Preview: Arsenal v. Wigan Athletic, Carling Cup Quarter-Final

It was not a good day at Wigan in April. Pic via Daily Mail.

Emirates Stadium, London

Tuesday, November 30

19:45 GMT, 2:45 p.m. EST

• Referee: Martin Atkinson
• Last League Match: Wigan Athletic 3 - 2 Arsenal
• All-Time in All Competitions: 10 Arsenal wins, 2 Wigan wins, 1 draw
• All-Time in League Cup: 2 Arsenal wins, 1 Wigan win, 0 draws
• Arsenal's League Form: W-L-W-W-L-W
• Wigan's League Form: L-L-D-W-L-L

Predicted Line-Up

guesses in red

Szczesny

Eboue - Djourou - Koscielny - Gibbs

Denilson - Wilshere

Walcott - Rosicky - Vela

Van Persie

Subs from: Fabianski, Sagna, Clichy, Song, Nasri, Arshavin, Bendtner

Out: Squillaci (knee), Fabregas (hamstring), Diaby (ankle), Almunia (elbow), Vermaelen (Achilles)

News and Notes

• Emmanuel Eboue's six-to-eight week knee injury has only kept him out for one and the Ivorian is expected to return to the squad tomorrow.
• Sebastian Squillaci picked up a back injury at Aston Villa on Saturday, which means the center backs essentially pick themselves again for this match.
• I understand that Arsene Wenger is going with fairly strong sides in the Carling Cup this year, but I'd guess Alex Song and Samir Nasri will be rested. That'll bring Denilson into the holding role and Tomas Rosicky into the central role.
• Keep in mind when thinking about the strength of this line-up that Aaron Ramsey and Henri Lansbury are out on loan.
• For Wigan, midfielder Tom Cleverley is unavailable (cup tied? he's on loan from United,) and Antolin Alcaraz returns from a one match ban, but Gary Caldwell has two more matches to serve.
• Gary Caldwell (thigh), Emmerson Boyce (hamstring), and James McCarthy (ankle) are all out for the Latics.

Match Facts

• Arsenal have beaten Wigan 10 times in 13 meetings, a history that only dates back to 2005.
• Wigan knocked Arsenal out of the League Cup in the semi-final in 2005/06 on away goals.
• Arsenal has lost at this stage of the League Cup in the last two seasons, but it's the eighth straight year they've gone this far.
• Wigan have not won away from home in their last six matches in all competitions.
• This is Wigan's 100th League Cup match.

The Referee

• The referee is Martin Atkinson.
• Atkinson took charge of Arsenal's 1-1 draw at Liverpool (where he sent off Laurent Koscielny) and their 3-1 win over Birmingham (where he sent off Jack Wilshere.) He's shown 7 red cards this season, tied for most among all English referees who work top flight games.
• He also worked Wigan's 2-0 loss at Manchester United on November 20. At the hour mark, Wigan was down to nine men.

Other Quarter-Final Ties
(P = Premier League, C = Championship)

• Tuesday: West Ham United (P) v. Manchester United (P); Boleyn Ground, London
• Wednesday: Birmingham City (P) v. Aston Villa (P); St. Andrew's, Birmingham
• Wednesday: Ipswich Town (C) v. West Bromwich Albion (P); Portman Road, Ipswich

Aston Villa 2 - 4 Arsenal: It's Never Easy, Is It?

Yay! Pic via Facebook.

Aston Villa 2: Clark 52, 70

Arsenal 4: Arshavin 39, Nasri 45, Chamakh 56, Wilshere 90+3

Despite dominating large stretches of the match, including pretty much the entire first half, Arsenal still managed to make things difficult for themselves by conceding twice in the second half. After a difficult week on the pitch, a 2-0 lead at halftime just never feels safe anymore. In the end, the Gunners had answers for Villa's comebacks, and Arsenal once again pulled out a win in a tricky road fixture. Now, if they could only work on their home form...

Arsene Wenger made seven changes to the rotated side that looked disastrous at Braga. Three changes were made on the backline as Bacary Sagna, Laurent Koscielny, and Gael Clichy returned. Tomas Rosicky slipped in for the injured Fabregas. Alex Song, Andrei Arshavin, and Marouane Chamakh all returned to the side as well.

For all of Arsenal's pressure, there was nothing to show for it until the very end of the first half, when the Gunners struck twice. Andrei Arshavin took advantage of a number of defense miscues and finished his 30-yard dash by slotting the ball passed Brad Friedel and into the net for his first goal in the league since his winner at Blackburn in August. Arsenal should have had a second moments later, but Chamakh's shot hit the side netting. That second did come just before the half, as Samir Nasri thundered home a shot coming from a corner.

Arsenal were bright on the attack in the first half, but then again, they were the same last week at the Emirates and we all know how that turned out. And the script looked the same at the start of the second half this week. Arsenal were on the back foot after the restart, and Villa struck in the 52nd as Ciaran Clark fired home a poor clearance from Sebastian Squillaci. The goal probably should not have stood; even though he never touched the ball, John Carew was standing in an offside position and screened Lukasz Fabianski, which, by the letter of the law, is still interfering with the play. The rule here is so open to interpretation, though, that it's hard to fault the call not being made.

Unlike last week, when Arsenal fell further on the back foot after conceding, the Gunners answered Villa's strike immediately. Rosicky slotted a through ball to Chamakh, who found the net passed the outrushing Friedel. But, this match was far from over, and Clark made things difficult in the 70th, pounding a corner kick off the crossbar and straight down over the line. Twenty minutes to play and it was close again.

Arsenal waited until the 85th minute to finally make defensive substitutions, bringing on Kieran Gibbs and Denilson while removing Nasri and Arshavin. Gibbs took a ball to the corner to kill time and ended up winning a corner kick, after which Arsenal sent almost nobody forward for the set piece (which seemed odd; why not just take the corner short?) At least the Gunners took the pressure off the final minute as they regained their two goal lead in the 93rd. Jack Wilshere had the goal, his first in the Premier League for Arsenal, heading home a cross from Chamakh from close range. And, for at least two hours, Arsenal were top of the league for the first time since March.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Andrei Arshavin

Preview: Aston Villa v. Arsenal

Nothing happened in this match last year. Some people got hurt, I think. Pic via Daily Mail.

Villa Park, Birmingham

Saturday, November 27

12:45 GMT, 7:45 a.m. EST

• Referee: Mark Clattenburg
• This Match, Last Year: Aston Villa 0 - 0 Arsenal
• All-Time in All Competitions: 71 Arsenal wins, 64 Aston Villa wins, 44 draws
• Arsenal's Recent Form: W-W-L-W-W-L
• Aston Villa's Recent Form: L-D-D-W-D-L

Predicted Line-Up

guesses in red

Fabianski

Sagna - Squillaci - Djourou - Gibbs

Song - Wilshere

Walcott - Nasri - Arshavin

Chamakh

Subs from: Szczesny, Koscielny, Clichy, Denilson, Rosicky, Bendtner, Van Persie

Out: Fabregas (hamstring), Eboue (knee), Diaby (ankle), Almunia (elbow), Vermaelen (Achilles)

Arsenal News and Notes

• Cesc Fabregas's hamstring injury will keep him out for two weeks, which means he will hopefully be available for Arsenal's December 13 trip to Old Trafford. Fabregas missed the trip to Old Trafford last year with a different injury.
• Emmanuel Eboue will be out for four weeks with a strain to his medial knee ligament. This is considerably good news, as a tear would have probably meant the end of his season.
• Aaron Ramsey and Manuel Almunia both played for the reserves side on Tuesday, but are both still a ways away from a first team call up. I'd think Christmas for Ramsey. UPDATE: Or, you know, he could be loaned out to Nottingham Forest. That's really stunning...
• No real word on Gael Clichy's back injury, which forced him to miss the trip to Braga. Arsene Wenger is hopeful he'll return.
• Laurent Koscielny has picked up five domestic yellow cards, which should mean a one match ban for accumulation. I, however, can't find any evidence to support this. Considering he's already served two bans for red cards this year, I'm not sure how this rule is applied. Anybody?
• Arsenal have lost two straight across all competitions for the second time this season and second time this month. Arsenal last lost three straight in April, crashing out of Europe before losing at Spurs and at Wigan. That week felt just as bad as this week has, so far.
• Since a 2-1 win at Aston Villa in December of 2007, Arsenal have drawn all four league matches they have played in the city of Birmingham.

