Another solid(ish) performance last weekend against Brighton in the FA Cup, securing our passage into the next round and setting up a home clash with Middlesborough, in a few weeks time. In reality the 3-2 scoreline made the game seem a lot closer than it was, we were always in control and when Theo Walcott scored his first goal since his return from injury after 6 minutes, it seemed as if it would be one way traffic. Mesut Ozil made it 2-0 with a smart finish and Arsenal were cruising. Brighton pulled one back, but no sooner where they back in it than Arsenal finished the match off as Rosicky, who was outstanding all match, scored a thumping volley to cap his performance. Although Brighton got a second Arsenal managed to hold on.
Today we have a chance to draw level on points with 4th placed Southampton if we beat Aston Villa at the Emirates. Villa are a side who are in big trouble and have struggled this season. That said they are in desperate need of some points and we all know that Villa at home is far from a banker. We've struggled against Villa at home before and we know what they bring with them and how they play. They have the powerful Benteke upfront who despite a dry spell is always dangerous infront of goal along with the likes of Agbonlahor and Fabien Delph on the wing they have the potential to pose a huge test for us. After a wonder strike last week Charles Gil might be their biggest threat though purely because he's an unknown quantity.
In our team news Wenger confirmed earlier in the week that his is "unlikely" to risk playing Sanchez who had a slight thigh issue. I would imagine this means he'll be on the bench and will only be used if he's desperately needed. The free space in the midfield I think will probably be take but the newly fit Mesut Ozil albeit in his least favourite position on the wing. Danny Welbeck remains sidelined but is expected to be fit again for the NLD next weekend. Coquelin is expected to regain his place as the holding player in the middle of the park whether that's alongside or behind Ramsey remains to be seen. The battle at right back is on between Chambers and Bellerin. My gut instinct looking at Villa's left flank would be to play Bellerin purely because of his pace against Delph and Agbonlahor. New boy Gabriel Paulista is fit and could see some action but I expect him to start on the bench.
With all teams around us winning yesterday we need to step up and show some steele to make sure we aren't the big losers of the weekend. A win would also put some pressure on Southampton who play against Swansea in the late game today. COYG!
Showing posts with label Aston Villa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aston Villa. Show all posts
Sunday, 1 February 2015
Friday, 16 August 2013
Start of the season. Aston Villa (H)
Well in my last post which was over a month ago, I said if we signed any new players I'd keep you updated and surprise surprise the season is about to kick off and we haven't signed anyone. We haven't even spent a penny. Whilst we have cleared the deadwood getting shot of Gervinho, Chamakh and others we have left our squad threadbare and there was a lot of talk of how we'd cope with injuries...
But of course this wouldn't be the start of the season without us having a mountain of injuries. The main one that has been reported today is that Mikel Arteta looks to be out for up to 6 weeks with a thigh problem. Add him to Nacho Monreal and Thomas Vermaelen along with long term Abou Diaby and we're looking pretty thin as it is.
It just doesn't make any sense to get rid of 25+ players and not to bring in replacements. For a man of Wenger's intelligence and whatever you think of him there's no doubt he's not dumb, I don't understand what he was thinking. I don't buy the whole "we tried but they didn't happen" story, if every other club can manage it then so can we with our ever growing "war chest". Watching the managers press-conference he has said that "we will be active in the transfer market...we are looking more for quality than for numbers, we would like 2/3 players, if possible more".
Anyway on the plus side football is finally returning tomorrow and we kick off at home against Aston Villa, a side that I would say have had a good summer. They've tied Benteke down and held on to Wiemann whilst adding to their side. we have a fit side apart from the injuries highlighted above. Sagna and Ramsey are fit to play after reports suggesting that they had picked up knocks. The boss confirmed that Per Mertesacker will captain the team this weekend which is an interesting choice, the quiet German and a player who upon closer analysis appears to have had a bit of a ropey pre-season being pulled out of position a few times.
