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!!!

Aston Villa vs Arsenal Last Minute Preview

After depressing losses against Spurs and Braga in the past week, it's time for Arsenal to set things right. We lost Cesc and Eboue in the midweek game against Braga but the rest of the squad is okay, though we're missing Vermaelen a bit.

We also might come up against Robert Pires who has recently joined the Villains on a free signing. Though Aston Villa have even bigger injury problems than us right now, the Arsenal players MUST ensure we do not take them lightly, not even if we take a 2 goal lead at halftime. Determination and creativity must work hand in hand. If we can do that, we can even top the table despite all the gloom and doom, even if for a short while.

Team news:

Aston Villa(4-4-1-1): Friedel, Young, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Pires, Bannan, Clark, Downing, Young, Carew

Substitutes: Ireland, Delfouneso, Guzan, Beye, Hogg, Lichaj, Herd

Manager: Gerard Houllier

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Formation view:

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                                                  Friedel

L. Young                   Dunne                              Collins                  Warnock

Downing                Clark                              Bannan                  Pires
                                                  A. Young

                                                   Carew

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

Substitutes: Szezesny, Djourou, Gibbs, Van Persie, Walcott, Denilson, Bendtner

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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Tactics:

Goalkeeping/Defence: Aston Villa will look to reach their target man Carew from long balls and set pieces. The centre backs should mark him tightly. Stewart Downing has been scoring important goals and his runs should be checked properly.

Midfield: Our midfield should dominate today. Its the intelligence we have lacked in the recent defeats. When to attack, when to defend, when to increase the tempo. We have lacked that spark in all the games we lost. Hope Nasri and Arshavin can fire today.

Attack: Hope my "wish" is granted again today and Chamakh does not dither from taking his chances.

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

Final Prediction:

Looks like we might grind out a 1-2 win today.

Arsenal vs Tottenham Last Minute Preview

It's the big one today, well for most fans. But the fact is, after Chelsea dropped points unexpectedly last week, we really need to capitalize on it and win today. Anything less than that should be a disappointment.

Though Spurs beat us in the last League match(after a decade), it was a much weak Arsenal side on show. But Spurs have since qualified for the Champions League for the first time and have good players in Bale and van der Vaart. Gallas makes his return to the Emirates after joining them in the summer for free and he will not receive the warmest of welcomes from the fans and some of the players.

Team news:

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

Manager: Arsene Wenger

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Formation view:

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                                                       Fabiansky

Sagna                      Koscielny                                       Squillaci                   Clichy

                                          Song                   Denilson
     Nasri                                         Fabregas                                       Arshavin

                                                      Chamakh

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Tottenham(4-4-1-1): Gomes, Hutton, Gallas, Kaboul, Assou-Ekotto, Bale, van der Vaart, Modric, Jenas, Lennon, Pavlyuchenko

Substitutes: Cudicini, Bassong, Corluka, Bentley, Palacios, Crouch, Defoe

Manager: Harry Redknapp

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Formation view:

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                                                         Gomes

Hutton                         Gallas                                  Kaboul                   Assou-Ekotto

Lennon                         Jenas                                   Modric                          Bale
                                           
                                                        van der Vaart
                                                        Pavlyuchenko
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Tactics:

Goalkeeping/Defence: We need to be aware of van der Vaart's presence in the box as he has shown he can feed off the scraps of the strikers pretty well. One of the centre backs should keep an eye on him whenever he comes in the box. We also should deal with the crosses(filled with quality and quantity) from Gareth Bale. Bakary Sagna, who has been one of the most reliable of our defenders, has a game on his hands. Other than that, we should be okay if we perform properly from set pieces.

Midfield: Denilson is in for Wilshere and I think he has been included to mark out van der Vaart in midfield. Hope Cesc is back to his best and Song keeps up his good form.

Attack: Arshavin really needs a goal and though he has been giving the assists, a goal or two would be great today. Nasri has been exceptional and he will be needed to put in another tireless shift today and stop Bale by doubling up on him. Hope Chamakh finds the back of the net today.

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

Final Prediction:

A 2-1 win for Arsenal.