Friday, 16 December 2011

Champions League draw and City (A)

I have to say, I wasn't remotely surprised to see us draw AC Milan in the Champions League. We seem to have a habit of drawing the best teams out of the pot. Although I don't think we're going to get hammered, it certainly won't be easy for us. The away leg is vital, if we can nick a goal or two then we have a chance. Lets not forget we do like playing in the San Siro (Inter 1-5 Arsenal, AC 0-2 Arsenal) and Italian sides generally don't perform well against English teams so we shall see ho that pans out. Chelsea drew another Italian team in the form of Napoli. 

So that was about the only piece of news that we've had this morning ahead of our huge clash at eastlands on Sunday. It seems that we'll play the same team that beat Everton 1-0 last week. So that means Vermaelen back out on the left, leaving Koscielny and Mertesacker to deal with pace of Aguero and the power of Balotelli. This is going to be a difficult one for our defence, especially Mertesacker who as Paul Merson put it "turns like a submarine". Now usually I'd go through the squad and identify dangerous players but it will be far simpler this week to just pick weak spots. With Clichy suspended I assume they'll play Zabaleta at left back and although he's good, I think Theo may cause some problems with his pace down that flank, especially with Silva prone to wander all over the pitch. Lescott is another player that I just don't think is up to scratch and if Van Persie can get in behind him then hopefully we'll have some joy that way. 


Sunday could be a day of classic Arsenal counter attacking football. However letting a strikeforce worth more than a space shuttle batter your defence is a very dangerous tactic so it will be interesting to see how Wenger plays it. That said last year we went there with little hope and won 3-0. However on that day Na$ri was playing for us and just a word on that little French money grabbing wanker, I highly doubt he'll play and if he does, he'll receive a torrent of abuse from our travelling fans much like he did in the Carling Cup clash. That seemed to put him off all evening which was visible when he wanted to be substituted, but sadly for him he misread the board (prick).


I've been trying to figure out if the game on Sunday is a good time to play City. Fresh off their first Premier League defeat to Chelsea, they will be wanting to bounce back. But that will have just reminded them that they aren't invincible and maybe we can use this to our advantage. Anyway only time will tell. COYG!!!

Prediction: Manchester city 2-1 Arsenal