Cardiff 0-0 Arsenal LIVE: Score, goals, updates; Premier League latest, Mesut Ozil starts

Cardiff vs Arsenal: Express Sport brings you LIVE coverage from the Cardiff City Stadium

CARDIFF 0-1 ARSENAL | MUSTAFI (11)

• Petr Cech gifts ball to Arter, who smashes it over
• Shkodran Mustafi opens scoring with a bullet header

Cardiff XI: Etheridge, Camarasa, Manga, Morrison, Bennett, Hoilett, Arter, Ralls, Bamba, Reid, Ward.

Arsenal XI: Cech, Bellerin, Sokratis, Mustafi, Monreal, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Ramsey, Aubameyang, Lacazette, Ozil.

CARDIFF 0-1 ARSENAL | MUSTAFI

11: Nearly a good old fashioned sucker-punch from the Gunners. The ball breaks kindly for Aaron Ramsey, whose snapshot is saved by Etheridge.

10: I don’t know who to lambast first, Petr Cech or Harry Arter. Arsenal’s goalkeeper passes the ball straight to the pressing Cardiff midfielder, who ignores an unmarked Bobby Reid before smashing it over the crossbar.

It clearly should be 1-0 to the hosts, and it clearly will be shortly if Arsenal keep taking these risks at the back. Is it worth it?!

7: Is that booing I hear for Aaron Ramsey?! Seems a little harsh if you ask me. Anyway, the Welsh winger reaches the byline before sending it into the middle. Bamba hacks it clear.

4: Cardiff are RIGHT up for this today. Steve Warnock wasn’t lying when he said he would try to rough Arsenal up. The Bluebirds are committed and pressing Arsenal all over the pitch.

2: It took less than 60 seconds for Petr Cech to be exposed with this new ‘play out from the back’ system that Unai Emery wants his players to play. The stopper collects the ball from Nacho Monreal before being closed down by Bobby Reid. He just about scrambled it out to Shkodran Mustafi.

CARDIFF 0-0 ARSENAL

1: And we’re underway on a rather nice afternoon in Cardiff. The last time I uttered those words was a stag do that went horribly wrong. I might tell you about that later, if you’re lucky!

‘NO CHANCE’

13:20: Well, BBC pundit Jermaine Jenas doesn’t rate Arsenal’s chances of breaking into the top four.

“Arsenal have got no chance of finishing in the top four. Manchester City and Liverpool will be battling it out for the top two spots and the rest will be between Chelsea, Manchester United and Spurs. That’s not me having a go. It’s a rebuilding process at Arsenal,” Jenas said.

NO SLEEP LOST

13:15: And nor would I expect Steve Warnock to lose sleep…

Warnock insists he will not be suffering any sleepless nights just because goal-shy Cardiff’s next three opponents are Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City.

Cardiff head into that daunting run of games, starting with Arsenal’s trip to south Wales today, having yet to score in the Premier League.

“You say three. I’d say 33,” Warnock replied when asked about Cardiff’s tough run. “You are looking at the teams but if you’d let it worry you too much you’d never sleep at night.

“We’ve got to look at this as a challenge to try and create chances against the top teams. We know they will have a lot of possession and it won’t be all down to us parking the bus, because these teams have great quality.

“But it could be worse, we could be in the Championship going all over the country. I’m definitely going to enjoy going to these stadiums and, at my age, I want to see my team playing good football.”

TWITTER ROUND-UP

Mat: Poor Torreira, what does the man need to do to win a start? C’mon Unai, the time for experimenting is over, we know he’s our best midfielder!

Razz: What does Unai have against torreira and Leno? Our best goalkeeper and a proper defensive midfielfer.

Scott: Unai emery is getting on my nerves with his shite lineups. £50 mil of summer signings on the bench.

Quite a few people are annoyed with Unai Emery’s decision to leave Lucas Torreira on the bench today. And in fairness, he looked excellent when he came on against West Ham last weekend.

