please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Arsenal take on Swansea City at the Emirates this Saturday afternoon in a game that matches up two of the most attacking teams in the premier league. The last time they played each other, Swansea came out on top in a five goal thriller at the Liberty stadium. Arsenal have drawn their previous two league games and that has seen the drop to seventh place in the table. After the dour draw against Aston Villa, the Gunners travelled to Goodison Park in midweek to take on Everton. Arsenal got off to the perfect start after Theo Walcott exchanged passes with Aaron Ramsey before scoring his tenth goal of the season. But, Arsenal were never in control of the game and Everton soon got a grip of the game and Marouane Fellaini made it one each. In the end, Arsenal were lucky to leave with a point as Everton created more chances and looked like the team that were going for the win. Swansea City go into the game against Arsenal on the back of a brilliant 3-1 win against West Bromwich Albion at the Liberty Stadium. Going into the game, West Brom were the form side in the premier league, so for Swansea to tear them apart like they did was a surprise to many. That win has seen Swansea move into eighth place in the league and they are only a point behind Arsenal, so a win on Saturday will seem the leapfrog the Gunners. Arsenal after two back to back draws will be desperate for the three points and having won five of their fourteen league games this season, the Gunners can’t be that confident. At home, they have only three out of their six league games, and Arsenal will have to improve that record if they are to start climbing the table. Swansea will be buoyant after their win in midweek and will be looking to take a famous scalp on Saturday as they visit the Emirates. After Brendan Rodgers left to join Liverpool in the summer, Swansea appointed Michael Laudrup as their new manager. Laudrup a great player had showed that he also had the potential to be a great manager with his work in La Liga with clubs like Getafe and Mallorca. Laudrup was a stylish attacking player and so far all his teams also play with that same style. So he was in many ways the perfect man for Swansea who under Roberto Martinez identified a way of playing that has seen them progress from League one to the Premiership. Swansea under the management of Laudrup, got off to an electric start in the premier league after they hammered QPR at Loftus Road in the first game of the new season. They followed that win with another resounding win and this time it was against West Ham at the Liberty. After that glorious start, Swansea's excellent form disappeared, and they lost three of their next five games in the league. Away from home, they have won only two games, but one of those wins was against Newcastle at St James Park. For £2 Million, Michu has looked like the buy of the summer transfer window so far. He was brought in from Rayo Vallecano and has slotted into a new league and country with such ease. In the league, he has eight goals to his name and he is not even an out and out centre-forward. With his assured finishing, Michu has been the man that has led this Swansea team. Michu was not the only player that Swansea brought in from La Liga, Pablo Hernández and Jonathan de Guzmán have also come in from Spain. With Joe Allen leaving to join Liverpool with Bendan Rodgers in the summer, Swansea had the money to reinvest and they have invested wisely. Hernández has a cap for Spain and to get that amongst this current generation of Spanish players is no mean feat. In recent weeks, he has been their stand out player and is starting to show the sort of form that he showed when he was first breaking into the Valencia team. Swansea also have plenty of pace on the wings with the likes of Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge. Against West Brom, Swansea showed the sort of passing display that has been missing from Arsenal’s game for some time. Arsenal again could not find any fluency in their passing against Everton in midweek and against Villa before that. This sort of form will be a huge worry for Arsene Wenger. Rarely has his Arsenal teams been as poor on the ball as this current team have been in recent weeks. And when they come up against Swansea, this potential problem could be highlighted even further. Swansea are a team that can keep the ball for fun and if Arsenal continue to give the ball away, then they could go long periods without getting it back against the Swans. Lukas Podolski missed the Everton game through illness but is expected to recover in time for the visit of Swansea. Theo Walcott returned to the Arsenal team on Wednesday after recovering from a shoulder injury and the Englishmen bagged his tenth goal of the season, making him the top scorer at Arsenal this season. Walcott has yet to sign a new contract and with the sort of form he is showing in front of goal, he will not be short of admirers. Laurent Koscielny was subbed off in the draw against Everton after suffering a groin injury and is expected to be out for three weeks. Kieran Gibbs replaced the Frenchmen with Thomas