Match Prediction: Arsenal at Emirates Stadium
Friday, 14 November 08, 02:04 PM · Comments (36)
It would be easy for me to comment on the lack of consistency Arsenal have displayed this season but I really can't, as I haven't seen all their games. I can only really go on the fact that they're a great team that should be better placed than third, or probably fourth when Manchester United win their game in hand, only three points ahead of us.
You could say that it's because we are having a very good season but we've also suffered from a lack of consistency, so for Arsenal to not be top two, which is where I had them sitting in my prediction at the start of the season, there has to be concerns.
Those concerns will no doubt get fixed in time. Arsene Wenger is one of those managers that we'd all like to have at our club even if we did all wonder who he was back in 1996 when he joined Arsenal. He is clearly a very good manager who has an eye for talent and his teams play, possibly, the best football to watch, in the league.
Now, after that glowing introduction to the team from North London they do have that issue of consistency and although they beat Manchester United last weekend, they lost to Stoke the weekend before and were beaten by Hull a few weeks before that. They are capable of losing to teams that like to battle and we like to battle.
We're not one of the perceived 'attractive teams' to watch in terms of our style of play, but we are one of the best teams to watch in terms of tempo and attitude. We know our lads will run for 90 minutes and not give up and we know that our lads will chase Arsenal for every ball and not hold back in the tackle.
While that might not win us the league this season, it is going to make it extremely difficult for Arsenal tomorrow, as demonstrated by Stoke and Hull.
It's not going to win the game for us though, although it may stifle Arsenal and may get us a lucky break. The game will be won for us by the likes of Ashley Young and Gabby.
These are the games where these two players have to shine and these are the games where I put a little cash on one of these two to score. It's not that playing Newcastle or Middlesbrough isn't good enough, it's that playing Arsenal really is a bigger stage than a team from the North East and this is the proving ground for these two.
We may even have John Carew fit and he is travelling to London with the squad, but it's not a certainty that he will start. The upside of him not playing is we can revert to five in the middle, which if we're to combat the five man midfield of Arsenal, is something we have to do anyway.
I've prattled on, maybe a little too much so I'm going to make my prediction and I'm going for the easy result; a draw. I can't predict that we're going to lose, I just don't have it in me and while it would be easy to say we're going to win with boyish enthusiasm, I'd look a fool as the smart money isn't on that result.
Team news, the match live centre and pre-match blog, all from about 2pm tomorrow. Good luck and may the claret and blue force and roar of the lion be with you.
Yes, it's lunch time and Friday and I've had a beer.
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36 Comments · Add yours
2-1 TO THE VILLA
if carew play's
If arsenal play with confidence than i can see it being a good arsenal victory.
Damien
You didn't mention that we paid £12m for Milner
As bas as we are playing you just never know when Arsenal are involved. For all their lovely football their is a real soft underbelly to them where if you can get stuck in they might not fancy it. But do we have the midfield to do this? Going on the last numbers of games where i haven't seen to many tackles won in the centre i wouldn't be too confident but if NRC gets his act together then maybe we might have a shout. The big open pitch there should really suit Young and esp Gabby to play on the counter attack. I fancy Arsenal to win but i won't be putting them in my accumaltor thats for sure.
keefvilla
mostly because i dont think he'll have an impact on the game
MON,
Please have the courage to play SALIFOU and drop BARRY. I fully expect a big improvement on recent games and 100% given by every player. We can beat them.
It's likely to be a 5 man midfield with GABBY as lone striker again though
i have to say watching arsenal the last few weeks we will come away with nothing,they have there confidence sky high now and i think they will match us in term's of desire.
once they have done that add the quailty and we are in trouble.
hate to say it but 3-0 to the arse
The only thing that gives us a chance tomorrow and the reason I feel Arsenal are the most susceptible to drop out of the "big 4" are the fact that they are far too light-weight. They have no strength in the middle of the park whatsoever - it's why teams like Stoke are able to beat them, because they can muscle them off the ball and win 50/50's easily.
Unfortunately after Carew we don't have much strength either, though Reo-Coker can be a bit of a shin-kicker at times so we might need a bit of his aggression when it comes to challenges with featherweights like Fabregas or Nasri.
They clearly outmatch us when it comes to ability and skill 100:1, but if we can beat them physically we have a chance.
viva thats what i mean,if you watched the game againest utd they came out and fought for the points,it wasnt just a pretty win.
they had grit and determenation,which i think they will match us with and then the quailty takes over.
i just dont fancy us tomorrow at all.
we are not as weak as teams make out,
its a whole media based up and at them attitude.
well i can tell you that you wont bully the arsenal,
we really fancy taking you apart from them two draws you have at the grove.
make no mistake about it come 5 arsenal will have the 3 points!
I agree with the general feel on here is that Arsenal will bee too good for us... Prepare for the worst with Utd coming to visit afterwards!
After the last two league games I'm not too confident. If we show up it'll be a tie at best. 2-2.
The bookies have us at 6/1 to beat Arsenal. Is that the gap between 4th and 5th place in the league?
The odd thing is that Arsenal to win 1-0, 2-0, 2-1 and the 1-1 draw are all 13/2.
2-2, Arsenal's not the type that stifle people, so Gabby and Ashley should be able to do there thing. Then again, it seems hard to believe that Arsenal won't play well, that ManU game might have ignited their season.