Aston Villa News and Notes

• Aston Villa currently leads the league in injuries, which is a big reason why they signed Arsenal legend Robert Pires on a six-month deal. Pires came on after 68 minutes of Villa's 2-0 loss to Blackburn last weekend and essentially did nothing. He will certainly be in the squad on Saturday.
• Three players may return for Villa at the weekend, including John Carew (calf), James Collins (calf), and Habib Baye (ankle).
• Carlos Cuellar (calf) and Nigel Reo-Coker (knee) are close to returns as well.
• Longer-term injuries include Marc Albrighton (appendicitis), Emile Heskey (knee), Fabian Delph (knee), captain Stiliyan Petrov (knee), Steve Sidwell (Achilles), and Andreas Weimann (ankle).
• Aston Villa have won just one of their last eight league fixtures, a home win over a depleted Blackpool side that was still too close for comfort.
• Of those seven non-wins, four were draws, and Villa were able to hold Chelsea and Manchester United to one point at Villa Park. However, the Villans did blow a 2-0 lead in ten minutes against United.

Match Facts

• Arsenal took four points from Aston Villa without conceding a goal last year. The Gunners won 3-0 at the Emirates, during which Cesc Fabregas made a cameo appearance of the bench, picked up a brace, then re-injured his hamstring. The reverse fixture was a 0-0 draw at Villa Park.
• Arsenal have drawn two straight matches at Aston Villa, last having won there 2-1 on December 1, 2007.
• Aston Villa have not won a home league fixture against Arsenal since December 13, 1998. Arsenal have won five and drawn six at Villa Park since. That match was a 3-2 Villa win, where a Dion Dublin brace canceled out a brace from Dennis Bergkamp.

The Referee

• The referee is Mark Clattenburg.
• Clattenburg last took charge of an Arsenal match when the Gunners won 3-0 at Manchester City, a match where City had a man sent off five minutes into play. He also awarded Arsenal a penalty, which Cesc Fabregas proceeded to telegraph.
• For Villa, he took charge of their 2-1 loss at White Hart Lane.

Around the League

• Saturday: Bolton Wanderers v. Blackpool; Reebok Stadium, Bolton
• Saturday: Everton v. West Bromwich Albion; Goodison Park, Liverpool
• Saturday: Fulham v. Birmingham City; Craven Cottage, London
• Saturday: Manchester United v. Blackburn Rovers; Old Trafford, Manchester
• Saturday: Stoke City v. Manchester City; Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent
• Saturday: West Ham United v. Wigan Athletic; Boleyn Ground, London
• Saturday: Wolverhampton Wanderers v. Sunderland; Molineux, Wolverhampton
• Sunday: Newcastle United v. Chelsea; St. James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Sunday: Tottenham Hotspur v. Liverpool; White Hart Lane, London

Champions League: Braga 2 - 0 Arsenal: The Downward Spiral

Yeah... Pic via Guardian.

SC Braga 2: Matheus 83, 90+3

Arsenal 0

After the debacle that was Saturday against Spurs, this match was time for Arsenal to get back on the proverbial horse, and in the process, secure their path into the next round of the Champions League. Instead of getting back on the horse, what actually happened was the horse kicked Arsenal while they were down. So now, Arsenal is still stuck face down in the mud with things spiraling out of control very quickly.

Arsene Wenger, judging by rotation, seems to have no desire to win the Champions League

The amount of squad rotation in the past two Champions League fixtures have boggled my mind. There were seven changes to the side that lost on Saturday. Bacary Sagna was on the bench. Samir Nasri was on the bench. Alex Song was on the bench. Marouane Chamakh was on the bench. Andrei Arshavin and Robin van Persie were left in London to "rest."

During the month of November, the squad has been treating European competition like it's a glorified, multi-national version of the League Cup, which is a disturbing thought if you spend too much time thinking about it. Shakhtar Donetsk was not the time to field a B team, and after losing there, Braga certainly was not the time to do it again.

This team has, offensively, run out of ideas

Unless Cesc Fabregas is in tip-top form, this team has lately been playing like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. Fabregas was at the top of his game in the first half on Saturday, but has been invisible at best and noticeably detrimental to the team at worse since. This happened against Newcastle as well, and it's thanks to his recurring hamstring injury (which recurred again and will likely keep him out for at least two weeks.) When Fabregas is playing hesitant, the entire offense suffers.

Unfortunately, without Fabrgeas on the pitch at all, the offense will still suffer. This is because his replacements have not yet built up the instinct to pick out that perfect pass in the final third that Fabregas is so damned good at. Samir Nasri will probably be close to there in time, but he's not right now. Arsenal essentially had no threatening chances on goal from open play yesterday. Crosses are sent into the box and nobody is there but the other team. Once Arsenal starts losing, they start hoofing the ball long, forgetting that they don't have the personnel on the other end to win those long balls anyway.

The squad does not have a straight-up holding midfielder and it makes the back four look worse

Without the injured Thomas Vermaelen, the Arsenal back four have exposed themselves this season as lacking experience and prone to break downs that lead to goals conceded. How on Earth did one Braga striker beat three Arsenal defenders twice yesterday? Once Eboue was injured forcing Arsenal to ten men, the back line never reorganized themselves. But, even with all of the problems the back four have had, they have not been helped by the fact that Arsenal's holding midfielders haven't exactly been natural for the role this year.

Arsenal have deployed four different players in the holding role section (the 2) of their 4-2-3-1 formation this season: Alex Song, Jack Wilshere, Abou Diaby, and Denilson. Diaby is currently hurt, having been hacked at the same ankle twice this season, but he's more of the creative offensive type anyway, and was playing the Fabregas box-to-box role as of his last appearance at Chelsea. The same essentially goes for the young Jack Wilshere; he's not the type you want just hanging back at the halfway line when he offers so much to the offense. Denilson, we've been saying for years, does not have the size and body type to fill the role adequately anyway.

This leaves Alex Song, who has been pushing way too far forward this season. Song was on the bench yesterday (this goes back to my rotation point above, of course), but it's been an issue all year. Paraphrasing a bit from various sources, a holding midfielder's job is: "screening the defense, covering for those who push forward, retaining distribution nearer the defense, directing distribution forward, and forcing the opposition offensively into more difficult areas of the pitch." Basically, you can't do any of that if you find yourself caught forward on the attack. This, in turn, exposes the back line.

The holding midfielder needs to be someone who floats back around the halfway line ready to deflect pressure away from others. If caught out of position, as Song has been so many times this year, the consequence is added pressure on other players whom you are supposed to be helping.

Nicklas Bendtner, for all his talk, is useless

For examples, see yesterday and November 3 at Shakhtar Donetsk. That is all.

Arsenal lacks the mental resolve to win anything

This is troubling. I've talked a lot recently about the differences between Dominant Arsenal and Complacent Arsenal, who are seemingly two completely different teams. At Everton, Dominant Arsenal played 70 minutes and built a 2-0 lead, which Complacent Arsenal did not have enough time to fuck up. Against Spurs, Dominant Arsenal played 45 minutes and built a 2-0 lead, which Complacent Arsenal had plenty of time to fuck up. Yesterday, only Complacent Arsenal appeared. You can't win trophies like this.

Arsenal had most of the possession through the match (about two-thirds, I believe) and yet never seemed to be threatening on the attack. There's something seriously wrong there. This is a team that was just days ago embarrassed in the second half at home against a bitter rival. The proper response to that is to go out and thrash a legitimately weaker opponent (Braga is 10th in Portugal and had lost three of four.) Despite losing to West Brom, despite losing to Newcastle, despite losing to Spurs, all at home, you get the sense that this team still finds themselves too comfortable in games they "should" win.

That means they 1) lack a killer instinct to take advantage of situations where they could put the opposition down for the count and 2) are incapable of pulling themselves up when the going gets tough, as evidenced by repeated losses in the same pattern. That's going to lead you nowhere fast in these competitions.