Vermaelen moving back into his familiar role in the middle of the defence. With Gibbs back in the team, Arsenal have looked a lot more balanced in defence and it’s vital that he remain injury free. In their last four games, the Arsenal defence have only conceded three goals, so it’s an improvement of sorts in the defence. Jack Wilshere was starting to show his best form for parts of the game against Everton with his quick movement and passing and Arsenal will need Wishere at his best in the run up toward Christmas. Arsenal now have back to back home games in the league and if they are to climb the table, then a run of wins in this period is crucial. With qualification to the next round in the CL assured, Arsenal can focus on the league, also with only a few players out injured, Wenger has options and he needs to use them wisely. Swansea will come to play and Arsenal will have to work to get the ball back because the Swans will not gift them easy possession. On Saturday, two of the most attacking teams in the league match up and it promises to be an excellent game. Team News: Arsene Wenger: Form Guide: please log in to view this image Three Key Match-ups: please log in to view this image - Michu please log in to view this image - Ben Davies please log in to view this image - Ashely Willims Overall Record vs Swansea City: Played: 11 Wins: 6 Draws: 1 Losses: 4 For: 15 Against: 14 GD: 1 Last 6 Meetings: Swansea City 3 - 2 Arsenal Arsenal 1 - 0 Swansea City Arsenal 2 - 1 Swansea City Swansea City 1 - 2 Arsenal Arsenal 0 - 2 Swansea City Swansea City 2 - 0 Arsenal Arsenal 3 - 1 Swansea City (League Cup) please log in to view this image Managers Views: Arsene Wenger on Swansea City: My Team: please log in to view this image Final Score: please log in to view this image
Sagna also now a big doubt for this game. Got a knock on his foot. Good thing we have an excellent back up in Jenkinson for that posistion.
I have to say what an excellent read that was. Most pleasing was that its totally unbiased and with no delusions either (a nice change after playing Liverpool last week). I'm not 100% on this but I'm pretty sure that during both games last season not one yellow card was shown to either team. I suppose both sets of fans will be relieved that the opposition will concentrate on playing good football and not kicking the living daylights out of them instead. Because of this it's a good game to give to Clattenburg to ref, should be easy for him. No reason to think it won't be anything but a cracking match, could even break all passing records for a Premier League game. Good luck to you after Saturday of course, I'm going to predict a 2-2 because of our demolition West Brom but the fact is your a better team than them.
Both ours and Swansea's form guide is three draws, two wins and one loss over the last six games. I think we've been pretty average for the last few games and especially against Villa and Everton. We've been making life difficult for ourselves and grinding out some draws, so there's a lot of expectation on Arsenal to turn that around now we've got two home games against teams that we would usually be expected to beat. We started the Everton game really brightly and looked like our old selves, unfortunately we looked like our old selves in giving the ball away too, which meant we conceded and we never really recovered. If we can cut out the mistakes, then I think our destiny is in our own hands. I fancy us for the win on Saturday and I think we might get a good result that will give us the shot in the arm that we need.
Im guessing he must have dived in one of the games against Swansea last season. Was a one off if he did..
Excellent thread apart from the Freudian slip "Arsenal take on Swansea City at the Emirates this Saturday afternoon in a game that matches up two of the most attacking teams in England. Arsenal will be expected to win, but after our recent form I expect the Swans to put up a valiant fight and sneak a 2-2 draw with 5,317 passes each
I was supposed to be going to this game, but thanks to a ****ing landslide near bristol, lots of trains have been cancelled, all remaining ones are running 30 minutes late. So if i do somehow make it i'll probably miss most of the 1st half anyway. I should have known, never trust the british ****ing weather. It hates me. EDIT: Great news! Obviously the rail people have been blowing things out of proportion, because i've just followed the progress of the train at the same time as the one i'm catching tomorrow, and it was only 5 minutes late into paddington. COYG!!!!!
Would maybe like to see some changes for this game, take arteta out put coquelin in, same with podolski and even cazorla and walcott. Players seem to be too comfortable and in all honesty this game could be another lesson into how to keep possession but we will get chances because swansea do like to play out from the back maybe we can knick the ball off them high up the pitch. I would start with pace on both flanks and look to start brightly right from the off with a quick tempo because we have had a heavy fixture list maybe it is the time to give players a rest and then bring them on in the second half.
