Preview: Arsenal v. West Ham United

Denilson gave Arsenal an early lead in this fixture last year. Pic via Daily Mail.

Emirates Stadium, London

Saturday, October 30

15:00 BST, 10:00 a.m. EDT

• Referee: Mike Jones
• This Match, Last Year: Arsenal 2 - 0 West Ham
• All-Time in All Competitions: 52 Arsenal wins, 33 West Ham wins, 38 draws
• Arsenal's League Form: W-D-L-L-W-W
• West Ham's League Form: L-D-W-D-D-L

Predicted Line-Up

guesses in red

Fabianski

Sagna - Koscielny - Squillaci - Clichy

Song - Denilson

Walcott - Fabregas - Nasri

Chamakh

Subs from: Szczesny, Djourou, Eboue, Rosicky, Arshavin, Bendtner, Vela
Suspended: Wilshere (third of three, serious foul play)
Out: Gibbs (knee), Diaby (ankle), Almunia (elbow), Vermaelen (Achilles), Van Persie (ankle), Ramsey (broken leg)

Arsenal News and Notes

• Kieran Gibbs just cannot stay healthy. Gibbs picked up an MCL strain on Wednesday and will miss "a few weeks," the full length of which will be determined by a scan on Friday.
• Abou Diaby drops out of the squad with his ankle injury, having never come back to full fitness after picking up the knock against Bolton in September. We've seen him fit enough to play, but now that most of the midfield is back from other injuries, Diaby drops out as a precaution.
• Manuel Almunia is still one or two week away from returning from his elbow injury, at which point he'll probably have to earn his job back.
• Robin van Persie and Aaron Ramsey will return to full training at the end of next week.
• Thomas Vermaelen is improving ever so slowly.
• This is the final match of Jack Wilshere's suspension.
• Arsenal have won four straight across all competitions.
• The Gunners took all three points from each of their next five fixtures the last time they were played in the league (either last year, or in the case of Newcastle, two years ago.)

West Ham News and Notes

• Matthew Upson has a slight hamstring complaint and might miss this match, as could Frederic Piquionne, who picked up a knock against Newcastle in the league last week.
• Longer term injuries include Jack Collison (knee), Zavon Hines (knee), and Thomas Hitzlsperger (thigh.)
• West Ham needed added time to knock Stoke out of the Carling Cup, 3-1 on Wednesday.
• West Ham sit in last place in the Premier League, level on points with Wolves but three back on goal difference.
• The Hammers have only one league win this season, but they have two in the Carling Cup and have lost only one of their last seven matches across all competitions; this after losing their first four in the league.

Match Facts

• Arsenal played West Ham three times last year: twice in the league and once in the FA Cup. Arsenal won 2-0 in the only match of those three at the Emirates: Denilson scored the winner five minutes in, Vermaelen was sent off for a last man foul, Almunia stopped the resulting penalty, and Arsenal dominated the second half despite being a man short before a Fabregas penalty secured three points.
• Arsenal blew a 2-0 lead and drew 2-2 in the league fixture at Upton Park last year; West Ham blew a 1-0 lead a lost 2-1 at Upton Park in the third round of the FA Cup in January.
• West Ham became the first visiting team to win at the Emirates, winning 1-0 on April 7, 2007. It was the 23rd match in the stadium's history. West Ham were also the last visiting team to win at Highbury.
• That 2007 win was the last time West Ham won at Arsenal, though they picked up a 0-0 draw in January of 2009.

The Referee

• The referee is Mike Jones.
• He took charge of Arsenal's 6-0 win against Blackpool in August. This is his first West Ham match this year.
• Last year, he only took charge of two Arsenal matches: 4-0 home wins against Wigan and Fulham. That means in three matches he's worked, Arsenal has combined to outscore their opponents 14-0.
• For West Ham, he worked a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa and a 1-0 win against Sunderland last year.