I think we'll go for something like: SZCZ, Sagna, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Wilshere, Ramsey, Rosicky, Walcott, Cazorla, Giroud. I think Rosicky will step into the gap and lead the midfield attack with Jack and Aaron behind. Or Cazorla may lead the attack with someone shifting over to the left. I think a focal point of our attack will be Walcott running diagonally behind the defence and if we link up its a very effective point of attack.
Obviously threats from Villa will be Wiemann and Benteke. Our defence will need to be strong in the air to keep the big Belgian out of the frame. Of course Agbonlahor is a player that we shouldn't overlook either. I think this could be a big a game for Mertesacker who I'm certain will be marking Benteke. Villa are sharp on the counter too so our pacey players will need to track back.
It's difficult to predict a the first game of the season, but based on our promising pre-season I'm quietly optimistic. Until next time COYG!
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa
But of course this wouldn't be the start of the season without us having a mountain of injuries. The main one that has been reported today is that Mikel Arteta looks to be out for up to 6 weeks with a thigh problem. Add him to Nacho Monreal and Thomas Vermaelen along with long term Abou Diaby and we're looking pretty thin as it is.
It just doesn't make any sense to get rid of 25+ players and not to bring in replacements. For a man of Wenger's intelligence and whatever you think of him there's no doubt he's not dumb, I don't understand what he was thinking. I don't buy the whole "we tried but they didn't happen" story, if every other club can manage it then so can we with our ever growing "war chest". Watching the managers press-conference he has said that "we will be active in the transfer market...we are looking more for quality than for numbers, we would like 2/3 players, if possible more".
Anyway on the plus side football is finally returning tomorrow and we kick off at home against Aston Villa, a side that I would say have had a good summer. They've tied Benteke down and held on to Wiemann whilst adding to their side. we have a fit side apart from the injuries highlighted above. Sagna and Ramsey are fit to play after reports suggesting that they had picked up knocks. The boss confirmed that Per Mertesacker will captain the team this weekend which is an interesting choice, the quiet German and a player who upon closer analysis appears to have had a bit of a ropey pre-season being pulled out of position a few times.
I think we'll go for something like: SZCZ, Sagna, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Wilshere, Ramsey, Rosicky, Walcott, Cazorla, Giroud. I think Rosicky will step into the gap and lead the midfield attack with Jack and Aaron behind. Or Cazorla may lead the attack with someone shifting over to the left. I think a focal point of our attack will be Walcott running diagonally behind the defence and if we link up its a very effective point of attack.
Obviously threats from Villa will be Wiemann and Benteke. Our defence will need to be strong in the air to keep the big Belgian out of the frame. Of course Agbonlahor is a player that we shouldn't overlook either. I think this could be a big a game for Mertesacker who I'm certain will be marking Benteke. Villa are sharp on the counter too so our pacey players will need to track back.
It's difficult to predict a the first game of the season, but based on our promising pre-season I'm quietly optimistic. Until next time COYG!
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa
Thursday, 21 February 2013
Aston Villa (H)
Many journalists went with stories along the lines of: "it goes from bad to worse" following our humbling by German Champions-elect Bayern Munich on Tuesday night. The home leg was our only hope and we now go to Munich needing to score at least 3. Near on impossible. However I don't think its quite as critical as its being made out to be. It was simply a case of us being outclassed by the best team in Europe. I mentioned before they had four stars above their badge, after this season it could well be five.
The news out of Arsenal this morning is no good defensively as it seem Bacary Sagna has a knee injury and will definitely miss this game, so it seems Jenkinson will be stepping in. On the plus side Monreal will return to the left after Vermaelen acted as a make shift left back on Tuesday. The Spaniard seems to be holding his own in the league at the moment, he's a proper no nonsense defender which is what we need. So I imagine the team will be something like: SZCZ, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Monreal, Wilshere, Arteta, Cazorla, Walcott, Podolski, Giroud.
