please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Arsenal and Aston Villa meet once more this season as both sides face each in the premier league this Saturday. Arsenal have already played Aston Villa twice this season. They won both games. The first encounter between the two this season was at Villa Park, a late Yossi Benayoun goal sealed all three points for the Gunners. Villa and Arsenal also met in the FA cup this season. But this time it was at the Emirates and Villa took the lead through a Richard Dunn goal. Darren Bent extended their lead with a breakaway goal. The Gunners looked to be all but out of the cup. But they responded in sensational style. They scored three unanswered goals in the second half and progressed to the fifth round of the FA cup, although they got knocked out in the next round by Sunderland. But ever since then the Gunners have not looked back. Since the cup game against Sunderland, Arsenal have won five games in a row in all competitions. In the league they have won their last six games. This form has seen them go past Tottenham Hotspur into third place. A quite amazing turnaround because at one point it looked like Tottenham could have had a 13 point lead over the Gunners. As for Aston Villa, well they have had a season which will not live long in the memory. Not many exciting games or moments to savour and just about safe of the relegation battle. They currently sit in 15th place and have a ten point gap over Bolton who occupy the last relegation spot. For a club of the size of Aston Villa that is simply not good enough. Alex McLeish and his dour approach to football has not please the Villa fans and some have even turned their backs on the team by refusing to go to games. But if they win at the Emirates then they could have finally have something remember from this season. Before McLeish was even formally appointed, Villa fans were against his appointment. Not only because of his connections with Birmingham but also because of his dour and uninspired approach to football. Not to mention the fact he has managed to take Birmingham down twice in three years. So even from the start it was looking like a terrible decision from Randy Lerner. But some say that Villa needed a season like this in order for the owner to balance the books. Under Martin O'Neil, Villa did live beyond their means, especially when it came to the wage bill. It was too high and it was unsustainable. So they had to start selling a few big players. The likes of Barry,Milner,Downing and Young have all left in recent seasons. Those players helped Villa compete in the top half of the premier league. In the 08-09 season, Villa even pushed Arsenal for a place in the champions league spots. They had a sizable lead over the Gunners going into the final part of season. But they threw away a two lead against Stoke at home and after that their season collapsed. Aston Villa have not reached those heights since. After Martin O'Neil they turned to Gerard Houllier, but his management style did not work and the players at Villa turned against him especially the British players who felt Houillier's management style was too disciplined and over the top. He in the end also left and now they are left with Alex McLeish. Aston Villa fans no doubt thought the team turned a corner after Villa managed to win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. But Villa have not been able to string any sort of unbeaten run this season. Straight after that result, they lost to Swansea at home. Those two games sum up their season, consistently inconsistent. Star forward, Darren Bent ruptured ankle ligaments against Wigan and will therefore miss the rest of the season. His injury was a massive blow to Villa. Bent scored ten goals in all competitions this season and while that is not his usual goal return it was not helped by the lack of service he got from the Aston Villa attacking play. Bent will be a big miss for Villa and especially against Arsenal. He has a good record against the Gunners and he helped them win their last league meeting against Arsenal at the Emirates with two goals. Richard Dunne will also be missing for Villa after picking up a shoulder injury against Manchester City. So Villa will have to rely on James Collins to steady the back four and keep out Robin Van Persie. Gabriel Agbonlahor has five league goals this season and with Bent out he is expected to lead the line. A fast forward who on his day can be very dangerous. Aston Villa have not lost many away games this season, but they have not won many. They won three, lost three and drawn eight. They won their last league game which was nearly two weeks again. They managed to secure a one nil win over Fulham at home and that has kept them away from the relegation battle for the time being. Arsenal will be looking for a win here and that would mean they have won their last seven games in the league. The gunners have scored 31 goals at home in the league and have been fine form. Thomas Vermaelen needed a few games to get used to be a centre back again after the injury to Per Mertesacker. Vermaelen struggled badly in the San Siro but has started to show why he is rated as one of the best