Around the League

• Saturday: Blackburn Rovers v. Chelsea; Ewood Park, Blackburn
• Saturday: Everton v. Stoke City; Goodison Park, Liverpool
• Saturday: Fulham v. Wigan Athletic; Craven Cottage, London
• Saturday: Wolverhampton Wanderers v. Manchester City; Molineux, Wolverhampton
• Saturday: Manchester United v. Tottenham Hotspur; Old Trafford, Manchester
• Sunday: Aston Villa v. Birmingham City; Villa Park, Birmingham
• Sunday: Newcastle United v. Sunderland; St. James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Sunday: Bolton Wanderers v. Liverpool; Reebok Stadium, Bolton
• Monday: Blackpool v. West Bromwich Albion; Bloomfield Road, Blackpool

Carling Cup: Newcastle United 0 - 4 Arsenal: Up for the Cup!

Arsenal took the lead into halftime, thanks to absolute preposterousness. Pic via Daily Mail.

Newcastle United 0

Arsenal 4: Krul 45+2 (og), Walcott 53, 88, Bendtner 83

It looks like we're going for this one this year. There's been a different feeling around the League Milk Littlewoods Rumbelows Coca-Cola Worthington Carling Cup this season. It's hard to say why Arsenal appears to be taking this competition more seriously. Obviously, the last round being a derby against Tottenham had a lot to do with the squad's strength that night. I feel like the biggest reason behind the strength of tonight's squad was, quite honestly, the quality of Arsenal's second string of players.

But, if you're still wondering if Arsene Wenger is serious about this cup this year, keep in mind that he sent Cesc Fabregas on with twenty minutes to play in a 2-0 game.

With this being a Carling Cup game, it's not really worth discussing the line-up in terms of changes in the side since the last league match (FYI, there were nine changes.) Arsene Wenger decided to start a number of players returning from injuries: Laurent Koscielny, Nicklas Bendtner, and Theo Walcott. Wojciech Szczesny got the nod in goal (as I said in the preview, if he didn't start now, he wasn't going to this season.) Johan Djourou, Emmanuel Eboue, and Kieran Gibbs joined Koscielny on the back line. Denilson, Craig Eastmond, and Tomas Rosicky joined Theo Walcott in the midfield, with the Czech wearing the captain's armband. Carlos Vela joined Bendtner up front.

To fit the non-standard squad into Arsenal's standard 4-2-3-1 formation, Vela appeared to play the left wing with Walcott on the right and Bendtner up front, Rosicky played the central role, and Denilson and Eastmond played the holding roles.

The fact that Arsenal could not score in the first five minutes was a bit surprising, given the number of chances. A Vela shot was stopped by goalkeeper Tim Krul within the first thirty seconds, then Bendtner had about four shots blocked after the ensuing corner. The shots kept coming from Arsenal in the opening minutes, but nothing on target found its way past Krul. After this, the match settled into rusty frustration. Despite the flying start, Arsenal did not continue the match very well, in that touches and passes were off. A ton of first touches were terrible. This was clearly a side that 1) doesn't play together often and 2) doesn't see much playing time anyway and, as such, was rusty. Shaking that rust off was a huge point of this match.

The following ten minutes were all Newcastle. Nile Ranger beat Djourou and Szczesny found himself near the 18-yard-line to challenge and the young keeper missed. He did clip Ranger a bit, but nothing more and Ranger stayed on his feet, clear through with an open goal in front of him. Instead of burying it to give the Magpies a 1-0 lead against the run of play, he checked over to try to shoot from his dominant foot, allowing Laurent Koscielny to get back into position. Then, instead of dribbling around Koscielny, Ranger fired a shot right at him. Crisis averted. Not long after, Alan Smith had a beautiful strike from 25 yards out that clanged off the goalpost for a goal kick, though Szczesny actually got a fingertip to it. Kieran Gibbs left the match in the 18th minute with an injury he picked up earlier after a challenge; when was the last time he played a full match? Bacary Sagna replaced him, with Eboue sliding over from right to left back.

Then, nothing happened for about half an hour, unless you're a fan of crosses to nobody in particular.

