Arsenal take on Watford at Vicarage road in the third round of Premier League fixtures and in his pre-match press conference, Arsene Wenger provided injury updates on his team and spoke about the opposition.
Speaking about today’s opposition, Wenger said that Watford were always a difficult place to go and that his men would be tested for commitment, intensity. They would have to be at their best if they were to have the chance to score. Wenger stressed the importance of reducing the influence exerted by Ighalo and Troy Deeney, saying “They were very efficient last year with the two strikers up front together, Ighalo and Deeney, one of the keys for us will be to keep them quiet.”
Going into this tie, the Gunners will be without Danny Welbeck, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Iwobi, Gabriel and Carl Jenkinson for the next couple of weeks. On being asked whether Olivier Giroud would start against the Hornets, Wenger said the Frenchman was still a fraction behind in terms of physical fitness.
With one loss to Liverpool and a draw against Champions Leicester City, Arsenal desperately need a win to get their season up and running. With an international break approaching soon, the manager spoke about the iimportance of getting a win, saying “We need a first win after our game at Leicester. Of course the international break comes too soon because players go away with their national teams [and] are not ready yet to start for us yet in the Premier League, because we had to rest them as they’ve played in international games. Not everybody is up to speed completely. We still have some players who are a little bit behind.”