DIETLAND

13:00: No, I’m not referring to the new HBO show, which you should all be watching incidentally.

I’m talking about Unai Emery’s new regime at Arsenal. The tactician wants his players to enjoy the sweet taste of success but has told them to stay away from high-sugar fruit drinks.

The Spaniard’s meticulous eye for detail has led to him banning non-freshly squeezed juices from the club’s London Colney training base.

Instead, Emery wants the team to follow his lead and drink a healthier alternative as his quest to overhaul the fortunes of the club continues.

Good luck with that, lads. I love me a high-sugar fruit drink – especially when hungover. Like today…

ROUGH HIM UP!

12:55: Neil Warnock wants Cardiff to “rough up” Aaron Ramsey and leave Wales manager Ryan Giggs sweating

He knows how to endear himself, doesn’t he?

Veteran Cardiff boss Warnock has built his sides down the years on their combative nature, and he admits Giggs has every reason to be anxious as Ramsey returns to the club he left Arsenal for in 2008.

“I don’t blame Ryan for being nervous about the game,” Warnock said. “I hope we can rough him (Ramsey) up. Needs must.

“Aaron is a top player and I’ve always liked him. I’ve always thought he was underrated really because he’s a player who doesn’t grab the headlines, he goes under the radar. He’s a manager’s dream. He’d be number one on your team sheet every week and then you put the other 10 around him.”

TEAM NEWS – ARSENAL

12:50: Unai Emery finally starts Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang together! Arsenal fans are rejoicing.

The Gunners boss makes a coulee of changes from the side who sneaked past West Ham at the Emirates Stadium last weekend.

Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette return for Arsenal, replacing Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who drop to the bench.

There’s still no start for summer signing Lucas Torreira, who is behind Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi in the pecking order.

TEAM NEWS – CARDIFF

12:45: My sincerest apologies for the late and fairly erratic updates this afternoon. Basically, everything that can go wrong is going wrong at Express HQ this morning. I’ll bore you with the details later.

Anyway, Cardiff manager Neil Warnock makes three changes to the side that drew with Huddersfield last weekend.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Josh Murphy and Kenneth Zohore all drop out with Bobby Reid, Junior Hoilett and Danny Ward taking their places.

THE STARTING XI

12:30: And here come the line-ups. A quick glance at the sides tells me that Unai Emery has brought Mesut Ozil back into the fold.

Cardiff XI: Etheridge, Camarasa, Manga, Morrison, Bennett, Hoilett, Arter, Ralls, Bamba, Reid, Ward.

Subs: Murphy, Peltier, Cunningham, Harris, Paterson, Madine, Zahore.

Arsenal XI: Cech, Bellerin, Sokratis, Mustafi, Monreal, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Ramsey, Aubameyang, Lacazette, Ozil.

Subs: Leno,Lichtsteiner, Holding, Elneny, Torreira, Mkhitaryan, Welbeck.

CARDIFF vs ARSENAL

Cardiff could be without Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Junior Hoilett. Mendez-Laing has been ruled out for three months after damaging knee ligaments, and Hoilett faces a fitness test on a groin injury that has ruled him out for two weeks. Aron Gunnarsson will not return until after the international break because of a knee injury.

Mesut Ozil has recovered from illness and is available for Arsenal after the 29-year-old missed last weekend’s win over West Ham. He has trained all week and could return in south Wales. Laurent Koscielny (Achilles), Sead Kolasinac (knee), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (leg) and Carl Jenkinson (ankle) are missing as Lucas Torreira pushes for his first start.

Last season: No corresponding fixture

Last five league matches: Cardiff W D L D D; Arsenal L W L L W

Top scorers (all competitions): Bruno Ecuele Manga (Cardiff) 1, ; Nacho Monreal, Alex Iwobi, Henrikh Mkhitaryan & Danny Welbeck (Arsenal) 1,

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)