Arsenal did manage to take a 1-0 lead into the halftime break thanks to an absolutely ridiculous own goal. Words cannot describe how preposterous this goal was, but I'll give it a shot. Arsenal won a corner in the final minute of the first half's added time. Bendtner flicked the set piece into the six-yard box and all hell broke loose. In the scramble, someone in red got a shot on target that was headed off the line by Ryan Taylor. But, the defender's clearing header landed on the back of the head of the goalkeeper Krul, who was on the ground in the scramble. The ball careened off Krul's head and into the net. No, seriously, that's what happened.

Returning from injury, Bendtner and Walcott have scored four goals combined in two games. Pic via Daily Telegraph. 

Arsenal added a second goal eight minutes after the restart, though this would not come without controversy. From a Newcastle goal kick, Bendtner was slowly jogging back into play, but the Arsenal defense won the ball. The pass sprung Walcott ahead with a brilliant through ball. Walcott was onside, but Bendtner, by miles, was not, so he cannot get involved in the play. Walcott was clear through on goal and chipped a shot over the charging Krul to make it 2-0. The controversy surrounds whether Bendtner impeded a defender, specifically Mike Williamson, from getting involved in the play. Walcott was off the races already and nobody was going to catch him anyway, but Williamson could have made it close. Instead, he was checked out of the play by Bendtner, who was offside.

So, the question is how you interpret the (exceedingly complicated) offside rule. In a split second, the assistant referee would have had to determine both whether Bendtner impeded Williamson and whether Williamson could have become involved in the play in the first place. Since Walcott was onside and running well ahead of everyone anyway, I can see why the goal was given, in spite of the gray area. 

Newcastle started pouring everything forward in a desperate attempt to equalize. They made offensive minded substitutions, bringing on the likes of Andy Carroll, Jonas Gutierrez, and Joey Barton. The Toon threw everything they could at Szczesny, who kept the door shut in magnificent fashion. He's talked the talk before and it's good to see that he can walk the walk as well. As a separate aside, I love that, considering he's got an impossible name for a chant, we at the pub have started chanting his name as "Mr. Smith."

As mentioned in the opening of this post, Arsene Wenger clearly wanted this win, as he brought Cesc Fabregas in off the bench, up 2-0, in the 71st minute. After about ten more minutes of Szczesny slamming the door shut (including a point blank save while on the ground off a corner,) Arsenal nabbed a third, as Fabregas slid a perfect ball for Bendtner, who lashed a shot into the top right corner. Walcott picked up a brace five minutes later, after a similar run straight up the middle of the pitch as his goal earlier in the half.

All in all, a great effort, against a side that certainly came to play, and an enjoyable match on the whole. There's a 6 in 7 chance that Arsenal will play another Premier League side in early December's Carling Cup quarterfinal, and two of those six sides were finalists in this competition last year (that's Manchester United and Aston Villa, by the way.) It's four straight wins across all competitions for the Gunners, a feeling that this team could actually win something this year that is growing with each and every win, and a string of players returning from injuries. Let's just keep this rolling, boys.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Theo Walcott

Preview: Newcastle United v. Arsenal, Carling Cup 4th Round

Nicklas Bendtner beat the Magpies with this 83rd minute goal in 2007. Pic via Arsenal.com.

St. James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne

Wednesday, October 27

19:45 BST, 2:45 p.m. EDT

• Referee: Andre Marriner
• Last League Match: Newcastle 1 - 3 Arsenal; March 21, 2009
• All-Time in All Competitions: 64 Arsenal wins, 65 Newcastle wins, 36 draws
• All-Time in League Cup: 3 Arsenal wins, 0 Newcastle wins, 0 draws
• Arsenal's League Form: W-D-L-L-W-W
• Newcastle's League Form: L-W-L-L-D-W

News and Notes

• Jack Wilshere will serve the second match of his three match ban for the straight red card he picked up against Birmingham City.
• Arsene Wenger has stated that the side's strength will be similar to the side he sent out at White Hart Lane in the third round.
• A lot of first team players need to get games in, so we're fairly likely to see the likes of Kieran Gibbs, Emmanuel Eboue, Carlos Vela, probably Abou Diaby, and maybe Denilson and Tomas Rosicky at some point.
• Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott, both coming back from injury, will likely see a lot of time.
• Wojciech Szczesny will start in goal; if he didn't start this one, he probably wasn't going to start any this year.
• Henri Lansbury, Craig Eastmond, and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas may also make the named squad.