Aston VIlla haven't played some bad football this season they just don't get the job done and this season that's cost them dearly. Obviously their danger men are top scorer Christian Benteke who given half a chance will find the back of the net. Along with him Wiemann can also find the net. Apart from that there is the out of sorts N'Zogbia and then Agbonlahor who I expect will be benched. Villa's problem is clearly defensive though as they have the worst goal difference in the league, much of that could be down to the raft of injured defenders they have at the moment but that makes it better for us. It's a game where we really need to win and could easily unload on them.
Ahead of the huge 6 pointer at Shite Hart Lane next weekend and then another tricky game against Everton, 3 points this weekend is vital. COYG!
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Villa
Friday, 23 March 2012
Aston Villa (H)
Wednesday was a huge win for us for more reasons that just 3 points. It was like the Arsenal of old, we scored early and defended our lead, really, really well. Koscielny was brilliant as was Song in getting back. But the standout player was Vermaelen who Ian Dowie said "was a different class". Aside from scoring he really showed why he's such a rated defender. It was a performance that we needed to give the defence some confidence. It looked to be the perfect night for us until Van der Vaart scored an annoying equaliser in the 90th minute of the yids game with Stoke but still, the result was enough to see us climb to 3rd our highest position of the season.
We now have a run of games where we need to keep the pressure on Tottenham and Chelsea who rather conveniently play each other this weekend. I personally think the winner will end up 4th, but we shall see. Its really one of those games where any result works for us depending on how you look at it. Chelsea win, it pegs Tottenham back, Tottenham win it pegs Chelsea back and a draw gives us the opportunity to make some ground up on both of them. Of course this only applies if we beat Aston Villa.
Villa are a team who we always seem to have a problem with, they were the first team we played at the Emirates and it was a 1-1 draw. Aside from the cup comeback earlier in the season, they seem to have a decent run against us at home. But this season they have been all over the place and currently sit 15th. On top of that Darren Bent is out for the season (thank god) as is Fabian Delph, so hopefully we can turn it on and get 3 more points. Team news is pretty similar to Wednesday, I would expect a similar team to start but I have my suspicions that Ramsey may fall back to the bench given his poor run of form at the moment.
So Aston Villa, players to watch for are obviously Agbonlahor, Petrov, Ireland and N'Zogbia. They can be dangerous going forward but at the back they lack pace and I think that's where we'll get in behind them, its the sort of game where if Walcott plays as we know he can, he'll have a good game. The momentum that we have at the moment is great, we just need to keep it up.
Now I'm sure some of you are aware that we don't exactly have the best relationship with Villa fans, mainly because they're all wankers, but hopefully there's a good turn out and we really make some noise. COGY!
Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Aston Villa
We now have a run of games where we need to keep the pressure on Tottenham and Chelsea who rather conveniently play each other this weekend. I personally think the winner will end up 4th, but we shall see. Its really one of those games where any result works for us depending on how you look at it. Chelsea win, it pegs Tottenham back, Tottenham win it pegs Chelsea back and a draw gives us the opportunity to make some ground up on both of them. Of course this only applies if we beat Aston Villa.
Villa are a team who we always seem to have a problem with, they were the first team we played at the Emirates and it was a 1-1 draw. Aside from the cup comeback earlier in the season, they seem to have a decent run against us at home. But this season they have been all over the place and currently sit 15th. On top of that Darren Bent is out for the season (thank god) as is Fabian Delph, so hopefully we can turn it on and get 3 more points. Team news is pretty similar to Wednesday, I would expect a similar team to start but I have my suspicions that Ramsey may fall back to the bench given his poor run of form at the moment.
So Aston Villa, players to watch for are obviously Agbonlahor, Petrov, Ireland and N'Zogbia. They can be dangerous going forward but at the back they lack pace and I think that's where we'll get in behind them, its the sort of game where if Walcott plays as we know he can, he'll have a good game. The momentum that we have at the moment is great, we just need to keep it up.
