10 Goals vs Bottom Teams: Giroud should start instead of Welbeck against West Brom

Arsenal face a tricky trip away from home when they take on West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on Saturday. After a rather disastrous outing in their last Premier League game when they contrived to lose to arch rivals Manchester United 2-1 at the Emirates, the knives were being sharpened on a team which has been criticised a lot due to the lack of steel in the midfield and defence.

Some of the knives were held at bay during the midweek Champions League tie when Arsenal saw off Borussia Dortmund comfortably thanks to goals form Yaya Sanogo and the diamond in their team, Alexis Sanchez.

While Arsenal fans might be jubilant with their performance in the Champions League, the lack of goals from Danny Welbeck and Sanogo have not helped the team, Welbeck has only scored twice in 8 appearances in the league and it might be time to give Olivier Giroud a run in the team after he has returned from injury.

French finishing

Giroud missed out on the Champions League game due to an error as Arsenal did not name him part of the squad since they believed he would still be injured, however this actually gave the Frenchman more time to rest after his exertion against Manchester United, against whom he scored a sumptuous goal.

Giroud provides more of an aerial threat than Welbeck does and is a better finisher than the English striker. Giroud also is better at heading and has a habit of scoring against clubs in the bottom half of the league.

Olivier Giroud scored 16 goals in 36 appearances for the Gunners last season in the Premier League, he in fact scored 10 goals against clubs in the bottom half of the league, which should be enough statistical knowledge to prove that he likes to play against the lower level clubs in the league.

He had scored a goal in the home fixture against West Brom last season as well; in fact, it was the only goal of the game, which gave Arsenal the 3 points against the Baggies. Olivier Giroud looks sharp since he has come back from injury and should be raring to make the starting striker role all his own when he goes up against West Bromwich Albion and he will need to be at his best; the Baggies haven’t been firing on all cylinders but are a decent team when playing at home.

Danny Welbeck deserves a break, he has almost played every game for Arsenal since he joined the club and was pushed more into the limelight with Giroud’s injury, this could be the game where Olivier Giroud gets his groove back for Arsenal, West Brom you have been warned.