I am legitimately worried where this season might end up going

With everything that has happened this month, I'm starting to find my normal, ever-lasting-until-mathematically-eliminated optimism fading fast. Suddenly we're possibly a draw against Partizan away from the Europa League. And playing as Arsenal has this month is a fast track to a fifth place finish and, you guessed it, the Europa League next year.

Football can be a cruel and unforgiving game. If you spiral out of control for too long, it becomes nearly impossible to rectify the situation. If next month continues as this month has, then who knows what competitions this team will be going for next year.

Just ask Liverpool.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Matheus

Arsenal 2 - 3 Tottenham Hotspur: Dominant Arsenal v. Complacent Arsenal

What the hell are you doing, Cesc? Pic via Daily Mail.

Arsenal 2: Nasri 9, Chamakh 27

Tottenham 3: Bale 50, van der Vaart 67 (pen), Kaboul 85

Lest I fly into a bitter rage, something for which 6:30 a.m. on a Monday morning is far too early, I'm going to keep this recap short, for obvious reasons. After last week's win at Goodison Park, I said there were two Arsenal teams on display. There was Dominant Arsenal, who controlled the play and scored two beautiful goals. And then there was Complacent Arsenal, who got too lackadaisical at the back, conceded late, and was forced to hang on for dear life. Against Everton, Dominant Arsenal built up a lead for a long enough period of time that Complacent Arsenal wasn't able to blow it. That was not the case on Saturday.

Laurent Koscielny returned from his suspension to slip in for Johan Djourou in central defense (Koscielny then proceeded to pick up his fifth domestic yellow card of the season, which I believe will bring on another one match ban and force this switch again next Saturday) and Denilson got the start over Jack Wilshere in one of the holding roles.

This match was, clearly, a tale of two halves, but what a beauty of a first half that was, wasn't it? For the first 45 minutes, there was only one team on that pitch and they were wearing red. Nasri's goal from the byline took forever to roll across that line and Chamakh's side footed deflection of Arshavin's cross was pretty cheeky, but both were beautiful. Arsenal was unable to go for the jugular, however. Cesc Fabregas missed a brilliant chance to make it three when the Spurs defense parted like the Red Sea for him, then Chamakh was clear through on goal before inexplicably stopping and looking around for help. It should have been at least 3-0 by halftime and the dagger would've been more firmly planted.

Spurs made a tactical switch at halftime by playing more compact in the center of the pitch, knowing how hard it is to beat Arsenal wide. Lucky for them, Complacent Arsenal came out for the second half and put up one of the worst performances in years. What the hell happened at halftime? Did they all get prematurely drunk in celebration? (If every blogger on the Internet is going to come up with an excuse for what happened in the final 45 minutes, I may as well have my reason be utterly preposterous.)

As soon as the comeback began for Spurs, even while still up 2-1, Arsenal looked immediately incapable of handling the pressure. The porousness of the back four, and the ease with which they become lackadaisical at times, led to Gareth Bale's goal just five minutes after the restart. From there, Arsenal looked unable to win this game. Spurs looked deadly on every counterattack. The holding midfielders were no longer winning everything at the halfway line. Dominant Arsenal never left the dressing room after the interval.

And then, the build up to the equalizer. Alex Song whistled for a foul, leads to a free kick in a dangerous area, and Arsenal sets up a pretty good sized wall. Rafael van der Vaart takes the kick and Cesc Fabregas inexplicably, while standing in the box, lifts up his arm to block it. He got away with this at the end of last year's 1-0 win against Liverpool at the Emirates when Howard Webb didn't see it hit his arm. But that time, he at least wasn't standing in the box and it would've just been another free kick. This was just plain stupid. Van der Vaart's penalty was taken perfectly and suddenly it was 2-2.

Arsenal looked like they had a winner a few minutes later, but the assistant was correct, as the play from Robin van Persie's free kick saw at least two players blatantly offside. I don't remember many specifics about Kaboul's winner five minutes from time, as I refuse to watch the replays, and also, we all did shots immediately afterward.

So, where do we go from here? Well, Braga tomorrow, for starters. But on the whole, if Complacent Arsenal still exists and shows up from time to time, then this is not a title-winning side. And that flat out comes down to leadership. Tom Vermaelen, come back soon.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Rafael van der Vaart

Arsene Wenger is Very Disappointed this game hasn't ended yet

Arsene Wenger Is Very Disappointed in You 11/19/10

I know Arsene. I'm upset I have to get up at 7:00 AM to watch the game too!

From: http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE68J3FM20100920

Preview: Arsenal v. Tottenham Hotspur

Fabregas and Van Persie scored 11 seconds of playing time apart last year. Pic via Daily Mail.

Emirates Stadium, London

Saturday, November 20

12:45 GMT, 7:45 a.m. EST

• Referee: Phil Dowd
• This Match, Last Year: Arsenal 3 - 0 Tottenham
• All-Time in All Competitions: 69 Arsenal wins, 51 Tottenham wins, 44 draws
• Arsenal's Recent Form: W-W-W-L-W-W
• Tottenham's Recent Form: W-D-L-L-D-W

Predicted Line-Up

guesses in red

Fabianski

Sagna - Koscielny - Squillaci - Clichy

Song - Wilshere

Nasri - Fabregas - Arshavin

Chamakh

Subs from: Szczesny, Djourou, Gibbs, Eboue, Denilson, Rosicky, Walcott, Bendtner, Van Persie

Out: Diaby (ankle), Almunia (elbow), Vermaelen (Achilles), Ramsey (broken leg)

Arsenal News and Notes

• The round of international uselessness, and the accompanying delay in players returning to the club, means we won't have a solid idea about the injury situation until tomorrow, so check back then for an update on this.
• Jack Wilshere, who dropped from the England squad with a muscle problem in his back that I believe he picked up at Everton on Sunday, faces a fitness test tomorrow.
• Andrei Arshavin, Samir Nasri, Lukasz Fabianski, and Johan Djourou all played the entirety of their respective useless matches. Bacary Sagna played 87 minutes, which is practically the entirety.
• Marouane Chamakh played 70 minutes and scored a goal, Kieran Gibbs played 72, and Emmanuel Eboue played 53 minutes.
• Cesc Fabregas, Tomas Rosicky, Robin van Persie, and Theo Walcott all played one half.
• Arsenal have won five out of their last six league fixtures for the first time since a six match winning streak in February-March.
• A win would make this Arsenal's third three match winning streak in the league this season.

Tottenham News and Notes

• Jermain Defoe (ankle) has made an early return to training.
• Arsenal reject David Bentley (calf) is doubtful.
• Potential retuns include Robbie Keane (ankle), Aaron Lennon (hamstring), though Giovani dos Santos (groin) might be a week away.
• Michael Dawson (knee) and Jamie O'Hara (back) are out until December.
• Tom Huddlestone (ankle) just underwent surgery and is out for 12 weeks.
• Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate (both groin) have no return dates set.
• I'm making a point of not mentioning a number of historical statistics surrounding this match, in fear of jinxing them.

Match Facts

• We hate Tottenham and we hate Tottenham.
• We hate Tottenham and we hate Tottenham.
• We hate Tottenham and we hate Tottenham.
• We are the Tottenham haters.

The Referee

• The referee is Phil Dowd.
• Dowd last took charge of an Arsenal match for their 1-1 draw at Sunderland, in which Alex Song was sent off and Darren Bent equalized after an absurd amount of added time. Bad memories.
• The only Spurs match he has worked this year was their 1-0 loss at home to Wigan. Good memories.
• This is his first North London derby.

Around the League

• Saturday: Birmingham City v. Chelsea; St. Andrew's, Birmingham
• Saturday: Blackpool v. Wolverhampton Wanderers; Bloomfield Road, Blackpool
• Saturday: Bolton Wanderers v. Newcastle United; Reebok Stadium, Bolton
• Saturday: Manchester United v. Wigan Athletic; Old Trafford, Manchester
• Saturday: West Bromwich Albion v. Stoke City; The Hawthorns, West Bromwich
• Saturday: Liverpool v. West Ham United; Anfield, Liverpool
• Sunday: Blackburn Rovers v. Aston Villa; Ewood Park, Blackburn
• Sunday: Fulham v. Manchester City; Craven Cottage, London
• Monday: Sunderland v. Everton; Stadium of Light, Sunderland

Arsene Wenger Is Very Disappointed in You 11/17/10

From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/nov/17/arsene-wenger-arsenal-england-france

Arsene Wenger Is Very Disappointed in You 11/16/10

Fatherly Disapproval

From: http://www.sport.co.uk/news/Football/46802/Arshavin_Liverpool_fans_asked_me_to_beat_Everton.aspx

Everton 1 - 2 Arsenal: A Perfect Weekend

Seriously, why couldn't Arsenal wear red? Was it the poppies? Pic via Daily Mail.

