please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Arsenal travel to Carrow Road to take on Norwich City this Saturday Afternoon as the Premier League resume after a two week break. Arsenal recorded a very good away win at Upton Park before the international break after the Gunners ran out 3-1 winners against West Ham. The Hammers took the lead through Diame but Arsenal responded before half-time when Olivier Giroud netted his first League goal of the season. Arsenal took the lead through substitute, Theo Walcott after he was played in by Giroud. Santi Cazorla sealed the win with a brilliant long range strike. The previous week, Arsenal had lost to Chelsea at the Emirates, so it was vital that Arsenal responded with a positive result, and they did. Norwich have been in terrible form and have yet to win a league game this season and will go into this game having lost their last three league games. Norwich’s last league defeat came against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Grant Holt actually gave Norwich the lead but Chelsea responded in an efficient manner and in the end costed home with a 4-1 victory. Chris Hughton was hired as the new Norwich City manager in the summer after Paul Lambert left to join Aston Villa. Lambert leaving was a huge blow to the club as he was the man that took them from a League one club to a Premier League one in the space of two years. So Chris Hughton has a tough act to follow and so far he has not got off to the best of starts. Norwich and Arsenal played out two very entertaining games last season. Arsenal won the game at Carrow Road but they had to fight for it as Norwich pushed them close. The game at the Emirates was a 3-3 thriller and Norwich shocked everyone by earning a point at the Emirates. The Norwich fans will surely be happy about not seeing Robin Van Persie in an Arsenal shirt this Saturday, the Dutchmen bagged four goals against the Canaries last season. But without him the Gunners have scored 24 goals in all competitions this season and with Norwich’s defence shipping goals, it could be an entertaining afternoon at Carrow Road. In their previous two leagues games, the Norwich defence has let in nine goals, despite having the same players from last season; the Norwich defence has got considerably worse. A lack of organisation or just simply getting found out could be the possible reasons. Under the management of Paul Lambert, Norwich played and defended as a team and the spirit they had saw them defy many of their critics last season. Also last season one thing they had in their team was goals. Grant Holt and Steve Morrison between them scored 24 league goals last season. This time around, Morrison only has the one goal in the league and Holt has scored twice. Both these players scored against Arsenal last season and caused them plenty of problems by using their size and ability to unsettle the Arsenal centre-backs. In midfield, Norwich brought in Robert Snodgrass from Leeds over the summer and he has had his moments this season. Against Tottenham at White Hart Lane he was at his best and when he is playing at his best he can be a very dangerous player. A left footed winger who likes to normally play from the right in order to cut in on his favoured left foot. In defence, they got in Sebastien Bassong from Tottenham and while he does have some talent, he can be clumsy. He showed that against Arsenal last season when he was playing for Wolves. Arsenal will surely be looking to catch him out again. Chris Hughton has done a good job as a manager in his previous two clubs. So he was seen as a solid choice but now his abilities will be tested as Norwich look set to be in a fierce relegation battle if their form so far is anything to by. Winning that first league game will lift the pressure, but getting that against Arsenal is going to be some ask for an out of form Norwich team. But if they manage it, then it’s a win that could potentially turn their entire season around. Olivier Giroud finally got his first league goal against West Ham and it must have been a huge relief for the Frenchmen. Before the game against the Hammers, he could not even register a shot on target in the league. But that goal should settle any nerves. His all round play was also impressive as he provided yet another assist for the Gunners. He also scored for France in the midweek internationals and that was against World and European Champions, Spain. So his confidence should be sky high at the moment and that can only be a good thing for the Gunners. Mikel Arteta has been the Arsenal lynchpin in midfield and he has slotted into his new role at the club without much trouble. Arteta has completed over 100 passes on four different occasions this season. He has also formed a brilliant understanding with his fellow Spaniard, Santi Cazorla and have helped Arsenal control the midfield in