Wigan Athletic vs Arsenal Last Minute Preview

So, after that inspiring 3-1 victory over Chelsea just two days ago, we're at it again, this time away from home at Wigan. Every Gooner remembers what happened the last time we visited them. We were coasting 2-0 when we conceded 3 goals and thus ended our diminishing title hopes. That performance really hurt and we have to put in another good shift to banish those ghosts once and for all. It won't be easy as we're without El Capitan Cesc Fabregas and rvp, but the rest of the squad should be able to do the job.

Team news:

Wigan Athletic(4-1-4-1): Al Habsi, Stam, Gary Caldwell, Alcaraz, Gohouri, Thomas, Diame, Cleverley, Watson, N’Zogbia, Rodallega

Substitutes: Pollitt, Boselli, Steven Caldwell, Gomez, McArthur, Figueroa, McManaman

Manager: Roberto Martinez

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Formation view:

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                                                Al Habsi

Stam                   Caldwell                              Alcaraz                  Gohouri

                                               Thomas


Cleverley                   Diame                      Watson                       N'Zogbia

                                              Rodallega

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Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Fabianski, Sagna, Squillaci, Koscielny, Eboue, Rosicky, Denilson, Arshavin, Diaby, Chamakh, Bendtner

Substitutes: Szczesny, Nasri, Vela, Walcott, Wilshere, Djourou, Clichy

Manager: Arsene Wenger

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Formation view:

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                                                       Fabianski

Sagna                       Squillaci                                      Koscielny                  Eboue

                                         Diaby                     Denilson

Bendtner                                         Rosicky                                        Arshavin

                                                      Chamakh

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Tactics:

Goalkeeping/Defence: Again, sad to see Johan being rested after his tremendous game against Chelsea in which he really kept Drogba in his pocket. Hope our centre backs can maintain effective communication and Eboue adapts to an unfamiliar left back role.

Midfield: Host of changes in midfield from the one that faced against Chelsea. Rosicky, Diaby and Denilson come in for Cesc, Jack and Song and really the onus is on them to perform well despite being thrown together for probably the first time in the season. Understanding and positioning will be key today. Hope Rosicky has a super game tonight.

Attack: Changes have been made in attack too as Bendtner, Chamakh and Arshavin come in for Nasri, Walcott and van Persie. It remains to be seen how Bendtner and Chamakh operate at the same time. Hope they can create good clear cut chances and take them clinically when opportunity arises.

Subs: I'd bring on Nasri/Walcott, Wilshere and Vela.

Final Prediction:

A scrappy 1-2 win.

Arsenal vs Chelsea Last Minute Preview

Can't afford to drop more points. As simple as that!

And as we face Chelsea today(in an ungodly time of the day), that should be our mantra. Although Chelsea's form has been wobbly recently, they certainly aren't  to be under estimated. And to top this all, i'm running out of time for this preview. So let's get down to business.

Team news:

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Fabianski, Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Clichy, Wilshere, Song, Fabregas, Nasri, Walcott, Van Persie

Substitutes: Szczesny, Diaby, Rosicky, Squillaci, Arshavin, Chamakh, Bendtner

Manager: Arsene Wenger

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Formation view:

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                                                      Fabianski

Sagna                      Koscielny                                       Djourou                   Clichy

                                          Song                  Wilshere
     Nasri                                         Fabregas                                      Walcott

                                                      van Persie

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Chelsea(4-3-3): Cech, Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Essien, Mikel, Lampard, Kalou, Drogba, Malouda

Substitutes: Turnbull, Ramires, Bosingwa, Van Aanholt, Bruma, Kakuta, McEachran

Manager: Carlo Ancelotti

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Formation view:

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                                                       Cech

Ferreira                       Ivanovic                                Terry                   Cole

       Essien                                      Mikel                               Lampard
                                       
Kalou                                             Drogba                                     Malouda
                                                       
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Tactics:

Goalkeeping/Defence: Containing Drogba will be key again today. So also will be cutting off the supply from the left provided by Malouda and especially Cole. Hope Theo and Song put in a good shift on the right side of the defence. Limiting their chances will be crucial to getting any result today.

Midfield: Hope Cesc can play without any mental barrier affecting him. Song and Wilshere will need to be very disciplined today. The midfield trio needs to be as busy as bees to counter Chelsea's physical strength. Hope we can create ehough clear cut chances and take them too.

Attack: Have to say I really agree with Arsene Wenger's starting line up, especially the front trio as Arshavin and to a lesser extent, Chamakh have been firing blanks for the past few matches. Not to mention the lack of defensive effort from Arshavin(though Chamakh really runs his socks off for us). Hope rvp and Theo can turn it for us tonight. And hope all the extra rest has given him a huge appetite for a big match tonight.

Subs: I'd bring on Chamakh, Diaby and Arshavin/Rosicky.

Final Prediction:

A tight and close 2-1 win for Arsenal.

Manchester United vs Arsenal Last Minute Preview

THIS IS IT!!! THE BIG ONE!!!THE BIGGEST GAME OF THE SEASON(well for me, anyway)!!!

This is one chance to put years of hurt behind us. I absolutely despise Manchester United. I hate their fans, those glory hunters. It would give me the greatest happiness and satisfaction to put them in their place and take away that smirk off their faces. Those scums! Those a***oles!(pardon my language, but I this is the most decent I can behave towards them). It's simple, if you love football and you love Arsenal, you've got to HATE Manchester United. It's just like if you love your mom, you've gotta hate the c**t who just insulted her.

Then again, this is a game we need not go all out to win. We are leading the table, and I know they have played one game less, but the onus is on them to attack. Which doesn't mean we should just sit back and defend - it would be a nightmare if it happened - but rather, we need not throw caution away to the winds in pursuit of a goal. Playing sensibly will do us a load of good today.