Everton 1: Cahill 89

Arsenal 2: Sagna 36, Fabregas 48

We saw both Arsenal teams at Goodison Park yesterday: the team that can control play for long stretches and the team that gets a little complacent, takes its foot off the accelerator, and struggles. Thankfully, that first team built up a large enough lead so that the second team managed to hold on. An unnecessarily nervy finish aside, Arsenal still should be applauded for picking up six less-than-easy road points in the last five days and closing the gap on Chelsea at the top of the table to two points. Remember, Arsenal was seven points out after losing at Stamford Bridge last month. It's an interesting season, indeed.

Arsenal made only one change to the side that beat Wolves on Wednesday, replacing Tomas Rosicky on the right wing with Samir Nasri, the more usual starter. Laurent Koscielny served the second and final match of his ban for his professional foul plus red card accumulation. He still stands to face another one match accumulation ban for his next yellow card, for your information.

Everton dominated the possession for much of the first ten minutes, though had little to show for the control. Arsenal finally managed a threat in the 10th minute when a Samir Nasri shot was blocked by Sylvain Distan. Tim Cahill had a golden opportunity to put the home side up just a minute later, but nodded a brilliant cross from Seamus Coleman wide of the mark. Andrei Arshavin followed with two long range shots that were just off as well.

Despite the Toffees' early pressure, Arsenal settled into the match well and dominated the rest of the first half, finally taking the lead in the final ten minutes of the half. Tim Howard made a brilliant save on a Nasri shot, but the ball never went out of play and Arshavin retained possession, slotting a pass into the box for Bacary Sagna, who thundered a shot past Howard to score his second career goal. They say a goalkeeper should never be beaten on his near post, but this shot was an absolute screamer. I had originally thought it hit the crossbar and bounced in and chalked it up to being a lucky goal, but on replay, saw how perfect the shot really was.

Puzzlingly at the time, Jack Wilshere was replaced at halftime by Denilson, leading everyone to believe that he must have picked up a knock during a first half where Everton played him quite physically. However, the substitution was explained to have been more tactical in purpose and Wilshere needed the rest, too.

The tactic didn't sit well with me at the start, as it felt like a negative substitution in what was only a 1-0 match. However, Denilson was fantastic in the holding role, and Arsenal extended their lead in the early going of the second half. Denilson found Cesc Fabregas with a pass, who then proceeded to play a 1-2 with Marouane Chamakh, as the captain one-timed a volley past Howard to double the lead.

From this point, controversy settled in. First, Everton attempted to ping a goal back immediately and Tim Cahill found Louis Saha with a flick-on and Saha was just about to be through on goal when Sebastien Squillaci tripped him and the foul was called. If he was clear and Squillaci was the last defender, then the center back should have been sent off. I thought at the time that he was level with Gael Clichy, however, and was not truly the last man back. Howard Webb showed only a yellow card, and the eventual free kick was straight at Lukasz Fabianski.

Then Fabregas, for the second time this week, escaped a straight red card with just a yellow on a similar challenge, arriving late to block a clearance. Let's be honest here, his tackle on Wednesday was not a red card and his tackle yesterday was even less severe. The media has been blowing these Fabregas challenges way out of proportion lately; both clearly did not have intent and this challenge was not even close to violent.

Arsenal had a few chances to put this match to bed but could not extend the lead to three, then for the final half hour, relaxed a little bit too much, content to sit on the lead. Manchester United learned back in September that sitting on a lead is not safe at Goodison Park, as they were burned twice in injury time to turn a 3-1 win into a 3-3 draw. Fabianski, as he did on Wednesday at Molineux, saved Arsenal's ass through the final ten minutes of the match, but this time, conceded in the 89th. Arsenal chose not to defend too much on a corner and Saha nodded a cross down to an open Cahill, who fired a shot past a helpless Fabianski. And suddenly, it was 2-1, and worry seeped in.

Immediately, a defensive change as Chamakh was pulled for Emmanuel Eboue. Everton had about two more chances, but Fabianski shut the door and Arsenal held on to take all three points. Given the other results this weekend (United draw, City draw, and *gasp* a Chelsea loss at home), Arsenal are deep in the thick of the title race in the early stages. They've shown they can fight for wins like a champion. If only they'd just stop showing signs of complacency when they think the match is comfortable, then this team can do some great things.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Cesc Fabregas

Preview: Everton v. Arsenal

Fabregas picks up Arsenal's fourth of six goals at Goodison Park last year. Pic via Daily Mail.

Goodison Park, Liverpool

Sunday, November 14

14:00 GMT, 9:00 a.m. EDT

• Referee: Howard Webb
• This Match, Last Year: Everton 1 - 6 Arsenal
• All-Time in All Competitions: 94 Arsenal wins, 58 Everton wins, 41 draws
• Arsenal's Recent Form: L-W-W-W-L-W
• Everton's Recent Form: W-W-D-W-D-D

Predicted Line-Up

guesses in red

Fabianski

Sagna - Djourou - Squillaci - Clichy

Song - Wilshere

Nasri - Fabregas - Arshavin

Chamakh

Subs from: Szczesny, Eboue, Denilson, Rosicky, Bendtner, Walcott, Van Persie

Suspended: Koscielny (second of two, professional foul + second red card of season)

Out: Gibbs (knee), Diaby (ankle), Almunia (elbow), Vermaelen (Achilles), Ramsey (broken leg)

Arsenal News and Notes

• Kieran Gibbs faces a fitness test, but could be available to make the trip to Liverpool.
• Still no word on how serious the set back is for Thomas Vermaelen's Achilles. There is a chance he's done for the year.
• Abou Diaby is undergoing a gradual fitness test and yesterday's start was positive.
• You know, ever since Lukasz Fabianski asserted himself, we've stopped hearing about Manuel Almunia's elbow altogether.
• Aaron Ramsey is about ready to spend a month or so getting back up to speed with the Reserves.
• Nicklas Bendtner and Robin van Persie will still be on the bench, but are not 100% fit.
• Arsenal have now twice this season failed to extend a three match winning streak in league play. Before losing against Newcastle, Arsenal previously drew at Sunderland after winning three in a row.
• Last year, Arsenal took all six points from matches played in Liverpool for the first time since 2001/02. This is a feat they already cannot duplicate this season, after drawing 1-1 at Anfield.

Everton News and Notes

• After being sent off against Bolton on Wednesday, Marouane Fellaini begins serving a three match ban. Good news for Arsenal in that it takes some punch away from the Toffees' midfield. Also, it would've been really weird to have two people named Marouane starting this match. His hair might be worse than Chamakh's!
• Victor Anichebe is close to a return from a knee injury, but Leon Osman (ankle) and Ross Barkley (leg) are long term absentees.
• After losing three of their first five matches, Everton are now unbeaten in seven league games.
• They are technically unbeaten in eight overall across all competitions, having drawn in the Carling Cup, though they lost to Brentford on penalties, so that's really only a draw for bookkeeping purposes.
• Since the start of last year, only Arsenal, Liverpool, and Newcastle have won at Goodison Park in league play.

Match Facts

• Arsenal thrashed Everton 6-1 at Goodison Park in last season's opening day fixture, with Cesc Fabregas picking up a brace. Arsenal also picked up goals from Denilson, Thomas Vermaelen, William Gallas, and Eduardo. Louis Saha pinged one back in the 90th.
• Arsenal trailed Everton twice at the Emirates in January, but battled back twice, and got an injury time equalizer from Tomas Rosicky to draw 2-2.
• The Toffees have not won in six tries against Arsenal (with two draws.) Their last win was by a 1-0 scoreline, at Goodison Park, on March 18, 2007. Andrew Johnson scored an injury time winner.