Match Facts

• Arsenal have met Newcastle three times in the League Cup; all three have been in London and all three were Arsenal wins (2-0 in 2007/08, 2-0 in 1995/96, and 4-0 in 1971/72.)
• Arsenal took all six points from the Magpies in 2008/09, winning 3-0 at the Emirates and 3-1 at St. James' Park.
• Arsenal beat Newcastle in both domestic cups in 2007/08.
• The last time Arsenal lost a cup tie against Newcastle was the 1952 FA Cup Final. At a time where substitutions were not allowed in the game, Arsenal had to finish the match with seven players due to injuries, and conceded late to lose 1-0.

The Referee

• The referee is Andre Marriner.
• This is his first time working an Arsenal match this year; last year he handled the 3-0 loss to Chelsea at the Emirates along with two matches won by Nicklas Bendtner in injury time: 2-1 at Hull and 1-0 against Wolves.
• Earlier this year, he took charge of Newcastle's 1-0 win at Goodison Park. He handled only four Championship matches last year, but one was the Geordies' 0-0 draw at Leicester.

Other Fourth Round Ties
(P = Premier League, C = Championship, L1 = League One, L2 = League Two)

• Tuesday: Manchester United (P) v. Wolverhampton Wanderers (P); Old Trafford, Manchester
• Tuesday: Birmingham City (P) v. Brentford (L1); St. Andrew's, Birmingham
• Tuesday: Ipswich Town (C) v. Northampton Town (L2); Portman Road, Ipswich
• Tuesday: Leicester City (C) v. West Bromwich Albion (P); Walkers Stadium, Leicester
• Tuesday: Wigan Athletic (P) v. Swansea City (C); DW Stadium, Wigan
• Wednesday: Aston Villa (P) v. Burnley (C); Villa Park, Birmingham
• Wednesday: West Ham United (P) v. Stoke City (P); Boleyn Ground, London

Manchester City 0 - 3 Arsenal: Class Over Cash

Roar. Pic via Daily Mail.

Manchester City 0

Arsenal 3: Nasri 21, Song 66, Bendtner 88

Well, that was satisfying, wasn't it? There's been a lot of talk from the pundits about Arsenal's recent inability to pick up three points in big games. Against the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, and Manchester United, the Gunners picked up just one point from a possible eighteen last year. After the loss at Stamford Bridge earlier this month, the questions of whether this team is ready to challenge for a title came up yet again. Did yesterday answer that question? Read on...

Arsenal made two changes from the side that beat Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek: Andrei Arshavin returned to his usual spot on the wing as Tomas Rosicky dropped back to the bench and Denilson started in midfield, replacing the banned Jack Wilshere, serving the first game of his three match ban.

Things started nervously for Arsenal as Carlos Tevez sent a cross into the box in the second minute that found the backheel of David Silva and appeared to be destined for the corner of the goal, but Lukasz Fabianski made a diving reflex save to prevent a fast City start. Then, things went south for City, as in the fifth minute, a through ball sent Marouane Chamakh ahead of the defense and the young defender Dedryck Boyata hauled him down. Boyata was the last defender and that's a red card every day. City would be on ten men for 85 minutes. Arsenal, perhaps unsurprisingly, did nothing with the free kick.

The man advantage gave Arsenal the lion's share of possession, but they had nothing for it until the 21st minute except a handful of yellow cards, as the game was getting a bit chippy and out of hand. Then, a one-two between Andrei Arshavin and Samir Nasri sent the Frenchman clear in on goal and Joe Hart was left helpless as Nasri fired a brilliant shot into the top of the net, to put the Gunners up 1-0.