The historical aspect of this game can never be signified enough. Too many times recently, we have come close only to be left disappointed at the end. I hope we can avoid this today.

And now for some SHOCKING team news. Szczesny starts in goal for us today! So, those rumours about Fabianski being injured and not completely fit were true after all. Wow, big day for the young lad. Hope he does well tonight.

Also, Djourou doesn't make it tonight, which, to be very frank, is a little disappointing because he was superb when he came on as a sub against Fulham in the last league game. Rest of the team is as usual, and I hope Cesc can make an appearance.

Team news:

Manchester United(4-3-3): Van Der Sar, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Anderson, Nani, Park, Rooney

Substitutes: Kuszczak, Brown, Berbatov, Giggs, Smalling, Hernandez, Obertan

Manager: Alex Ferguson

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Formation view:

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                                                van der Saar

Rafael                   Ferdinand                              Vidic                  Evra

    Fletcher                                  Carrick                               Anderson

Nani                                           Rooney                                   Park

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Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Szczesny, Sagna, Squillaci, Koscielny, Clichy, Rosicky, Nasri, Song, Wilshere, Arshavin, Chamakh

Substitutes: Fabianski, Fabregas, Van Persie, Walcott, Denilson, Djourou, Bendtner

Manager: Arsene Wenger

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Formation view:

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                                                       Szczesny

Sagna                       Squillaci                                      Koscielny                   Clichy

                                          Song                     Wilshere

     Nasri                                         Rosicky                                        Arshavin

                                                      Chamakh

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Tactics:

Goalkeeping/Defence: Once again, big night for the young Pole Szczesny. He will have to be alert in all set pieces. Containing Nani will be key today, and Clichy has that responsibility. Hope the centre backs can communicate more effectively today. The important thing is to cut our basic mistakes and not giving them easy chances.

Midfield: As usual, Man United have packed their midfield with hard tacklers for playing against us. But I feel we have been stronger this season than in the previous ones in matching the physicality of other teams. Song should stay back as much as possible today. Hope Wilshere can also play to his strengths. Rosicky should put in a hard shift tonight.

Attack: Hope Nasri continues his scintillating form and shuts up Evra for good. Arshavin is due a big performance after the disappointment in midweek. Chamakh needs to fire today.

Subs: I'd bring on Walcott, van Persie and Fabregas.(maybe Denilson if we need to hold on to a lead)

Final Prediction:

A very tense tight 1-1.

Arsenal vs Fulham Last Minute Preview

It's another dreaded home game today! I wonder which other team in the world would say that!

After losing three of our home games, which were supposed to be in the bag, our confidence in playing at home hasn't been at the highest. Even then, we managed to eke out a good away win against Aston Villa last week. Also, we reached the semi finals of the Carling Cup by beating Wigan(at home!!) 2-0 in midweek. With Manchester United also getting knocked out on the same day, it looks like we might finally end our 5 year trophy drought. But that's a discussion for another day.

And so, we welcome Fulham today. Their sick manager Mark Hughes refused to let Mark Schwarzer join us in the summer and I'm sure the goalie's gonna have the game of his life today against us. I just hope we can somehow find the back of the net though. And if our midfield can fire the way it did against Aston Villa last week, we can create a hatful of good chances and we need to take them as and when they come. Fulham will look to play on the counter and we need to be intelligent(in picking up runs from Dempsey) and track back when we lose the ball.

Arsene Wenger has said it's time for us to take off as the title race has begun. So we can't afford any more dropped points. A good win and depending on Chelsea's result(and I hope they lose!) we might even top the table again.



Team news:

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Fabianski, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy, Song, Rosicky, Nasri, Wilshere, Arshavin, Chamakh
Substitutes: Szczesny, Gibbs, Djourou, Denilson, Walcott, Bendtner, van Persie

Manager: Arsene Wenger

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Formation view:

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                                                      Fabianski

Sagna                      Koscielny                                       Squillaci                   Clichy

                                          Song                  Wilshere
     Nasri                                         Rosicky                                       Arshavin

                                                      Chamakh

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Fulham(4-4-2): Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes, Briggs, Davies, Murphy, Etuhu, Dempsey, Gera, Kamara

Substitutes: Stockdale, Kelly, Baird, Andrew Johnson, Duff, Eddie Johnson, Greening

Manager: Mark Hughes

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Formation view:

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                                                      Schwarzer

Pantsil                        Hangeland                                Hughes                    Briggs

Davies                        Murphy                                     Etuhu                   Dempsey
                                         
                                        Gera                            Kamara
                                                       
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Tactics:

Goalkeeping/Defence: We conceded two soft goals to Aston Villa last week and our defending needs to improve. We lacked a sense of calmness when defending against Villa. Fulham will look to bombard long balls into the box and Fabianski and the defence will be tested today. It will be crucial to mark Hangeland from set pieces. Also, the dynamic Dempsey has been in good form lately and we need to mark him tightly. Hope the defence makes no mistakes and comes out on top.

Midfield: With Cesc still sidelined, it will be up to Rosicky to put in a performance like he did last week. Jack and Song should track back immediately when we lose possession. Apart from that, I think we will dominate the midfield again.

Attack: Hope the front trio of Arshavin, Nasri and Chamakh keep on performing well. Fulham will try not to provide us any leeway and so we need to be efficient and score goals whenever we can.

Subs: I'd bring on Walcott, van Persie and Denilson.

Final Prediction:

A nervy 2-1 win for Arsenal.

P.S. It hasn't been so "Last Minute Preview" today. The reason is that I've got my exam coming up tomorrow and I'm on a tight schedule. Hoping for the best!!!