Arsenal vs Wigan Athletic Last Minute Preview

After an impressive performance against Leeds in midweek in the FA Cup replay, we are back to the Premier League again. This time we welcome a Wigan side struggling at the bottom but who took two precious points off us in the recently held league encounter. If the real Arsenal turn up, as we emphatically did against Leeds in our solid 3-1 win, we should overcome Roberto Martinez's men. But if we drop back and become complacent and don't fight for every ball, we will have a hard time.

But with our usual strong line up starting again tonight, I don't see the latter situation happening. And with Manchester United also playing easy opponents tonight, we need to keep up our performance level to have a chance at the title. No points dropped should be the mantra from now on till the end of the campaign.


Team news:

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

Substitutes: Shea, Gibbs, Eboue, Arshavin, Denilson, Chamakh, Bendtner

Manager: Arsene Wenger

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Formation view:

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                                                      Szczesny

Sagna                      Djourou                                       Koscielny                   Clichy

                                           Song                  Wilshere
  Walcott                                         Fabregas                                       Nasri

                                                      van Persie

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Wigan Athletic(4-5-1): Al Habsi, Gohouri, Gary Caldwell, Steve Caldwell, Figueroa, Stam, N’Zogbia, Watson, Diame, Thomas, Rodallega

Substitutes: Pollitt, Boyce, McCarthy, Gomez, McArthur, Di Santo, McManaman

Manager: Roberto Martinez

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Formation view:

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                                                       Al Habsi

Gohouri                 G. Caldwell                             S. Caldwell                   Figueroa

Thomas              Diame                    Stam                Watson                    N'Zogbia
                                     
                                                     Rodallega
                                                       
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Tactics:

Goalkeeping/Defence: The younger Pole continues in the absence of Fabianski and he has done good between the sticks so far. Djourou and Koscielny need to be alert from set pieces; we conceded a late equalizer from a corner in the drawn match against Wigan(the other goal was a penalty). So if we keep our defensive shape and concentration right, we shouldn't face too many problems.

Midfield: Our midfield trio will look to build on some good performances against West Ham and Leeds in the past week. We have really lacked any sort of consistency this season and now will be a good time to build a string of consistent good peformances.

Attack: Robin is looking sharper and sharper as each match goes by and I would love to see him find the back of the net again. Hope super Nasri can continue his good performance and hope we finish the job early so we can sub him off for the semi final game against Ipswich on Tuesday. Walcott should also look to continue his good form.

Subs: I'd bring on Arshavin, Denilson and Chamakh/Bendtner.

Final Prediction:

A 2-0 win for Arsenal (provided the real Arsenal turn up tonight).