Arsenalvs.Ipswich

Mikel Arteta's men welcome the newly-promoted outfit to North London on the back of a 5-1 drubbing of Crystal Palace, where they laid any concerns of their supposed inability to score from open play to rest.

In contrast, Ipswich conceded four without reply in their most recent top-flight game at home to Newcastle United, but Arsenal have lost creator-in-chief Bukayo Saka to the serious hamstring injury he sustained in their recent win at Palace.

The Gunners' North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur have already fallen to a shock home loss to Kieran McKenna's side this season, and Watts has warned Arteta that the title race will be as good as over if they fail to win on Friday night.

"100% needs to be a win," Watts said. "But they [Ipswich] have already been to North London and won this season. They went and won at Spurs - everyone thought that was an absolute home banker on the day and it didn't turn out that way. From Arsenal's point of view, they will be very much hoping that Ipswich will defend like they did against Newcastle. That'd be very handy for them.

'Arsenal cannot drop points against Ipswich'

"But yeah, they've got to be winning this game. And the fact that it's coming on the back of the Saka injury as well, I think more eyes will be on it. The last thing they'd want is to fail to break down Ipswich without him - the noise then would just be incredible in terms of how they're going to handle the next three months or so. It's a massive game for Arsenal. Absolutely have to win.

"You would think they're going to be going into it full of momentum. Saka went off early doors against Crystal Palace, they still went on and scored five goals in that game and could have scored a hell of a lot more as well.

"They are still creating chances, they showed that they can score goals without him. No disrespect to Ipswich at all, but Arsenal, if they want any chance of catching Liverpool, then they cannot be dropping points at home to Ipswich."

Arsenal return to top-flight duty having been bumped down to fourth in the Premier League table by Nottingham Forest, who sank the Gunners' bitter rivals Spurs 1-0 on Boxing Day, but victory will take them as high as second thanks to Chelsea's shock home defeat to Fulham.

Arteta's men would still be six points behind Liverpool, who fought back to defeat Leicester City 3-1 on December 26, but they are the only team yet to suffer a single Premier League home defeat in the current campaign.

'No Sean Dyche-like performance from Ipswich'

Dropping two points in a goalless stalemate with Everton on December 14 felt like a defeat for Arsenal, but Watts cannot envisage another night of similar frustration against Ipswich, who should not put every man behind the ball from the first whistle.

"I'm probably going to put the kiss of death on this, but I'm not sure we're going to see an Ipswich side that are going to come and do what Everton did," Watts added. "I think Ipswich do want to play. They get forward, they attack, they like to counter-attack.

"They've got some good players in transition, Omari Hutchinson, former Arsenal player, he'll have a point to prove I'm sure when he comes back to the Emirates. But I think that might play into Arsenal's hands. There should be a little bit more space there.

"I can't see it being a very Sean Dyche-like performance from Ipswich. So I don't see a repeat of the Everton game. And I think that should benefit Arsenal and we should see a lot more space for them to try and exploit."

Saka is one of four guaranteed Arsenal absences for the visit of Ipswich, who will also not come up against a trio of knee victims in Raheem Sterling, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu, while Oleksandr Zinchenko remains a doubt with a muscular problem.

Will Rice, Calafiori return to Arsenal starting lineup?

However, Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori both made their comebacks in the win at Selhurst Park, combining for Arsenal's fifth goal of the evening, and Watts would not be surprised to see both players return to the hosts' left-hand side, even though Myles Lewis-Skelly has shone in recent matches.

"He's basically become another player for Arsenal," Watts said on Lewis-Skelly. "He's shown he can handle it, and sometimes you need those young players to step up in times of crisis and show that they can handle it. He's absolutely done that. And no one will be worried about Myles Lewis-Skelly playing a game in the future now.

"But having Calafiori back is really, really crucial. I thought Declan Rice against Crystal Palace was great as well. He's had a bit of rest through injury. But when he's on the pitch, he's looking fresher. He's just looking more energetic than we've seen so far this season from him. So that's going to be a boost.

"I think he'll probably come back into the starting lineup, I'd be surprised if he doesn't. And I wouldn't be surprised if we see Calafiori get his first start as well. First start in a while anyway."

Watts also delivered his verdict on which one of Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli or Ethan Nwaneri should step in for Saka on the right wing against Ipswich, whom Arsenal have not faced since a 3-1 aggregate win in the 2010-11 League Cup semi-finals.

Written by

Ben Knapton