nearly all their games this season. Cazorla has created the most chances in open play of any European player this season. With Tottenham and Chelsea facing other in the early premier league fixture on Saturday, one of their two rivals will drop points and the Gunners will have to take advantage of that by winning at Carrow Road. The home side will not be confident having shipped five goals in their last home game against Liverpool. With the trip to Old Trafford starting to loom, Arsenal need to start building a run of wins and also build some form for that testing game. The game against Norwich comes on the back of an international break, and the Arsenal players could be in danger of not fully focusing on their game against Norwich. Most of the Norwich players have not been playing for their country, so they do have that advantage over the Gunners. But if Arsenal turn it on and match Norwich in the physical aspect of the game, then their superior technical abilities should take over. If the previous game between these two sides was anything to go by, then this game should be a cracker. Team News: Arsene Wenger: Form Guide: please log in to view this image Three Key Match-ups: Grant Holt please log in to view this image Bradley Johnson please log in to view this image Sebastien Bassong please log in to view this image Overall Record vs Norwich City: Played: 51 Wins: 23 Draws: 18 Losses: 10 For: 91 Against: 52 GD: 39 Last 6 Matches: Arsenal 3 - 3 Norwich City Norwich City 1 - 2 Arsenal Arsenal 4 - 0 Norwich City Norwich City 0 - 4 Arsenal Arsenal 5 - 1 Norwich City Norwich City 0 - 0 Arsenal please log in to view this image Managers Views: Arsene Wenger on playing away from home: My Team: please log in to view this image Final Score: please log in to view this image
Fantastic write up, to be honest I think we will struggle to get anything against you guys. But I'll hope for some luck... Sent from my GT-P3110 using Tapatalk 2
We've looked much better away from home this season, hopefully the trend continues and we get an important 3 points at Norwich. With Chelsea facing Spurs at WHL, and Chelsea at home to United next weekend, this is a chance for us to gain points on some of our rivals over the next 2 weeks facing Norwich and QPR.
Excellent stuff SJW10 you covered pretty much everything, this has set the standard as a pre match thread....
I really hope the home crowd will inspire us to pull off a shock but Arsenal are a class side , arguably one of the best club sides in the World and if we let you play your free flowing game it could end in a real pasting. OTBC
Just relieved to get back to proper football this week The last two weeks have been as boring as Hell . . .
hello gunners great match thread we've yet to get going this season and look like cannon fodder to be honest. sure it will change but probably not on saturday, so 3-1 to your boys is my prediction. giroud scored for france in the week - do you think he will get a start on sat now?
Great thread! Do you do one for every game? (I hope so) I imagine this game will be perfect for Giroud to look to build on his 2 goals in 2 games. I really hope we don't take Norwich lightly, have worked on our set piece defence and try and take the lead early! Should be an entertaining game though! COYG!!!
Well you're a good footballing side, last season, in our 3-3 game, you guys came and played football, and looked very good, so I don't think you have to take an entirely defensive approach to stop us from playing, because at the end of the day, all it takes is one pass, or one play, to score.
Team News: http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/team-news-walcott-gibbs-and-fabianski Walcott and Gibbs are officially ruled out for the game on Saturday. Chensey is again '2 weeks' away from returning, Wenger said the same thing about a month ago. Diaby is also a 'few weeks' away, so we can rule him out for the rest of the year then.
Rosicky's diagnosis doesn't look good either, it was 2-3 weeks away from action 2-3 weeks ago! Now it's still weeks ago, and I really feel sorry for him, it was only last season he started getting his top form back, earning him a new contract, but with this latest injury, I just can't see him breaking into the team again and having a major impact. Unless Wenger decides to rotate a little bit when he eventually returns and start him in place of Cazorla a few times here and there to give Cazorla a rest. As for Diaby, it was 3 weeks ago when we were told he was 3 weeks away from returning, so basically, same old story with him, he's out indefinitely, and once again, this proves how absurd it was to go into a season relying on Diaby, I don't think we will ever be able to rely on Diaby, he's been injured in every season so far, so I don't see how a miracle's going to take place whereby he becomes a regular starter to the team without injuries.