Arsenal led through the first half, but it never felt comfortable, as it always seemed City could draw level on any given rush. An opportunity was presented for Arsenal to score a second goal late in the half, as Vincent Kompany took down Cesc Fabregas in the area, giving the Gunners a penalty. Hart, however, saved the penalty to keep it a one goal match, and while it was great save, it was also a poorly taken penalty in that Fabregas telegraphed where his shot was going with the way his body was turned. Arsenal's lead was still just one at halftime.

A lot of credit has to go to Manchester City for not rolling over into a defensive shell once they were on ten men, especially considering this is a side that has played three defensive midfielders in a 4-5-1 against big clubs in the past. Instead of dropping back into a 4-4-1, City actually played more of a 4-3-2 for the duration of the match. As a result, as mentioned above, City's attack always looked like it could still be lethal at any given moment, especially at the start of the second half. The game was, therefore, to hang on until City fatigued, then pull away.

After twenty nervy minutes of chances, which also saw the introduction of Emmanuel Adebayor for a knackered Carlos Tevez (by the way, who didn't love it when Alex Song pulled Ade's hat off and tossed it to the ground?), Arsenal finally got the breathing room they needed. A Fabegas pass intended for Chamakh was blocked by halftime substitute/left back/cuckold Wayne Bridge, but not cleared, and it ended on the toe of the aforementioned Song, who fired it into the corner of the goal. 2-0, twenty minutes to play, against ten men, and everything was looking rosy.

Rosicky, Theo Walcott, and Nicklas Bendtner got in the action during the later stages of the game and the big Dane got his first goal of the season as well in the 88th. Samir Nasri did a brilliant job keeping the ball from rolling into touch for a throw-in and City stopped for just a second, thinking the ball was out, allowing Nasri to send the through ball to Bendtner, just onside, who powered a low shot past the outrushing Hart. Three-nil to the good.

City tried desperately to get on the score sheet, but Adebayor missed a simple header from six yards out in the 90th, then Fabianski brilliantly saved a hard shot from Jerome Boateng in the 91st. Fabianski had yet another solid game in goal, made a number of critical saves at crucial times, and earned his second straight clean sheet against Manchester City, and Arsenal's first away from home in nine months.

So, did this match answer the question of Arsenal's preparedness to challenge for the title. I'd say yes, though plenty will likely say no based on the red card. The biggest reason I say yes is because the confidence is starting to return and build. The monkey of not winning big games is finally coming off the Gunners' backs. The talent is there and working together as a well oiled machine; just think of Arsenal's depth in that they could bring players like Rosicky, Walcott, and Bendtner off the bench even with Wilshere suspended. The defense is a little shaky, but they're still the part of the squad hardest hit by injuries.

Three huge points; this team could really springboard from a win like that.

Arsene Wenger Is Very Happy it's His Birthday

Happy Birthday to the Boss!

From: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_6447156,00.html

Preview: Manchester City v. Arsenal

I'm using this every time Arsenal plays City.

Pic via Guardian; caption mine, naturally.

City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester

Sunday, October 24

16:00 BST, 11:00 a.m. EDT

• Referee: Mark Clattenburg
• This Match, Last Year: Manchester City 4 - 2 Arsenal
• All-Time in All Competitions: 91 Arsenal wins, 45 Manchester City wins, 39 draws
• Arsenal's League Form: W-W-D-L-L-W
• Manchester City's League Form: L-D-W-W-W-W

Predicted Line-Up

guesses in red

Fabianski

Sagna - Djourou - Squillaci - Clichy

Song - Diaby

Walcott - Fabregas - Nasri

Chamakh

Subs from: Szczesny, Eboue, Gibbs, Denilson, Rosicky, Arshavin, Bendtner
Suspended: Wilshere (first of three, violent conduct)
Out: Koscielny (back), Almunia (elbow), Vermaelen (Achilles), Van Persie (ankle), Ramsey (broken leg)