Now I'm sure some of you are aware that we don't exactly have the best relationship with Villa fans, mainly because they're all wankers, but hopefully there's a good turn out and we really make some noise. COGY!
Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Aston Villa
Friday, 27 January 2012
Aston Villa (A)
In a turbulent week for Arsenal and the manager we've heard good and bad things. So lets start with the obvious talking point, the decision to replace Alex OC with Arshavin. From my perspective he was our best player now Wenger claims he was cramping up and on one hand I can believe that on the other he looked fine to me. The reaction of RVP said it all, it just made no tactical sense, he gave an option going forward and power coming back. The fans who were clearly unhappy made their feelings known and for the first time that I can remember actually turned on Wenger which wasn't particularly nice to see, but caught in the moment where we looked as if we could steal the game I understand the reaction. As if to prove the fans right Arshavin came on and did nothing, I think putting the blame for their second squarely on him is unfair but he didn't help the situation. Anyway that's in the past and some of the more senior players have come out and said that we all need to be going the right way and they count on our support. That's the end of that.
There's good and bad new this week regarding players. Let's start with the bad news and get it out the way. Wilshere has suffered a setback in his progress, from what I can gather he felt some pain in his ankle whilst running, at the moment we don't know how serious it is, fingers crossed. Gibbs will miss this weekends clash with Villa as he's still not ready and Arsene has basically said, we aren't signing a left back so I think we can rule ourselves out of doing anything this window. Now finally onto some good news, Sagna is nearly ready and is back in full training and there is a rumour that he might be in the line up on Sunday, but lets not get our hopes up. Alex OC is perfectly fine and in the words of Wenger himself "He will be involved on Sunday." Arteta and Henry are also back in full training and are close to being fit.
Picking a team for Sunday is complicated due to so many possibilities so I'm gonna have a stab at it and see what we actually field: SZCZ, Vermaelen, Mert, Kos, Sagna/Yennaris, Song, Rosicky, Ramsey, Walcott, Arshavin, RVP. Now a lot of that is guessing so don't hold me to that. We could well see Coquelin step in as he is fit again and Alex OC may start but I just think we're more likely to see him come on later in the match. Benayoun is another possible starter. There is no doubt this is an important game and we need a trophy and that's no understatement but I think Arsene will have half an eye on Bolton midweek.
So in terms of the Villa side we'll see I'm really not sure. There is no doubt they'll pose a threat with the likes of Agbonlahor, Bent and the old enemy Robbie Keane whose on loan from LA Galaxy. Petrov can also be a pain in the arse on his day, so plenty of threat going forward but I don't think the defence is overly great and I can see us getting some joy out of it.
So a difficult game, to cap off a difficult week and we'll be made to work for a result that is much needed. So till Tuesday COGY!!
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa
There's good and bad new this week regarding players. Let's start with the bad news and get it out the way. Wilshere has suffered a setback in his progress, from what I can gather he felt some pain in his ankle whilst running, at the moment we don't know how serious it is, fingers crossed. Gibbs will miss this weekends clash with Villa as he's still not ready and Arsene has basically said, we aren't signing a left back so I think we can rule ourselves out of doing anything this window. Now finally onto some good news, Sagna is nearly ready and is back in full training and there is a rumour that he might be in the line up on Sunday, but lets not get our hopes up. Alex OC is perfectly fine and in the words of Wenger himself "He will be involved on Sunday." Arteta and Henry are also back in full training and are close to being fit.
Picking a team for Sunday is complicated due to so many possibilities so I'm gonna have a stab at it and see what we actually field: SZCZ, Vermaelen, Mert, Kos, Sagna/Yennaris, Song, Rosicky, Ramsey, Walcott, Arshavin, RVP. Now a lot of that is guessing so don't hold me to that. We could well see Coquelin step in as he is fit again and Alex OC may start but I just think we're more likely to see him come on later in the match. Benayoun is another possible starter. There is no doubt this is an important game and we need a trophy and that's no understatement but I think Arsene will have half an eye on Bolton midweek.