The Referee

• The referee is Howard Webb, who took charge of the World Cup Final, during which I think even I received a yellow card.
• He has not yet worked an Arsenal match this year. The last time Arsenal saw Webb was a 1-1 draw at Birmingham, which essentially ended Arsenal's legitimate title chase. He also worked both Arsenal wins over Liverpool.
• This is his third Everton match of the season. He previously took charge of their 0-0 draw at Fulham and their 2-0 derby win over Liverpool.

Around the League

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

Arsene Wenger is Very Disappointed in You 11/11/2010

He's even disappointed on Veteran's Day

From: http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/222/transfer-zone/2010/11/10/2207532/arsenal-manager-arsene-wenger-aaron-ramsey-will-not-be-sent

Wolves 0 - 2 Arsenal: Start and Finish

 

"HAHA! We're winning before you could even find a Web stream!" Pic via Guardian.

Wolves 0
Arsenal 2: Chamakh 1, 90+4

It might have taken under 40 seconds for Arsenal to take the lead at Molineux tonight, but it certainly took all of the match to make that lead comfortable. Marouane Chamakh picked up a brace, scoring in the first and final minutes of play to get Arsenal back on the winning track. Chelsea's win means Arsenal remains five points out of first place, but they are now one point out of second after the Manchester derby ended in a boring, boring draw.

Three changes were made to the side that didn't really show up on Sunday: Laurent Koscielny's suspension meant Johan Djourou returned to partner Sebastian Squillaci at center half. Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott dropped to the bench; Andrei Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky started on the wings in their place, on the left and right, respectively.

Chamakh's opening goal was the fastest Premier League goal in Arsenal history. I can't quite get a consistent number of seconds it took from various media outlets. The BBC says 37 but Arsenal's own recap says 38. The match commentators said 39. Let's go with that lowest one then and say it was 37 (that was always a lucky number for me, too.) Tomas Rosicky won the ball in midfield, found Alex Song in space, who found Chamakh's head with his cross.

From there, as expected, Wolves put up quite a fight. No team has taken three points from Wolves easily this year: Chelsea came away with one of their most uncomfortable wins at Stamford Bridge this season, while Manchester United left it until the death to win at Old Trafford on Saturday. And City outright lost at Molineux. A lack of adroit finishing kept Arsenal from coasting to the finish line, especially two specific chances in the second half: Cesc Fabregas was through on goal and fired poorly wide, then Djourou poked the ball wide during a goal line scramble after Squillaci couldn't find it in his own feet.

Thanks to missed opportunities, the end was nervy, and I'm sure we all thought back to that finish at Sunderland two months ago and realized this was a similar situation (aside from not being down to ten men.) Lukasz Fabianski, wearing a whole lot of bright pink, kept his clean sheet with a number of remarkable saves. Wolves kept banging on the door in the final minutes, but Fabianski and the Arsenal defense kept pushing them back out. Fabianski made a brilliant, one-armed, diving save in the 93rd minute that had the feeling it had sealed the game, but then he threw the ball back into play way too quickly. Time killing, anyone?

But, do you know what's better than time killing? Scoring another goal, which is what Arsenal did from that possession. Fabianski's throw found Rosicky who passed to Fabregas who chipped a through ball to Chamakh, who coolly picked up his brace past the diving American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann. Chamakh picked up a goal in the first minute and another in the 94th, the longest time between goals scored by the same player in the same Premier League game.

Unfortunately, much of the talk after the match was about Cesc Fabregas's tackle on Stephen Ward, which left Ward with a huge gash on his leg and saw the Wolves player taken off the field on a stretcher. Referee Mark Halsey chose only to show Fabregas a yellow card as the fans at Molineux were screaming for blood. There was never intent in the challenge, Fabregas was sliding across to block a clearance along the line and arrived late. A yellow was fair, but a red card would not have been out of the question (though harsh;) Joe Cole was sent off at Anfield for the exact same offense on opening day. which back then I called "ill-timed but not ill-intentioned." Meanwhile, Andrei Arshavin and Alex Song also took challenges that could have been leg-breakers, so, considering Fabregas and Arsene Wenger apologized and Wolves have moved on, having taken it like men, let's all just move on and shut up about it, okay? Yes, I'm talking to you, Alan Hansen on Match of the Day.

So, to recap: Fabianski has bounced back from his one poor showing this season, which is great news. Chamakh has bounced back from looking sluggish on Sunday, which is great news. The back four looked more competent than they have in the past, which is great news, though with Thomas Vermaelen's season possibly over with his Achilles injury, it's going to be touch-and-go back there all year. I can't really say anyone had a poor performance. Arsenal needed these three points and it's great to see the side actually put up a quality fight to get them. Now, in a stretch of fixtures that will define the rest of the season, let's get three more at Goodison Park on Sunday.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Lukasz Fabianski

Preview: Wolverhampton Wanderers v. Arsenal

The magnificent Own Goal scored twice for Arsenal at Molineux last year. Pic via Daily Mail.

Molineux, Wolverhampton

Wednesday, November 10

19:45 GMT, 2:45 p.m. EST

• Referee: Mark Halsey
• This Match, Last Year: Wolves 1 - 4 Arsenal
• All-Time in All Competitions: 54 Arsenal wins, 29 Wolves wins, 25 draws
• Arsenal's Recent Form: L-L-W-W-W-L
• Wolves' Recent Form: L-L-D-L-W-L

Predicted Line-Up

Fabianski

Sagna - Djourou - Squillaci - Clichy

Song - Wilshere

Walcott - Fabregas - Nasri

Chamakh

Subs from: Szczesny, Eboue, Denilson, Rosicky, Arshavin, Bendtner, Van Persie

Suspended: Koscielny (first of two, professional foul + second red card of season)

Out: Gibbs (knee), Diaby (ankle), Almunia (elbow), Vermaelen (Achilles), Ramsey (broken leg)

Arsenal News and Notes

• There is no change in the injury situation since Sunday against Newcastle; everyone available then is available tomorrow, including Samir Nasri who recovered from a knock to his calf and Cesc Fabregas who continues to have recurring hamstring problems.
• The bad news is that Thomas Vermaelen has suffered a set back and there is still much concern on the fate of Abou Diaby's ankle.
• Laurent Koscielny's red card appeal was dismissed and he will serve a two match ban: one for the red card and one for this being his second red of the season.
• This is the first time Arsenal has lost consecutive matches this season. Between the losses to West Brom and Chelsea, the Gunners won at Partizan Belgrade in the Champions League.

Wolves News and Notes

• Ronald Zubar and Joey Craddock are out until at least the weekend with an ankle and thigh injury, respectively. That's a shame, as both scored for Arsenal in this fixture last year.
• Michael Kightly has been a seriously long term absentee for Wolves, with a tendon problem in his knee. He was omitted from the club's 25 man squad in September and therefore may only return in the January transfer window.
• Adlene Guedioura is out until February with a broken leg.
• Wolves are sitting in the relegation zone and have only won twice this season, but have made life difficult for plenty of top competition. Manchester City lost a Molineux a week and a half ago, Manchester United needed 93 minutes to win at Old Trafford, and Wolves made Chelsea's 2-0 win uncomfortable at Stamford Bridge.

Match Facts

• Arsenal has won their last ten meetings with Wolves across all competitions.
• Wolves' last result against Arsenal was a 1-1 draw at Molineux on April 3, 1982.
• Their last win against the Gunners came fifteen tries ago, 3-2 at Highbury on September 29, 1979.
• Wolves spotted Arsenal a 2-0 lead in this fixture last year, thanks to the aforementioned own goals from Zubar and Craddock. Cesc Fabregas added a third before halftime; Andrei Arshavin later added a fourth, then Craddock scored in the correct net to ping one back in the 89th.
• Arsenal beat Wolves 1-0 at the Emirates in April, needing 94 minutes for Nicklas Bendtner to head home the winner from a Bacary Sagna cross.
• Arsenal won three midweek fixtures last season and drew two. They lost one midweek league fixture last year, 2-1 at Spurs, though that was a match postponed from a Saturday.