One thing Arsenal will give us is room to play and that will make for a very open game, my only hope is that he don't field the kids. If he does we could come unstuck, the full team i think we can handle, I will go for an optimistic 3-1 Villa win.
lmao, i was talking to a couple of villa fan mates the other week and i told them that we'd lose both the arsenal and man utd games, although i was thinking back then that it wouldnt matter as we'd have beaten the likes of newcastle, middlesbrough etc and gone on a bit of a run beforehand.
now i just think we'll get smashed by both. 4-0 to arsenal and man utd in both games.
then again maybe thats exactly what we need to give us the kick up the arse and kick start our season...
Sam...3-1...Have you been on K mi ol mucka..?
Sorry guys I'll reverse Sam's prediction and go for 3-1 to Arse. I got last weeks one right...!!!! Sorry...!!!
We allways go AWOL when we play the big teams,we will bottle it and get hammerd as usual.
I think we will go 4-5-1. But whats the point if your midfield cant win possession? I think i agree with andy, 3-1 Gunners. We will be made to pay for our poor results of late. UTV though!
Hooly, we've never lost at the Emirates. Mind you we've never won either. So it's about time to buck the trend - let's be poositive and hope for a Villa win, that way for once Arsenal will be second last on MotD.
we are miles behind the likes of arsenal so i say 2-1 to them if we play well if not ??????
I have a good feeling about tomorrow. I think we could sneak an odd goal win 1-0 or 2-1. We'll see. They were a better team last season and still lost to the scum at they sty.
The way we have been playing lately - i will be shocked if we get anything out of this game. In fact I think we could be in for a big defeat..........at least we have an easy one coming up next week..
which bright spark in the f.a decided we would play arsenal then manu straight after
Reply to ak_27:
Couldn't agree more ak.
As Sorenson said after the Stoke game, it seems that at times, Arsenal have no spine.
As much as love the Villa, I just can't see us winning. I always fancy us to get at least a draw whenever we play but whilst my heart says Villa win, my head is telling me otherwise.
Ipbopmalik - I agree, Barry needs to be dropped!!
If not Salifou, then Gardner - I say play both along side Petrov!! But then Sidwell?? We have the depth in Centre Mid!!
3-2 Arsenal... Something tells me this game will have goals!
After gifting both the Toon and Boro 6 points during the last two games i expect us to conceed 6points in the next two games against the much stronger gunners tomorrow and MU next week after which i truly hope we can get our season back on track ..Regarding the comments about MON on another thread i can only say this he can only pick the team he believes is best for the job after that it comes down to each individual in turn to give their all for the entire game and beyond if extra mins are added on.And sadly their are certain players that are NOT giving their all thus leaving others to cover for them and that leavs gaps for the opposition to exploit.So those players need sorting out or better still CLEARING OUT so that those remaining are up for the FIGHT and fully commited to Aston Villa football club both on the pitch and off it...Sincerely hoping i am wrong but can not see anything else but a gunners win..
Reply to Chater1703:
The same ones who said we will play danger games like Boro after Toon...We have dug our own grave by not performing against these teams, Arsenal, Man U, we only ever hope for one point from them these days. We have to take care of business against the mediocre teams and fight for a point vs the top teams.....it will be almost a month until we get our next points in the prem
Reply to Leroy:
I'm starting to feel quite depressed for some reason.
Somebody say something positive!
The way to beat Arsenal is to stop them for keeping possession with their short passing triangles. What happens is they keep passing to ball short until opposition players are drawn out of position leaving a gap. To stop this you have to hunt them down in 2s and 3s. Don't dive in to the tackle. You must keep the structure of the defense intact. Its not easy to do and requires a lot of consentration. You must make them flustrated.
Reply to DeGough:
I agree, make them flustrated.
The ref for the game is Mike Riley of the yellow cards. I think that we can use him in our favour. The thing too do is to draw fouls when in possession in their half. They are weak on set peices. On the other hand they will try the same tactic against us, so don't dive in to the tackle.
Villa have not lost at the Emirates Stadium. We have drawn both matches we have played there. Positive enough Doc? I fancy us to maintain this record with a 1-1 draw. Fingers crossed for a 2-1 away win
I still think that if Carew fit there is a case to play him and Harewood up front and hit balls into the box at every opportunity. They don't like it up 'em!!!!
I hope for a draw after how we've played recently (shocking) but who knows, we could sneak a win. We went there last season and played brilliantly and deserved to win. Maybe that will give them a bit of extra confidence going into todays game.
Oh and thanks for the mentions lads in the Adriano post!! You just don't give up do ya?!?
You thoroughly deserved that...
We're one step forward two steps back
Too easy? We we're in full control for most of the match. Very aggressive and steady performance from our midfield, a big response to the lacklustre performance away to Newcastle.
Gabby was holehearted and lethal, good match. The first goal however was 100% own-goal. And we we're happy in front of it as Sagna got clipped and should maybe been rewarded with a free-kick. On the other hand, Gallas starts running 3 seconds to early on the penalty and wouldn't be nowhere near the secondball there so that adds up.
Friedel 7 (un-troubled)
Davies 8 (great performance for 94 min full)
Laursen 8 (top performance as usual)
L Young 7 (good match, clever defensively)
Cuellar 7 (played it safe, no errors, solid)
Milner 7 (not up to his best but runs and fights well)
Barry 7 (composed and tidy as we like him)
Petrov 8 (makes the balance in our midfield, great again)
Sidwell 8 (very agressive, won lots of balls and plays wise)
A Young 8 (as always there wen't points are dealt)
Gabby 9 and MOM (worked hard, took his chances, very good display)
Did we use any subs today?
Great balance in the team and the correct way to play in tricky away matches.