So in terms of the Villa side we'll see I'm really not sure. There is no doubt they'll pose a threat with the likes of Agbonlahor, Bent and the old enemy Robbie Keane whose on loan from LA Galaxy. Petrov can also be a pain in the arse on his day, so plenty of threat going forward but I don't think the defence is overly great and I can see us getting some joy out of it.
So a difficult game, to cap off a difficult week and we'll be made to work for a result that is much needed. So till Tuesday COGY!!
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa
Friday, 23 December 2011
Merry Christmas and Wolves (H)
3 more points in the bag after a nervy match at Villa. It was close and for a while the match could have easily gone either way. At 1-1 you just felt that there was another goal in it, luckily Benayoun was on hand to head us into the lead and onwards to a win. There were points in the match where we gave the ball away sloppily and against a better opposition we may have been punished but they were equally as sloppy. Their goal was given to them with a poor back pass from the usually solid Vermaelen, he put Mert in trouble and maybe if he had some pace then he would have got there, but he should know he's no Usain Bolt by now. I'm really glad Benayoun got our second cause I still rate him as a good player and he deserved a goal. In the end we got the result and that's all that matters.
So we now look ahead to the rearranged Wolves fixture on the 27th now (KO is the same time) cause the moaning tube drivers have to work Boxing Day (diddums). At the end of the day many people have to work during Public Holidays, so shut up and get on with it. Anyway this is a football blog not a political commentary. This is another game where we just have to win and to be honest we're going to be expected to win easily. Our full back problems are now starting to concern me. At left back Gibbs, who seems to be made of cardboard has suffered another setback and will be out for a further 4 weeks. Santos is going to be out for a while yet so there has already been talk of replacements, but I'll get on to that in a bit.
In terms of danger men, you need to look to their wingers Jarvis and Hunt. They do like to play down the wings and fire balls in all over the shop. I think Hunt will provide the problems as I expect we'll play Miquel who is the most inexperienced of our defenders, with Djourou also being injured. Fletcher is the man on form in the middle and he certainly has some talent. I think our defence however will be up to the task and hopefully will have a solid performance. I wouldn't be surprised if Benayoun earned himself a start after playing well at Villa, in place of Ramsey who has been off form recently. The rest of the squad I imagine will be fairly standard.
3 points would certainly make Arsene Wengers Christmas and keep us in the chasing pack which after the draw the other night is still fairly tightly packed. That was a good result for us and with the yid's game in hand we need to keep the pressure on.
Now I said I'd touch on possible replacements, well not replacements as such more stand-ins if you will. With our two left backs out for a while questions about whether Wenger may bring in a loanee to hold the defence together until we have Gibbs back. Now naturally I thought this was a good idea, until I heard a name banded around from many sources. Wayne Bridge. Now it doesn't take a genius to know that Wayne isn't exactly a world class left back and although his club list is impressive, its long for a reason. Now I respect Arsene Wenger, but a move for Bridge would be diabolical to say the least, luckily he played down speculation earlier, but not enough to stop people talking, please, please, please Mr. Wenger don't subject us to that!
Before I wish you a Merry Christmas and leave you to enjoy the festivities I thought I'd throw my opinion in on the Blackburn/Keane/Venkys situation. I saw the protest today which had me wondering how high unemployment in Blackburn really is. But on a serious note, I think those people need to grow up. He's trying his best with the squad he has and it seems that some of the fans even want them to lose so they can hurl abuse at him. I must say I found myself agreeing completely with what Ferguson said earlier, firstly, full marks to Steve for dealing with it as well as he has so far. It takes a lot of bottle for him to take the sort of things that have been said about him and not make a remark about the supporters. Secondly, in the words of the gum-chewing Scot himself "for goodness sake give the man a break". I can understand that they want the owners to have more of a presence at the club, but forcing the Billionaires from India who lets face it basically finance the club to sell doesn't make much business sense now does it? Don't bite the hand that feeds you would be my message to those fans.
