Arsenal.com confirmed that the game will be played in Upton Park which means Arsenal will be playing away game in their first FA Cup match in this season.
Quite unfair to us I must say.When we compare with the team that other Big Four will play,we face the toughest team.But great challenge gives us great victory if we take them seriously.
United plays Kettering Town or Leeds United,Chelsea plays Watford and Liverpool plays Reading.
Two goals and Vermalen’s own goal were definitely gave Gunners a massive setback with 3-to-nil defeat to Chelsea.Drogba’s strike in 41st minute opened the lead over the Gunners.Not a long time after that,Vermalen accidentally presented Anchelloti’s team another goal just before the first-half ended.
In the second half,Gunners put Walcott and soon replaced Eduardo with Vela to speed up the game.But it was Chelsea which scored a third-goal,the goal which was enough to put a cut on Gunners’ hope to get at least a point.The third goal was scored by Drogba through a free-kick.
To sum up the game,Gunners definitely were better in terms of possession but The Blue utilised every chance they had.Chelsea’s back four was very solid and when they were lucky enough,we were simply hopeless and we couldn’t stop the gap from getting bigger and bigger.
Seriously,with 8 points gap(with a game in hand) with Chelsea,our hope of ending our BPL title drought is just microscopic.Hopefully we can score three points against smaller teams;this are more important in Premier League where they award you three points for match won,a point for match drawn and nothing for match lost regardless of which team you played–Big Four or bottom teams.
Arsenal.com issued a press statement which confirms that Persie is out for five months maximum.
“Upon his return, the Arsenal medical team conducted a thorough review of his scans, his early injury management and the treatment he had received. Having scrutinised these in detail and assessed the response of his ankle, the Club’s medical team concluded that further investigation and opinion was required.
“Advice was sought from the leading ankle specialist Mr Niek van Dijk, who confirmed that more extensive damage had been suffered than was first diagnosed. In order to repair his ankle, Robin will undergo surgery next week in Amsterdam to reconstruct the ligaments. The Club’s medical team anticipate that a full recovery will take between four and five months.”Arsenal.com
That’s very cruel for a player whose form is improving towards his zenith.We could see that his form is getting better and better and to see him out until next year is like sudden electric breakdown when you watch climax of a movie.
Chelsea on the other hand enjoys abundance of players in its disposal.Anchelloti is perplexed about which players to choose,while Wenger is perplexed about who could play for Gunners.
On the bright side however,Persie’s absence will not affect our team much.Eduardo is a fine striker and Arshavin too is a fine finisher.Goals scored will determine whether we win or we lose.We have a good chance to get conceded when Drogba,Lampard and Anelka are boiling with full force and when Gallas is absent for the match.
We will see whether the best scoring team could beat best defending team.
Yes,this week we are going to be featured in Big Four clash show.Great for Man. United,Spurs and Man. City but not us.
Our injury problem is getting serious especially after our last match against Standard when skipper Gallas was injured due to ankle problem and swollen eye problem.8 players are present in our injury list including Bendtner,Gallas,Clichy,Gibbs,Persie and others.We are not in good position to host full-forced Chelsea which could feature Lampard,Ashley Cole and even Drogba.
Fortunately,our striking force is not affected much by injury problem;but our defending force is, with Gallas’ absence.Overall,we still have chance to beat Chelsea at home provided we can keep Drogba and Anelka quiet.We should be able to score at least a goal against them although they have best defence in the League based on goals conceded,but we have the best attack too based on goals scored.
The pressure to win will be on us;anything less than a victory will have big price on our Title chase.With Manchested United’s almost secured 3 points this weekend when they face poor Portsmouth,our gap with Devils will get bigger if we drop points this Sunday.
A 2-0 victory yesterday is definitely more than enough to send Arsenal top of Group H in Champions League.Both of the goals were scored before the first-half break and to be frank,it’s a boring game although the result was perfectly fine for Arsenal.
Although it was Arsenal who was in control,but S.Liege did put some nice attacks and two of them just unfortunate to hit the tiny little bar instead of the net.But,those attack are the only real attack that Gunners faced.
With this victory,we can rest our players in Olympiakos match and I guess Olympiakos would do the same too since they are qualified to knock-out stage too.
However,Arsenal’s victory will not be in the sports news cover;it will be Liverpool instead.Fiorentina’s 1-0 win against Lyon canceled out Liverpool’s 1-0 win against Debrecen.This should be a sad moment for Liverpool fans, but Europa League is still open.Benitez’s career in Liverpool is still safe however,according to The Sun.I’m not sure if Benitez should be sacked or not,but if Liverpool continues to slack in the performance, he will definitely has to take the blame.