The Referee

• The referee is Mark Halsey.
• Last year, Halsey took charge of only one Premier League match; it happened to be Arsenal's 6-1 thrashing of Everton at Goodison Park on opening day.
• He was then diagnosed with lymphoma and underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his throat. He returned to officiating in March of this year and returned to the Premier League this season.
• The last time Halsey took charge of a Wolves match was a 2-0 loss to Birmingham City in the Championship on April 6, 2009. This was also the last time Halsey showed a red card.

Around the League

• Tuesday: Stoke City v. Birmingham City; Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent
• Tuesday: Tottenham Hotspur v. Sunderland; White Hart Lane, London
• Wednesday: Aston Villa v. Blackpool; Villa Park, Birmingham
• Wednesday: Chelsea v. Fulham; Stamford Bridge, London
• Wednesday: Newcastle United v. Blackburn Rovers; St. James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Wednesday: West Ham United v. West Bromwich Albion; Boleyn Ground, London
• Wednesday: Wigan Athletic v. Liverpool; DW Stadium, Wigan
• Wednesday: Everton v. Bolton Wanderers; Goodison Park, Liverpool
• Wednesday: Manchester City v. Manchester United; City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester

Arsenal 0 - 1 Newcastle United: Srsly?

Well, hey, Chelsea lost! Pic via Guardian.

Arsenal 0

Newcastle United 1: Carroll 45

After Wednesday's loss in the Ukraine, there were many who said they would rather lose that match than lose on Sunday in the league. I think everyone feels rightly distraught now that they've actually lost both. And yet again, Arsenal fails to capitalize on a Chelsea loss (though, it's probably a blessing of some sort that Arsenal does not find themselves waking up this morning eight points off the pace.)

There were two changes made from the side that beat West Ham a week ago (I'm not going to compare the side to the rotated squad that played in Donetsk mid-week.) Jack Wilshere returned to his holding role from suspension, meaning Denilson dropped to the bench. In form Theo Walcott got the start on the right wing, pushing Samir Nasri to the left, and dropping Andrei Arshavin to the bench. Robin van Persie made a surprise return to the bench after only one full training session on Friday.

Arsene Wenger blamed complacency for Arsenal's Champions League defeat this week and said in pre-match interviews that, after already losing at home to West Bromwich Albion, the team would not be caught like that again, that the lessons had been learned.

It didn't look like it. This was, for sure, Arsenal's worst performance of the season, and I'm hard pressed to think of any performances at home that were as poor as this from last season. Now, I'm running too late this morning to wax poetic on this disaster, so here are the dirty details of this one in bullet point fashion:

• It is apparent to me that Cesc Fabregas is still injured, at least enough to make him completely ineffective. The offense cannot run if your playmaking attacking midfielder is struggling to complete passes. An uncharacteristically high 16 of his 60 passes were unsuccessful. It's even more worrying to me that Samir Nasri picked up a knock, too.

• Newcastle's goal came courtesy the Lukasz Fabianski we're more used to. Wenger blamed "over confidence" on his coming out for a ball on which he did not have to, which is kind of a laughable excuse. What really happened was Fabianski hesitated, jumped late, and even more inexplicably, he jumped behind the attacker, Andy Carroll, who had already been lost by Chamakh marking him. 100% on the Pole, probably for the first time in his recent run in the side. So, let's buy in January, okay?

• In two of the last three home league matches, Arsenal have conceded a goal on their opposition's first legitimate chance on goal. Birmingham City and Newcastle United both opened the scoring with their first shots on target.

• Wenger made his substitutions earlier than normal, in desperate times down a goal, with the first two coming before the hour mark. Andrei Arshavin did essentially nothing, while Robin van Persie was clearly not ready to play 35 minutes. So, even though the changes were made early, they didn't work.

• I don't see why Jack Wilshere was removed at 73 minutes for Nicklas Bendtner. Wilshere is a work horse and can always give you 90 solid minutes. Why one of Arsenal's better players on the pitch was removed baffles me, aside for tactical reasons which ended up failing anyway. A holding midfielder was replaced by a goal scorer while down one, I get it, but the result was an increasing inability to win the ball in the midfield to get it to the goal scorer anyway. Of course, tactically speaking, hindsight is 20/20.

• Laurent Koscielny's red card, which he picked up for a professional foul, will likely be appealed. The foul was called by the linesman, in such a position where Mike Dean was forced to show red. The appeal needs to prove that it should not have been a foul in the first place, as I don't think we're going to get around Koscielny being the last defender and the attacker being through on goal. Wenger claims that Squillaci was covering, but I didn't think so at the time. As soon as the whistle blew, I knew it was red.

• Arsenal's league form at home: Two losses, two unconvincing wins, and two convincing wins that were aided by their opposition ending the match with ten men.

Okay, there's no time to dwell and sulk about this one, as Arsenal travels to Wolves on Wednesday for their first midweek league fixture of the season. Let's hope some consistency and focus makes the trip, too.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Cheick Tioté, who outplayed Fabregas in the midfield.

Preview: Arsenal v. Newcastle United

RVP had a brace in this fixture when it was last played two years ago. Pic via Daily Mail.
 
Emirates Stadium, London

Sunday, November 7

13:30 GMT, 8:30 a.m. EST

• Referee: Mike Dean
• This Match, Last Time: Arsenal 3 - 0 Newcastle (August 30, 2008)
• All-Time in All Competitions: 65 Arsenal wins, 65 Newcastle wins, 36 draws
• Arsenal's Recent Form: D-L-L-W-W-W
• Newcastle's Recent Form: W-L-L-D-W-W

Predicted Line-Up

guesses in red

Fabianski

Sagna - Koscielny - Squillaci - Clichy

Song - Wilshere

Walcott - Fabregas - Nasri

Chamakh

Subs from: Szczesny, Djourou, Eboue, Denilson, Rosicky, Arshavin, Bendtner

Out: Gibbs (knee), Diaby (ankle), Almunia (elbow), Vermaelen (Achilles), Van Persie (ankle), Ramsey (broken leg)

Arsenal News and Notes

• All four players who dropped out of the Shakhtar trip with injuries (Fabregas, Song, Denilson, and Arshavin) return for this match, which lends more credence to my rotation conspiracy theory. Still, better to lose that match than this one.
• Abou Diaby's ankle injury does not seem to be progressing and Arsene Wenger says he does not know when he'll return.
• Jack Wilshere returns from his three match domestic ban.
• I'd like to see Walcott start over Arshavin, but something tells me that the Russian still won't be dropped from the starting XI.
• If Laurent Koscielny picks up a booking, he'll have five yellow cards this season and will have to serve a one match ban for accumulation.
• Arsenal had their five match winning streak across all competitions snapped in Donetsk on Wednesday, but have still won three straight in league play.
• That streak ties their longest league winning streak of the season. Arsenal's longest league winning streak last year was six games. Their longest winning streak two years ago was five, though that came towards the end of a 21 match unbeaten run.
• The last time Arsenal dropped points to more than one newly promoted side at home was 2001/02, with draws against Bolton and Blackburn.
• In terms of dropping points via one draw and one loss to newly promoted sides, the last time that happened was 1994/95. The loss was to Crystal Palace, the draw was with Leicester City.
• The last time Arsenal lost twice at home to newly promoted sides was 1976/77 with losses against West Bromwich Albion and Bristol City. They also drew newly promoted Sunderland.

Newcastle News and Notes

• While it would have been interesting, the return of Sol Campbell is doubtful for this match, given his fitness, in addition to not being top choice at the position at Newcastle.
• The Toon have three other long term injuries: Hartem Ben Arfa (double leg fracture), goalkeeper Steve Harper (broken collarbone), and Dan Gosling (ACL.)
• Through ten games, Newcastle sit in 7th place in the Premier League. The last time Newcastle was this high this late in the season was 2005/06, when they happened to finish 7th.
• The Magpies have won consecutive league fixtures for the first time since December of 2008, the season which ended in relegation.
• They are also coming off a huge 5-1 derby win over Sunderland, their largest derby victory since 1955.