Arsenal News and Notes

• Bacary Sagna will return from a thigh injury; while Arsene Wenger doesn't usually like to start players coming off injury, Arsenal are a bit light at the back, so it would not be a surprise to see the blond braids starting at right back.
• Laurent Koscielny is probably still out with his mysterious back injury, which he picked up in training. Arsene Wenger puts him at 20%.
• Manuel Almunia is still out with his elbow injury and probably won't return until Fabianski's next blunder. Then again, arm injuries need to be fully healed for a goalkeeper to return.
• Thomas Vermaelen seems like he'll never play again given his rate of recovery. Van Persie and Ramsey will be back next month.
• January 17th's 2-0 win at Bolton: The last time Arsenal won while keeping a clean sheet on the road AND the last time Arsenal won a fixture that was moved to Sunday for British television.
• Their 0-0 draw at Aston Villa two weeks later was the last time Arsenal didn't concede in any match on the road. They have conceded goals in 15 consecutive away fixtures across all competitions. 
• In terms of matches moved to Sunday, Arsenal have lost five and drawn one of out the six since the Bolton away win. The 4-0 win against Fulham doesn't count here since all matches were played simultaneously and the match wasn't moved to be televised (i.e. a big game.)

Manchester City News and Notes

• Former Gunner Kolo Toure has been out of the last two matches with a persistent hamstring injury.
• Jo picked up an ankle injury in training, but came off the bench anyway today...
• City won its Europa League group match against Lech Poznan today 3-1. A former Arsenal player who shall remain nameless had a hat trick.
• Mario Balotelli (knee) and Aleksandar Kolarov (ankle) might be fit to play, both huge surprises.
• City did not lose a league fixture at home until March of last year, but their loss to Spurs in their final home game of the season denied them Champions League qualification.
• Blackburn Rovers are the only league team to take a point from Eastlands this year. Juventus took a point there in the Europa League.
• City have lost only two of 14 competitive fixtures this year. Then again, Arsenal have only lost two of 12. The difference is that one of City's losses was in the Carling Cup and the other came only through a late penalty at Sunderland.
• Joe Hart has only conceded two goals at home in league play this year, in four matches.

Match Facts

• Arsenal have lost three straight trips to Eastlands; twice in the league and once in the Carling Cup last year. Then again, City played their entire line-up against Arsenal's reserves in that one.
• The Gunners last win at Eastlands was 3-1 on February 2, 2008. The aforementioned player who shall remain nameless had a brace for the correct team in that one.
• This fixture last year was a 4-2 Arsenal loss in early September. The reverse fixture was a dreadful scoreless draw in late April.

The Referee

• The referee is Mark Clattenburg.
• Clattenburg was the referee for this fixture last year. How did Adebayor not get sent off for both running the length of the pitch like an attention AND kicking van Persie in the face?
• Also, he officiated both North London derbies last year. I remember one of those going well.
• Hey, remember that 36 match streak when Arsenal was only awarded one penalty because Eduardo destroyed the sanctity of football by diving, or something? Well, Mark Clattenburg was the only referee to award Arsenal a penalty during that streak. Cesc Fabregas took the shot and it was saved. Arsenal beat Stoke 2-0 at the Emirates anyway.
• Why do I have so much to say about this guy? He also worked Arsenal's FA Cup over West Ham.
• For City, he worked a 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers earlier this year.
• Last year, in addition to the win over Arsenal, Clattenburg refereed a 3-3 draw with Bolton, a 1-1 draw with Stoke, and a 3-1 win over Aston Villa for City.

Around the League

• Saturday: Tottenham Hotspur v. Everton; White Hart Lane, London
• Saturday: Birmingham City v. Blackpool; St. Andrew's, Birmingham
• Saturday: Chelsea v. Wolverhampton Wanderers; Stamford Bridge, London
• Saturday: Sunderland v. Aston Villa; Stadium of Light, Sunderland
• Saturday: West Bromwich Albion v. Fulham; The Hawthorns, West Bromwich
• Saturday: Wigan Athletic v. Bolton Wanderers; DW Stadium, Wigan
• Saturday: West Ham United v. Newcastle United; Boleyn Ground, London
• Sunday: Stoke City v. Manchester United; Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent
• Sunday: Liverpool v. Blackburn Rovers; Anfield, Liverpool

Arsene Wenger Is Very Disappointed in You 10/20/10

http://www.skysports.com/football/match_preview/0,19764,11065_3315129,00.html