the table topping North London side.

Luton Town head into the game following a tough and bruising encounter with Brentford; no sooner were we looking like having options at the back, with Burke’s return on the horizon and Bell now back in the team, but instead we go and suffer the losses of Tom Lockyer and Teden Mengi in the same game. I hope both are available for this fixture, as our defence will surely be put under pressure by Arsenal’s talented, fast attacking options. It’d be great if Alfie Doughty is available, missing him on Saturday at the Gtech showed how crucial he is at getting us mobile up the pitch, he’d be a massive boost if he is available.

Brown’s last 2 performances have put pressure on Rob Edwards to reinstate him into the starting XI, hopefully in a more advanced role than the makeshift opportunity he had this weekend at RWB. If Marvelous Nakamba’s knee has recovered, he’d be great to have in the CDM position to try and nullify the likes of Martin Odegaard, who has returned from his own injury issues to get back on the scoresheet this past weekend against Wolves. Having Marv back to accompany Ross Barkley would be a real bonus, having that Premier League nous and experience at the heart of our line up. Barkley was again a real positive on Saturday, despite the overall frustrations of a pretty toothless performance until the last 15 minutes, he continues to try and stitch things together and be the main man in this team, and his team mates know he has all the qualities to be the focal point. If Marv can’t start, then personally I’d like to see Jordan Clark given a chance, his energy and clever footwork could be really useful when breaking up play and setting us on our way forwards, much like Barkley has been doing; having both able to do that, setting up chances to break, backed by a roaring crowd at KR could lead to chances.

Arsenal arrive at Kenilworth Road as the league leaders, and absolutely on fire in front of goal, having scored 9 in the past 3 games. The big question I have, is whether the Gunners will respect us as opponents, or whether Mikel Arteta will rest a few of his stars prior to their tough away trip to Aston Villa this coming Saturday? Last season, when Arsenal were looking nailed on for the title, they continued to flog the same starting XI until they finally ran out of steam and Manchester City cantered to the finish line. I wonder if Arteta will have learned from that, or if he will indeed treat Luton Town away with the respect we deserve, after all, look at how Liverpool fared against us only a few short weeks ago.

If we do face the ‘Full Fat’ version of Arsenal, their midfield will pose as formidable of a unit as we have seen at Kenilworth Road in many a year; Saka and Martinelli on the flanks, with Odegaard floating around stitching things together, with Declan Rice sitting behind and allowing those in front to ‘do their thing’. It could be a very tough night, but one I know the fans and players alike, will relish.

Let’s pull off a shock and get something from the game, get behind them, make it hostile and sing your hearts out Hatters.