Anyway that's enough about about chicken farmers for now. All that's left is for me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and I'll be back before our NYE clash with QPR. Until then have a good one!
Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Wolves
So we now look ahead to the rearranged Wolves fixture on the 27th now (KO is the same time) cause the moaning tube drivers have to work Boxing Day (diddums). At the end of the day many people have to work during Public Holidays, so shut up and get on with it. Anyway this is a football blog not a political commentary. This is another game where we just have to win and to be honest we're going to be expected to win easily. Our full back problems are now starting to concern me. At left back Gibbs, who seems to be made of cardboard has suffered another setback and will be out for a further 4 weeks. Santos is going to be out for a while yet so there has already been talk of replacements, but I'll get on to that in a bit.
In terms of danger men, you need to look to their wingers Jarvis and Hunt. They do like to play down the wings and fire balls in all over the shop. I think Hunt will provide the problems as I expect we'll play Miquel who is the most inexperienced of our defenders, with Djourou also being injured. Fletcher is the man on form in the middle and he certainly has some talent. I think our defence however will be up to the task and hopefully will have a solid performance. I wouldn't be surprised if Benayoun earned himself a start after playing well at Villa, in place of Ramsey who has been off form recently. The rest of the squad I imagine will be fairly standard.
3 points would certainly make Arsene Wengers Christmas and keep us in the chasing pack which after the draw the other night is still fairly tightly packed. That was a good result for us and with the yid's game in hand we need to keep the pressure on.
Now I said I'd touch on possible replacements, well not replacements as such more stand-ins if you will. With our two left backs out for a while questions about whether Wenger may bring in a loanee to hold the defence together until we have Gibbs back. Now naturally I thought this was a good idea, until I heard a name banded around from many sources. Wayne Bridge. Now it doesn't take a genius to know that Wayne isn't exactly a world class left back and although his club list is impressive, its long for a reason. Now I respect Arsene Wenger, but a move for Bridge would be diabolical to say the least, luckily he played down speculation earlier, but not enough to stop people talking, please, please, please Mr. Wenger don't subject us to that!
Before I wish you a Merry Christmas and leave you to enjoy the festivities I thought I'd throw my opinion in on the Blackburn/Keane/Venkys situation. I saw the protest today which had me wondering how high unemployment in Blackburn really is. But on a serious note, I think those people need to grow up. He's trying his best with the squad he has and it seems that some of the fans even want them to lose so they can hurl abuse at him. I must say I found myself agreeing completely with what Ferguson said earlier, firstly, full marks to Steve for dealing with it as well as he has so far. It takes a lot of bottle for him to take the sort of things that have been said about him and not make a remark about the supporters. Secondly, in the words of the gum-chewing Scot himself "for goodness sake give the man a break". I can understand that they want the owners to have more of a presence at the club, but forcing the Billionaires from India who lets face it basically finance the club to sell doesn't make much business sense now does it? Don't bite the hand that feeds you would be my message to those fans.
Anyway that's enough about about chicken farmers for now. All that's left is for me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and I'll be back before our NYE clash with QPR. Until then have a good one!
Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Wolves
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Aston Villa (A)
Well when you look at the game on Sunday, we weren't outplayed, we had a goal ruled out and Joe Hart pulled off some good saves. Maybe a loss wasn't fair, 1-1 I think would have been a more even scoreline but there you have it, that's football. Now that's taking the positives from the game there are negatives of course.