Match Facts

• Arsenal defeated Newcastle United 4-0 in the fourth round of the Carling Cup at St. James' Park a week and a half ago.
• The Gunners took all six points two years ago, when Newcastle was relegated. Arsenal won 3-0 at the Emirates and 3-1 in the North East.
• Newcastle last defeated Arsenal 1-0 at St. James' Park on December 10, 2005.
• Arsenal are unbeaten in their last nine across all competitions against the Magpies.
• Newcastle's last win at Arsenal came on December 18, 2001, 3-1 at Highbury.

The Referee

• The referee is Mike Dean.
• Dean took charge of Arsenal's 2-0 loss at Chelsea last month and Arsenal dropped points in all four fixtures he worked for them last year.
• Dean has not worked a Newcastle match since their 1-1 draw with West Brom last year in the Championship.

Around the League

• Saturday: Bolton Wanderers v. Tottenham Hotspur; Reebok Stadium, Bolton
• Saturday: Birmingham City v. West Ham United; St. Andrew's, Birmingham
• Saturday: Blackburn Rovers v. Wigan Athletic; Ewood Park, Blackburn
• Saturday: Blackpool v. Everton; Bloomfield Road, Blackpool
• Saturday: Fulham v. Aston Villa; Craven Cottage, London
• Saturday: Manchester United v. Wolverhampton Wanderers; Old Trafford, Manchester
• Saturday: Sunderland v. Stoke City; Stadium of Light, Sunderland
• Sunday: West Bromwich Albion v. Manchester City; The Hawthorns, West Bromwich
• Sunday: Liverpool v. Chelsea; Anfield, Liverpool

Champions League: Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 1 Arsenal: Second Guess

This wasn't as awesome as that other Eduardo goal. Pic via Guardian.

Shakhtar Donetsk 2: Chygrynskiy 28, Eduardo 45

Arsenal 1: Walcott 10

I am going to inevitably keep this recap short, because if I don't, I run the risk of going off on tangents and having the whole thing turn into a profanity laced tirade about Arsenal's performance yesterday. On Monday, I outlined why it was crucial for Arsenal to pick up three points in this fixture, since it would clear their path to the knockout phase, and allow Arsene Wenger to rotate the squad in the remaining two group fixtures. Instead, injuries forced Wenger to make a number of changes anyway, and it was costly. Those two remaining fixtures now look like must-wins for Arsenal to finish top of the group.

Arsenal made a whopping seven changes from the side that beat West Ham United on Saturday. But, only four of those changes were necessitated by injuries, as Cesc Fabregas, Alex Song, Denilson, and Andrei Arshavin dropped out. I'm under the impression that most of these were precautions and three could play Sunday (one hopes, though Denilson will drop for Jack Wilshere back from suspension.) In came Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky, and Craig Eastmond.

Three changes were the case of rotation in the squad, the use of which in this match, a must-win as I've outlined before, bothered me significantly. Bacary Sagna and Laurent Koscielny dropped to the bench for Emmanuel Eboue and Johan Djourou. Nicklas Bendtner started up front in the place of Marouane Chamakh.

Why rotate so much now when winning this match allows you to rotate during a more difficult stretch of fixtures in the future? Arsenal plays Newcastle at home on Sunday. After their next group stage match, one on which there is now more pressure to win, they play Aston Villa away. It just doesn't make sense to me.

Sure, it started off well enough. Arsenal took a lead within ten minutes thanks to the pace of Theo Walcott. In clearing a corner, Jack Wilshere's ball out of danger sprang Walcott, whose lightning quickness meant that nobody was going to catch him. He slotted a neat little ball under the diving keeper and Arsenal looked like they'd win comfortably. Which, apparently, set them up perfectly to be complacent for the oncoming Shakhtar onslaught.

The Ukrainian side dominated the rest of the first half, essentially, and they drew level just before the half hour mark, after a bizarre run-up. Wilshere was fouled but the referee played the advantage to Arsenal, who after a pass or two, lost possession. Suddenly, Shakhtar was racing the other way against ten defenders, and a caught out of position Eboue was forced to commit a foul and pick up a booking to prevent further damage on the counter. The damage would come on the resulting free kick anyway, as a perfectly taken strike found the head of Dmytro Chygrynskiy, then glanced off Craig Eastmond and into the net. Originally an own goal to the young Gunner, the deflection was of a shot going on goal anyway, and Chygrynskiy eventually got credit.

Arsenal played about five solid minutes of time in the first half after their opening goal, but it all came crashing down just before halftime. On the break, Gael Clichy was absolutely skinned alive by Darijo Srna, who then slotted a perfect cross for Eduardo to one-time past a diving Fabianski. To his credit, the Crozilian again did not celebrate him goal. But the stadium certainly did, and it's a goal that can never happen at this level. Clichy's error was inexcusable. He had briefly won back possession, only to try to dribble his way around Srna instead of clearing. He paid the price and looked foolish in the process.

There were a few chances for Arsenal to equalize in the second half with Wilshere coming closest in the early going, but after a while, all of Arsenal's efforts were coming from 20 yards out with very little to challenge Shakhtar's defense. Another sign of rotation appeared when Carlos Vela was the first substitution, with Marouane Chamakh coming on with only about 17 minutes to play at most. Then, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas came on with only nine minutes with which to work. It looked at certain times like Arsenal had no intention of winning this match; they lacked spark in their play for about 70 minutes in total.

Bright spots existed, of course. Lukasz Fabianski was stellar again; let's hope the fact that he was on the losing end doesn't shatter his confidence. Johan Djourou is improving game-by-game, though he still has one too many adventures at center back for my liking. Jack Wilshere did not lose a beat during his suspension and Theo Walcott looks just as fired up as he did before his injury.

On the negative side, after a positive run of games, Nicklas Bendtner was largely useless yesterday. For all of the great work we've seen from them in the past, Samir Nasri and Tomas Rosicky had off nights in terms of their creativity. Gael Clichy needs someone to challenge him for his starting job since Kieran Gibbs seems perma-hurt. I don't think Craig Eastmond is quite ready for the European stage; Henri Lansbury, who was left on the bench, is arguably more ready. Everyone else was fairly mediocre (that apparently means Eboue, Squillaci, and Vela), while Chamakh and JET didn't get enough time to warrant much judgment.

Disappointing match, all in all. One in which Arsenal saw their future fixtures get a little more difficult. I think that's what makes it worse.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Darijo Srna

Preview: Shakhtar Donetsk v. Arsenal, Champions League Group Matchday 4

Arsenal will be without Cesc Fabregas thanks to a re-tweaked hamstring. Pic via The Indepedent.
 
Donbass Arena, Donetsk

Wednesday, November 3

19:45 GMT, 3:45 p.m. EDT

• Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)
• Reverse Fixture: Arsenal 5 - 1 Shakhtar Donetsk
• All-Time in All Competitions: 2 Arsenal wins, 1 Shakhtar win, 0 draws
• Arsenal's League Form: D-L-L-W-W-W
• Shakhtar's League Form: W-W-W-W-W-W

Predicted Line-Up

guesses in red

Fabianski

Sagna - Koscielny - Squillaci - Clichy

Wilshere - Eastmond

Walcott - Nasri - Bendtner

Chamakh

Subs from: Szczesny, Djourou, Eboue, Rosicky, Vela, Lansbury, Emmanuel-Thomas

Out: Fabregas (hamstring), Song (calf), Denilson (groin), Arshavin (undisclosed), Gibbs (knee), Diaby (ankle), Almunia (elbow), Vermaelen (Achilles), Van Persie (ankle), Ramsey (broken leg)

Arsenal News and Notes

• Cesc Fabregas picked up an injury to his hamstring on Saturday (again) and will not make the trip to Ukraine. It's mostly a precaution. Keep in mind, Fabregas has had hamstring problems on-and-off since first coming off at Burnley last December.
• Denilson, Alex Song, Abou Diaby, and Andrei Arshavin were all left in London due to various knocks.
• To make up for their absence, word is that young Gunners Craig Eastmond and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas were on the plane. And by "word," I mean here's a picture, courtesy Jack Wilshere's Twitter. Henri Lansbury traveled as well.
• Arsenal will all but mathematically win Group H with a win and will certainly do so with a win plus Braga dropping points against Partizan.
• The Gunners have won five straight across all competitions. It's their longest winning streak since a six match run last winter, which was snapped in March at Birmingham.
• Arsenal have outscored their competition 14-2 through three matches in group play. 14 goals in three matches is a Champions League record.
• Another Champions League record: Marouane Chamakh has scored in six straight European matches; the first three of the streak were with Bordeaux last year.

