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!!!
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