Firstly, our full back situation is becoming more and more of an issue. Its all well and good shoving Vermaelen and Djourou in but there are situations when you simply need a trained fullback. When your 3-0 up and coasting there isn't an issue, when your playing league leaders and you know its going to be a tough match its a totally different story. Obviously Santos and Sagna are out for months and we won't be seeing either for quite some time, but there is encouraging news for Gibbs who Wenger said "He is I think one week maximum away. He could be present at Aston Villa or the game after [against Wolves]. Of course, you want him back and to play". Jenkinson on the other hand is neither here nor that at the minute, he was at least 3 weeks away 3 and a half weeks ago so read into that what you will.
Secondly when your 1-0 down and chasing a game it says a lot that the option you turn too is the two men who have a combined total or 2 goals between them all season. Arshavin clearly has something up with him and you can clearly see when he plays that he believes his time at Arsenal is over, bar a rapid return to form. You could tell when the ball fell to him just inside the box and he hit the side netting it was going to the be another one of those. Chamakh on the other hand, I don't remember touching the ball. His career looked so promising when he arrived and whether it was through lack of games or confidence he looks a shadow of the player he was. We just don't have the depth of the other big clubs (bar sp*rs).
Anyway the City game is gone and now we have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and look to the trip to Aston Villa tomorrow night. In recent years we haven't performed too bad up there but in the past it was a game we simply didn't like. We went there and even our own fans expected very little, thankfully though times have changed and they're on a bit of a poor run. Quite frankly with Chelsea playing the yids on Thursday a win will put the pressure on both and hopefully put some distance between us and Liverpool who we only lead by goals scored.
I would expect to see again a similar squad to the one we played on Sunday purely because nothing has changed. So our threats will again come from Gervinho and Walcott down the wings and of course Robin Van Persie up front. In terms of Villa threats well obviously Darren Bent causes problems (lets hope he didn't finish his shopping on Sunday). N'Zogbia has his moments but so far this season he's been pretty poor, hopefully that will continue tomorrow night.
Aston Villa have lost to 4 of the top 6 at home so far this season which means if we want to be challenging for the top 4 we have to keep up the trend and beat this lot. As always with the Premier League if you want the top prizes, you have to play the top football. We were on a nice little run before City and the players still seem upbeat after Sunday so lets hope we can pick up where we left off.
It's been a long one today so thanks for sticking with it. Just a quick word regarding Wolves at Home. Firstly the original date scheduled for the match may be changed. The tube drivers want more money which may make life very difficult for fans trying to reach the Emirates. So the date for this match may change over the next few days, so check the Arsenal site and Sky Sports News for updates. Regardless of that, the pre-match post will be over the next few days I would say probably the 23rd, until then COYG!
Prediction: Aston Villa 0-2 Arsenal
Firstly, our full back situation is becoming more and more of an issue. Its all well and good shoving Vermaelen and Djourou in but there are situations when you simply need a trained fullback. When your 3-0 up and coasting there isn't an issue, when your playing league leaders and you know its going to be a tough match its a totally different story. Obviously Santos and Sagna are out for months and we won't be seeing either for quite some time, but there is encouraging news for Gibbs who Wenger said "He is I think one week maximum away. He could be present at Aston Villa or the game after [against Wolves]. Of course, you want him back and to play". Jenkinson on the other hand is neither here nor that at the minute, he was at least 3 weeks away 3 and a half weeks ago so read into that what you will.
Secondly when your 1-0 down and chasing a game it says a lot that the option you turn too is the two men who have a combined total or 2 goals between them all season. Arshavin clearly has something up with him and you can clearly see when he plays that he believes his time at Arsenal is over, bar a rapid return to form. You could tell when the ball fell to him just inside the box and he hit the side netting it was going to the be another one of those. Chamakh on the other hand, I don't remember touching the ball. His career looked so promising when he arrived and whether it was through lack of games or confidence he looks a shadow of the player he was. We just don't have the depth of the other big clubs (bar sp*rs).
