Arsenal beat Blackburn 6-2 at the Emirates in October. Thierry Henry was in attendance. Isn't that to whom Cesc was pointing here? Any help, people? Pic via Guardian.
Ewood Park, Blackburn
Monday, May 3
17:00 BST, 12:00 p.m. EDT
- Referee: Martin Atkinson
- This Match, Last Year: Blackburn 0 - 4 Arsenal
- All-Time in All Competitions: 56 Arsenal wins, 28 Blackburn wins, 30 draws
- Arsenal's Recent Form: W-D-W-L-L-D
- Blackburn's Recent Form: W-W-D-D-L-D
Predicted Line-Up
Fabianski
Sagna - Campbell - Silvestre - Clichy
Song - Diaby
Rosicky - Nasri - Walcott
Van Persie
Subs from: Mannone, Traore, Eboue, Eastmond, Vela, Eduardo, Bendtner
Doubtful: Arshavin (calf)
Out: Almunia (wrist), Denilson (groin), Vermaelen (calf), Fabregas (leg), Gallas (calf), Ramsey (leg), Gibbs (foot), Djourou (knee)
Arsenal News and Notes
- Andrei Arshavin has "a little chance" to feature in the line-up on Monday.
- Denilson and Almunia, however, have been added to the list of Gunners who will not be seen on the pitch again this year, with their respective injuries. That list now contains eight players.
- Of those eight, Kieran Gibbs and Johan Djourou are back in training, but will not see first team minutes this week or next against Fulham.
- Arsenal have now picked up five points out of a possible 15 in their last five league fixtures.
- Across all competitions, they have won only one of their last seven fixtures, the 1-0 win against Wolves. They have drawn three and lost three of those seven as well.
- Sam Allardyce's squad have no long term injuries (I wonder what that feels like, I bet it's nice.)
- In fact, Blackburn might get all four of their short term absentees back on Monday: Chris Samba and Brett Emerton should be fit, returning from groin and hamstring problems respectively. El-Hadji Diouf and Vince Grella should return to the line-up after illnesses kept them out of last week's draw with Wolves.
- Blackburn have not won in their last four Premier League fixtures, but that period of time includes a draw with Manchester United.
- Blackburn have only lost at home to Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur this season.
- Arsenal defeated Blackburn 6-2 in North London in early October. A wild start went back and forth through the first half hour as Blackburn squandered two leads. Arsenal led 3-2 at intermission and pulled away after the restart. Six different Gunners scored.
- Arsenal's last trip to Ewood Park saw them win 4-0, thanks to an 8th minute goal from Robin van Persie, followed by a hat trick from Emmanuel Adebayor.
- Arsenal's last loss in Blackburn was a 1-0 loss in an FA Cup replay in 2007. Their last league loss at Ewood Park was also a 1-0 loss in February of 2006.
- The referee is Martin Atkinson, who has worked Arsenal's 1-0 win at Fulham, FA Cup loss at Stoke, and 2-0 win over West Ham. That also means he's the only official to show Arsenal a red card this season, to Thomas Vermaelen, for his last man foul against the Hammers. For Blackburn, he has worked their 0-0 draw with Liverpool and their ridiculous 6-4 second leg Carling Cup loss at Villa Park.
- Saturday: Birmingham City v. Burnley; St. Andrew's, Birmingham
- Saturday: Stoke City v. Everton; Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent
- Saturday: Manchester City v. Aston Villa; City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester
- Saturday: Tottenham Hotspur v. Bolton Wanderers; White Hart Lane, London
- Saturday: Portsmouth v. Wolverhampton Wanderers; Fratton Park, Portsmouth
- Sunday: Liverpool v. Chelsea; Anfield, Liverpool
- Sunday: Sunderland v. Manchester United; Stadium of Light, Sunderland
- Sunday: Fulham v. West Ham United; Craven Cottage, London
- Monday: Wigan Athletic v. Hull City; DW Stadium, Wigan
The naughty thoughts that picture makes me think!!
ReplyDelete