Shakhtar News and Notes

• Shakhtar Donetsk are five points clear of rival Dynamo Kyiv for the league lead domestically.
• This season, Shakhtar have only dropped points three times this year: a loss and a draw in the league plus their 5-1 loss at the Emirates.
• The Ukrainian side have not conceded a goal in three domestic fixtures since their loss in London.
• The Coal Miners have not yet lost at home at Donbass Arena, which opened at the start of last season.

Match Facts

• Arsenal have never won in four tries on Ukranian soul; they lost their only trip to Donetsk 3-0.
• Arsenal's last trip to the Ukraine was a 1-1 draw at Dynamo Kyiv in 2008.

The Referee

• The referee is Massimo Busacca from Switzerland.
• Busacca took charge of Arsenal's come-from-behind 2-2 draw against Barcelona at the Emirates in last year's quarterfinal first leg in late March.
• Busacca worked one match in this summer's World Cup: Uruguay's 3-0 win over host South Africa. Busacca sent off South Africa's goalkeeper for a professional foul. He also worked the Champions League Final in 2009, when Manchester United lost 2-0 to Barcelona.

England in the Champions League This Week

• Today: Bursaspor 0 - 3 Manchester United
• Today: Tottenham Hotspur 3 - 1 Internazionale
• Wednesday: Chelsea v. Spartak Moscow; Stamford Bridge, London

Fixture Congestion or: Why It's Crucial to Win on Wednesday

Click to enlarge. Red fixtures are at home, blue fixtures away.
Update: The Wigan Carling Cup fixture was moved to Tues, Nov. 30 after this post's publication.

Arsenal travels about 1700 miles east to Donetsk in the Ukraine this week to play their fourth Champions League group match, having already picked up three wins in three matches thus far. A win would mean many things for the Gunners: they would most importantly be six points clear of both Shakhtar Donetsk and Braga (if the Portuguese side also wins) with two matches to play, ensuring not just qualification to the knockout phase, but essentially winning the group as well. It would also mean less pressure on their remaining group fixtures, which is crucial given the layout of Arsenal's fixtures this month.

If Arsenal wins on Wednesday, they would have 12 points from four matches with two to play in the group phase. In terms of tie-breakers, the first is head-to-head and the second is goal difference. Braga can finish with no more than 12 points and Shakhtar would finish with no more than 12 if this scenario plays out. Arsenal would have the tie-breaker over the Ukrainian side, having beaten them twice. If Braga finishes with 12 and even with Arsenal, that means the Gunners would have lost in Portugal on the 23rd, splitting the points in two matches. But, Arsenal has a +19 difference compared to Braga in the second tie-breaker at the moment.

So, an Arsenal win on Wednesday almost certainly ensures winning the group regardless of what Braga or Shakhtar ends up doing down the line (unless Arsenal starts losing by ten) and 100% seals the deal if Braga drops points in Belgrade. This is crucial, because Arsenal has a tricky run of fixtures in the league towards the end of November.

Arsenal's trip to Braga is on a Tuesday night, three days after what will be an intense home fixture against rivals Tottenham Hotspur and four days before an always tough trip to Birmingham to play Aston Villa. These two league fixtures follow tricky road trips to Wolves (where Manchester City lost on Saturday) and Everton.

The next four weeks will see Arsenal play seven times; the next five weeks see Arsenal play nine times. Among their next six league fixtures, the Gunners took 16 points out of the possible 18 the last time they were played (five last year and Newcastle two years ago.) This doesn't mean they're not tricky. Mid-table Fulham at home in early December might actually be the easiest of the six; Wolves away would be second easiest because it comes just three days after another match. Of course, as we've learned over the past few seasons, no fixture is easy.

The two week span which sees a midweek trip to Braga in the middle will be crucial to Arsenal's season. Chelsea during the same time has Sunderland at home, Birmingham away, and Newcastle away. While Arsenal has Everton away, Spurs home, and Villa away. Since one cannot count on Chelsea dropping points often, Arsenal can't take their foot off the accelerator. The Gunners have already lost at home to West Brom, they can't start dropping points elsewhere too.

The best way to make sure Arsenal will be fully devoted to league play through what is always a difficult month (they lost twice in November last year and three times two years ago) is to reduce the importance of that mid-month trip to Portugal by taking all three points on Wednesday.

Arsenal 1 - 0 West Ham United: On Song

What took you so long, guys? Pic via Daily Mail.

Arsenal 1: Song 88

West Ham United 0

It had all of the makings of "just one of those days" for Arsenal. The Gunners certainly had their chances, but weren't exactly firing on all cylinders. It's super-cliche, and you've heard it about eight billion times about this match already (sorry the recap is late, I blame Halloween,) but championship caliber teams have to be able to win ugly: Chelsea pulled three points out of nothing at Blackburn on Saturday; Manchester City did not at Wolves.

Arsene Wenger made only one change to the side from the eleven that beat ten man Manchester City last week. Laurent Koscielny, returning from a back injury, slipped back into the line-up, replacing Johan Djourou at center back. Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner started the match on the bench.

A major cause of concern, and perhaps a major reason why it took Arsenal so long to find the winner, was the fitness of captain Cesc Fabregas. The Spaniard returned from a hamstring injury about two weeks ago and saw twenty minutes off the bench, surprisingly but I suppose he needed the minutes, on Wednesday in the Carling Cup at Newcastle. Fabregas picked up a twinge in the hamstring again in the first half on Saturday, and Arsene Wenger nearly pulled him from the side at halftime. Fortunately, Fabregas improved in the second half and eventually Arsenal found the winner. I'd say it's unlikely Cesc makes the trip to Ukraine on Wednesday.

Speaking of that winner, it marks Alex Song's fourth goal of the season; Song had four career goals coming into this season and only scored once last year (a header at Portsmouth.) The build up to the goal came courtesy of Gael Clichy, who cut back in around a defender, switched over to his right foot, and sent in a cross to the box that was met with the head of the diving Song, who poked it past a helpless Robert Green in the 88th minute. The last time Arsenal left a winner so late, we coined the term tantric football.

And speaking of Robert Green, he was far and away the best player on the pitch on Saturday, at times single-handedly keeping West Ham in contention. The Hammers are a side desperate for points, sitting at the bottom of the league table, and now three points adrift of their nearest competition. They played desperate on Saturday (and they always seem to get up for Arsenal matches,) defending with tenacity (there was one period when West Ham blocked about five or six Arsenal shots in a row, all while having a player down injured in the middle of it all,) and looking occasionally dangerous offensively. Lukasz Fabianski did not have to make any superb saves in this one in order to keep another clean sheet, Arsenal's third in a row across all competitions.

But, it certainly felt like Arsenal's winner wasn't coming, because Robert Green's saves became more and more ridiculous. In the first half, he stopped a close range effort from Fabregas, then tipped a powerful Sebastian Squillaci shot over the bar. Fabregas was robbed again in the second half, as was Theo Walcott twice (once by the goalpost,) and Samir Nasri fired a perfect free kick off the crossbar as well. Six brilliant chances had gone begging before Song's header sealed three points.

In terms of how the rest of the team performed, the defense was solid and it's good to see Koscielny back from injury. Alex Song continues to frustrate in that he seems to drift out of his holding role into a box-to-box role, but if he keeps scoring 88th minute winners, I'll give him a pass. Denilson had an off game, but he's likely dropping back to the bench now that Jack Wilshere's suspension has been served. Nothing I can add about Andrei Arshavin hasn't been said already.

All in all, with a treacherous month of fixtures ahead (more on that in a post coming later today,) it's good that Arsenal come in with a load of confidence, and winning now four matches across all competitions is a good start. A win on Wednesday in the Ukraine will essentially seal Arsenal's winning the Champions League group and render the later trip to Braga as moot, which would be nice since that match falls between tricky fixtures against Spurs and Villa. The pieces are falling into place for this team. Let's just hope they keep rolling.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Robert Green