Anyway the City game is gone and now we have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and look to the trip to Aston Villa tomorrow night. In recent years we haven't performed too bad up there but in the past it was a game we simply didn't like. We went there and even our own fans expected very little, thankfully though times have changed and they're on a bit of a poor run. Quite frankly with Chelsea playing the yids on Thursday a win will put the pressure on both and hopefully put some distance between us and Liverpool who we only lead by goals scored.
I would expect to see again a similar squad to the one we played on Sunday purely because nothing has changed. So our threats will again come from Gervinho and Walcott down the wings and of course Robin Van Persie up front. In terms of Villa threats well obviously Darren Bent causes problems (lets hope he didn't finish his shopping on Sunday). N'Zogbia has his moments but so far this season he's been pretty poor, hopefully that will continue tomorrow night.
Aston Villa have lost to 4 of the top 6 at home so far this season which means if we want to be challenging for the top 4 we have to keep up the trend and beat this lot. As always with the Premier League if you want the top prizes, you have to play the top football. We were on a nice little run before City and the players still seem upbeat after Sunday so lets hope we can pick up where we left off.
It's been a long one today so thanks for sticking with it. Just a quick word regarding Wolves at Home. Firstly the original date scheduled for the match may be changed. The tube drivers want more money which may make life very difficult for fans trying to reach the Emirates. So the date for this match may change over the next few days, so check the Arsenal site and Sky Sports News for updates. Regardless of that, the pre-match post will be over the next few days I would say probably the 23rd, until then COYG!
Prediction: Aston Villa 0-2 Arsenal
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Aston Villa (H)
If last weekends performance was anything to go by tomorrow could be a disaster. A truly awful display from the Arsenal who didn't look remotely interested in winning the game. Stoke wanted it more and we simply let them take it. Once again the defensive failing of Johan Djourou were obvious after being beaten by Jones and then simply giving it away. He needs to go along with Clichy who seems to have lost his touch in recent seasons.
Our last home game of the season sees us take on a struggling Villa who could in theory still be relegated. I have to admit I wouldn't mind seeing them go down as I'm no Villa fan. Despite their poor position they're squad boasts some good players. Ashley Young is a threat down the wing and can turn on the pace which unless our defence are on the ball could cause mayhem. Former yid Darren Bent leads the Villa strike force, partnered with the out of form Agblonahor.
From an Arsenal point of view we look to be without player of the season Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas who are both doubtful. I would imagine Walcott and Ramsey will fill in should they both fail their late tests. On a better note it looks as though Thomas Vermaelen will make his first appearance in what seems like an age as Koscielny picked up a knock last week. This is the sort of defender we need and have desperately missed this season.
So we are still 'eyeing second' according to Wenger but I think we need to win just to secure third and avoid Champions League qualifiers again next season. Tomorrow looking at the form should be a game where will go in huge favourites, but as we all know with Arsenal that means nothing. For fans who aren't happy with the recent news of ticket price rises a protest ha been planned outside the stadium before the game.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa
Our last home game of the season sees us take on a struggling Villa who could in theory still be relegated. I have to admit I wouldn't mind seeing them go down as I'm no Villa fan. Despite their poor position they're squad boasts some good players. Ashley Young is a threat down the wing and can turn on the pace which unless our defence are on the ball could cause mayhem. Former yid Darren Bent leads the Villa strike force, partnered with the out of form Agblonahor.
From an Arsenal point of view we look to be without player of the season Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas who are both doubtful. I would imagine Walcott and Ramsey will fill in should they both fail their late tests. On a better note it looks as though Thomas Vermaelen will make his first appearance in what seems like an age as Koscielny picked up a knock last week. This is the sort of defender we need and have desperately missed this season.
So we are still 'eyeing second' according to Wenger but I think we need to win just to secure third and avoid Champions League qualifiers again next season. Tomorrow looking at the form should be a game where will go in huge favourites, but as we all know with Arsenal that means nothing. For fans who aren't happy with the recent news of ticket price rises a protest ha been planned outside the stadium before the game.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa
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