CB's in the league. Against Everton, he was back to his very best. Attacking everything and making sure nobody gets past him. He scored the only goal in the game as the Gunners picked up three massive points at Goodison Park. The defence has finally had a more settled look. Sagna and Gibbs have slotted back in and their attacking qualities added another dimension to the attacking play of Arsenal. Thomas Rosicky has found the form that made him highly valued at Arsenal before the serious injuries. His quick passing and dribbling speeds up the Arsenal play and if can carry on his good form then it will make the team sustain the sort of play that was witnessed against the likes of Tottenham and AC Milan. Recently, Rosicky signed a two year contract at Arsenal and the fans have welcomed that news because the Rosicky that they have seen in recent weeks is a player who brings joy to Arsenal fans with his style of play. He was played on the wing against Everton but his influence in the middle should not be overlooked and he has to be played there if Arsenal are to sustain the sort of form they have been showing in recent weeks. With Chelsea and Tottenham facing each other, it's vital that Arsenal take advantage by getting the job done against Aston Villa at the Emirates and notch up their seventh league win in a row. Teams News: Arsene Wenger: Form Guide: please log in to view this image Three Key Match-ups: please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Overall Record vs Aston Villa: Played: 183 Wins: 74 Draws: 44 Losses: 65 For: 290 Against: 262 GD: 28 Last 6 Meetings: Arsenal 3 - 2 Aston Villa (FA Cup) Aston Villa 1 - 2 Arsenal Arsenal 1 - 2 Aston Villa Aston Villa 2 - 4 Arsenal Aston Villa 0 - 0 Arsenal Arsenal 3 - 0 Aston Villa please log in to view this image Mangers Views: Arsene Wenger: My Team: please log in to view this image Final Score: please log in to view this image
I'd like it if we started Gervinho on the right actually. Walcott has been decent I guess since Sagna returned but you can see that other players are reluctant to pass to him if there isn't plenty of space ahead of him. Otherwise passing to him feels like certain loss of possession 70% of the time. And I don't think there will be much space for him tomorrow to be effective. I think Gervinho can create more against sides that decide to camp in defense.
I said we'd draw against everton, and we won. So i say we'll draw 1-1, which means a large win for us (which will be nice, because i'm actually going to the game on saturday). Arsenal: 1 Villa: 1
would like chambo given the chance and keep walcott in there because he's useful. don't think ramsey deserved to start last game, especially on the left when we had two actual wingers fit for it.
I agree Gervinho needs game time. Chambo had his "moment in the spotlight" and made his impact. I don't expect him to do much else this season. I think he is a player for next season.
Shezny Gibbs TV Kosh Sagna Song Arteta Rosicky Gervinho Walcott RVP SUBS: Fabianski, OXO, Chamakh, Benayoun, Ramsey, Do Santos, Djoure. OXO could be a good impact sub, when legs are tiring, he can be brought on if need be and cause some damage to the opposition team. Hopefully if Gervinho does start, he put's a good shift in as he really gone downhill in form from the start of the year. Hopefully Walcott too has another good game, he was quiet at Everton, so hopefully he shows up here. RVP didn't score against Everton, so he's due a goal here. It's another big game for us as both Chelsea and Spurs face each other, a draw in that game would be quite good, would leave us 8 points above Chelsea and 3 above Spurs if we get all 3 points.
I think a big win will remove any doubts that we've rejuvinated - for every game we've won in our run, there's been a bit of luck (We ****ing deserve it after some of the rough **** we've got in recent seasons!!) but scoring 3 or more would be nice. And I think we can do it against Villa! I would sub Van Persie off if possible, let's try and give Park a bit of game time... 4-1 Arsenal, Van Persie twice, Arteta, Rosicky.
i'd start Gervinho & Oxo, give Theo a rest & let him come on and terrorise after 60mins if needed. Keep the rest the same, tho Arsene may start Ramsey if he's unsure that Rosicky can play another game to soon.
The only thing that makes me worried is we have a 2 day turn around and they havent played all week. However I still think we will do them 6-0. I kinda of think villa still could go down. Their remaining fixtures are very hard and I could see them ending on 37 points. Of course that would o been safe BUT for blackburn and qpr winning midweek. It is possible some sides at the bottom could put together a run a drag villa back into it. Their next 5: Arsenal, chelsea, liverpool, stoke and man utd. Not easy. They could lose all those and then be in big trouble for a nervy run in. They really are a club in crisis.
It's been nearly two weeks since Villa last played a match. While a rest is good, I think a two week break within a season is a bit too long. They would have been training all that time knowing they had no matches for a while. So I think they could be a bit rusty in terms of match practice.
